Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fastolf, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Fastolf, Sir John făsˈtŏlf [key], 1378?–1459, English soldier. He won distinction for his long service in the latter part of the Hundred Years War. He was knighted some time prior to 1418 for ser...

anointing of the sick

(Encyclopedia)anointing of the sick, sacrament of the Orthodox Eastern Church and the Roman Catholic Church, formerly known as extreme unction. In it a sick or dying person is anointed on eyes, ears, nostrils, lips...

Formulas for Various Areas (table)

(Encyclopedia)Formulas for Various Areas 1 The abbreviations used are: b = base (length of any side of a plane figure); a = altitude (perpendicular distance from the farthest point of the figure to t...

Pérez Rodríguez, Carlos Andrés

(Encyclopedia)Pérez Rodríguez, Carlos Andrés kärˈlōs ändrāsˈ pāˈrās rôdrēˈgās [key], 1922–2010, president of Venezuela (1974–78, 1989–93). An aide to President Rómulo Betancourt, he was secre...

Konrad, George

(Encyclopedia)Konrad, George, or György Konrád dyûrˈdyēkônˈräd [key], 1933–2019, Hungarian novelist and dissident. Konrad's first novel, The Case Worker (1969; tr. 1974), was based on his experiences as a...

Kraepelin, Emil

(Encyclopedia)Kraepelin, Emil krĕpəlēnˈ [key], 1856–1926, German psychiatrist, educated at Würzburg (M.D., 1878). He also studied under Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig, and was appointed professor of psychiatry at ...

Law, William

(Encyclopedia)Law, William, 1686–1761, English clergyman, noted for his controversial, devotional, and mystical writings. One of the nonjurors, Law was deprived of his fellowship in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, a...

legislative apportionment

(Encyclopedia)legislative apportionment, subdivision of a political body (e.g., a state or province) for the purpose of electing legislative representatives. In the United States, the Constitution requires that Con...

Kitt Peak National Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Kitt Peak National Observatory, astronomical observatory located southwest of Tucson, Ariz.; it was founded in 1958 under contract with the National Science Foundation and is administered by the Assoc...

Agricultural Adjustment Administration

(Encyclopedia)Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), former U.S. government agency established (1933) in the Dept. of Agriculture under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 as part of Franklin Delano Roos...