Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nuer

(Encyclopedia)Nuer no͞oˈər, no͝or [key], a Nilotic people living around Lake No in South Sudan. Their economy and social life generally revolve around cattle, which are grazed on the plains during the dry seaso...

Lynch, David (Keith)

(Encyclopedia)Lynch, David (Keith), 1946–, American film and television writer, producer, and director, b. Missoula, Mont. Trained as a painter, he studied at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C. (1963–...

Li Tsung-jên

(Encyclopedia)Li Tsung-jên lē dzo͞ong-jŭn [key], 1890–1969, Chinese Nationalist general and political leader. For 25 years (1925–49) he was a leader of the military clique that ruled Guangxi prov. The Guang...

Lodge, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Lodge, Thomas, 1558?–1625, English writer, grad. Oxford, 1577. After abandoning the study of law for literature, he published (c.1580) his defense of poetry and other arts, usually called Honest Exc...

Arecibo Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Arecibo Observatory, radio-astronomy facility located near Arecibo, Puerto Rico, part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center. Conceived by, designed by, and built under the supervision of Wil...

Kokoschka, Oskar

(Encyclopedia)Kokoschka, Oskar ôsˈkär kōkôshˈkä [key], 1886–1980, Austrian expressionist painter and writer. After teaching at the art academy in Dresden (1920–24), Kokoschka traveled extensively in Euro...

Wordsworth, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Wordsworth, Christopher, 1774–1846, English clergyman, educator, and writer; youngest brother of William Wordsworth. He was master of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1820 to 1841. Most noted of his...

weed

(Encyclopedia)weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. In their natural habitat, wildflow...

Zeisberger, David

(Encyclopedia)Zeisberger, David zīsˈbərgər [key], 1721–1808, American Moravian missionary, b. Moravia. While a youth, he lived in Holland and later in London, where he met Graf von Zinzendorf, who enabled him...

Stuyvesant, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Stuyvesant, Peter stīˈvəsənt [key], c.1610–1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding ...

Browse by Subject