Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ferdinand II, king of the Two Sicilies

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II, 1810–59, king of the Two Sicilies (1830–59), son and successor of Francis I. Although initially he sought to improve the wretched conditions of his kingdom, he soon relapsed into the...

Gaeta

(Encyclopedia)Gaeta gäĕˈtä [key], town, in Latium, central Italy, a seaport on a high promontory in the...

Jellachich de Buzim, Joseph, Count

(Encyclopedia)Jellachich de Buzim, Joseph, Count yĕˈlächĭch, bo͞oˈzĭm, –zhĭm [key], 1801–59, Austrian general, a Croatian nobleman. He was governor of Croatia when the revolution of 1848 broke out in Hu...

Odysseus

(Encyclopedia)Odysseus yo͞olĭsˈēz [key], in Greek mythology, son and successor of King Laertes of Ithaca. A leader of Greek forces during the Trojan War, Odysseus was noted (as in the Iliad) for his cunning str...

Maria I

(Encyclopedia)Maria I, 1734–1816, queen of Portugal (1777–1816), daughter of Joseph I. She was married (1760) to her uncle, who assumed joint rule with her as Peter III. Neither of them was much interested in a...

Martignac, Jean Baptiste Sylvère Gay, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Martignac, Jean Baptiste Sylvère Gay, vicomte de zhäN bätēstˈ sēlvĕrˈ gā vēkôNtˈ də märtēnyäkˈ [key], 1778–1832, French statesman. He was elected (1821) to the chamber of deputies a...

Pollonarrua

(Encyclopedia)Pollonarrua or Polonnaruwa both: pŏlˌənəro͞oˈə [key], ruined ancient city, NE Sri Lanka. Pollonarrua, beautifully situated on a lake, was once the most splendid city of Sri Lanka. It became a r...

Victor Emmanuel I

(Encyclopedia)Victor Emmanuel I, 1759–1824, king of Sardinia (1802–21). His brother and predecessor, Charles Emmanuel IV, lost (1798) all his territories except the island of Sardinia to France in the French Re...

Virginia creeper

(Encyclopedia)Virginia creeper, native woody vine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) of the family Vitaceae (grape family), tall growing and popular as a wall covering in the temperate United States. It has blue-black b...

Benavente y Martínez, Jacinto

(Encyclopedia)Benavente y Martínez, Jacinto häthēnˈtō bāˌnävānˈtā ē märtēˈnĕth [key], 1866–1954, Spanish dramatist, b. Madrid. He was awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known pla...