Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Khama III

(Encyclopedia)Khama III käˈmä [key], d. 1923?, chief of the Ngwato people of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) from 1875 until his death; grandfather of Sir Seretse Khama. To counter threats from neighboring Africans ...

German measles

(Encyclopedia)German measles: see rubella.

John XXII, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XXII, 1244–1334, pope (1316–34), a Frenchman (b. Cahors) named Jacques Duèse; successor of Clement V. Formerly, he was often called John XXI. He reigned at Avignon. John was celebrated as a ...

Aetius, Roman general

(Encyclopedia)Aetius, c.396–454, Roman general. At first unfriendly to Valentinian III, he later made his peace with Valentinian's mother, Galla Placidia, and was given a command in Gaul. An ambitious general, he...

Přemysl

(Encyclopedia)Přemysl pərzhĕmˈĭsəl [key], earliest dynasty of Bohemia. Its semilegendary founder was the peasant Přemysl, whom the Bohemian Princess (sometimes called Queen) Libussa chose as her husband at s...

Lemaître, Frédérick

(Encyclopedia)Lemaître, Frédérick frādārēkˈ ləmĕtˈrə [key], 1800–1876, French actor, originally named Antoine Louis Prosper Lemaître. First known in pantomimes and melodramas, he gained fame (1823) fo...

Philipse, Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Philipse, Frederick fĭlˈĭps [key], 1626–1702, merchant and landowner in colonial America, b. Holland. He went (1647) with his family to New Amsterdam, where he became wealthy as a merchant. He bo...

Arles, kingdom of

(Encyclopedia)Arles, kingdom of, was formed in 933, when Rudolf II, king of Transjurane Burgundy, united the kingdom of Provence or Cisjurane Burgundy to his lands and established his capital at Arles. Holy Roman E...

Charles Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Charles Augustus, 1757–1828, duke and, after 1815, grand duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach; friend and patron of Goethe, Schiller, and Herder. Though his duchy was small, he was important in German polit...

Murad III

(Encyclopedia)Murad III, 1546–95, Ottoman sultan (1574–95), son and successor of Selim II. He was dominated by his harem, and although his generals were successful against Persia, his reign marked the beginning...