Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Haakon I

(Encyclopedia)Haakon I häˈkən, Nor. hôˈko͝on [key] (Haakon the Good), c.915–961, king of Norway (c.935–961), son of Harold I. He was brought up as a Christian at the court of King Athelstan in England. Hi...

Glace Bay

(Encyclopedia)Glace Bay glās [key], town, E Cape Breton Island, N.S., Canada. Exploitation of its coal min...

morality play

(Encyclopedia)morality play, form of medieval drama that developed in the late 14th cent. and flourished through the 16th cent. The characters in the morality were personifications of good and evil usually involved...

Ayrshire cattle

(Encyclopedia)Ayrshire cattle rˈshēr, –shər [key], breed of dairy cattle originated in Scotland in the late 18th cent.; introduced into the United States in 1837. They are medium-sized and white mixed with red...

Mackenzie, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, Henry, 1745–1831, English author, b. Scotland. He had an active political and legal life, serving as comptroller of taxes for Scotland from 1804 until his death. His first and most famous...

Lingelbach, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Lingelbach, Johannes yōhäˈnəs lĭngˈəlbäkhˌ [key], 1622–74, Dutch genre and landscape painter, b. Frankfurt am Main. He first went to Amsterdam in 1637 and settled there about 16 years later...

Plymouth Rock chicken

(Encyclopedia)Plymouth Rock chicken, one of the most popular early breeds of poultry. The Barred Plymouth Rock was a favorite farm chicken since it was both a good egg producer and also developed a large quantity o...

Villahermosa

(Encyclopedia)Villahermosa vēˌyäārmōˈsä [key], city (1990 pop. 261,321), capital of Tabasco state, SE Mexico, on the Grijalva River. The city, which has good communications facilities, is the commercial and ...

vermilion

(Encyclopedia)vermilion, vivid red pigment of durable quality. It is a chemical compound of mercury and sulfur and is known as red sulfide of mercury; it was formerly obtained by grinding pure cinnabar but is now c...

Ruiz, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Ruiz, Juan hwän ro͞oēthˈ [key], 1283?–1350?, Spanish poet, musician, and archpriest of Hita. Ruiz suffered 13 years in prison, during which time he revised his masterpiece, El Libro de buen amor...