Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mesabi

(Encyclopedia)Mesabi məsäbˈē [key], range of low hills, NE Minn., once famous for its extensive iron ore deposits. The ores were found in a belt c.110 mi (180 km) long and from 1 to 3 mi (1.6–4.8 km) wide bet...

mufti

(Encyclopedia)mufti mŭfˈtē [key], in Islamic law, attorney or judicial/religious scholar who writes his opinion (fatwa) on legal subjects for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases. The recorded o...

Muhammad IV, Ottoman sultan

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad IV or Mehmet IV, 1641–92, Ottoman sultan (1648–87). He was proclaimed sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) by the corps of Janissaries after the deposition and murder of his father, Sult...

Macon

(Encyclopedia)Macon māˈkən, māˈkŏn [key], city (1990 pop. 106,612), seat of Bibb co., central Ga., at the head of navigation on the Ocmulgee River; inc. 1823. It is the industrial, processing, and shipping ce...

Rurik

(Encyclopedia)Rurik ro͞oˈrĭk [key], d. 879, semilegendary Varangian warrior, regarded as the founder of the princely dynasty of Kievan Rus. Rurik and his two brothers, at the head of an armed band, apparently se...

Sampras, Pete

(Encyclopedia)Sampras, Pete sămˈprəs [key], 1971–, American tennis player, b. Washington, D.C. Learning the game in the Los Angeles area, he rose to world tennis supremacy after becoming the youngest man to wi...

Ten, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Ten, Council of, in the republic of Venice, a special tribunal created (1310) to avert plots and crimes against the state. It was a direct result of the unsuccessful Tiepolo conspiracy against the Ven...

Bellini, Vincenzo

(Encyclopedia)Bellini, Vincenzo vēnchānˈtsō bĕl-lēˈnē [key], 1801–35, Italian opera composer. He acquired his musical training from his grandfather and father, and began composing religious and secular mu...

Vescovo, Victor Lance

(Encyclopedia)Vescovo, Victor Lance, 1966–, American private equity investor and adventurer, b. Dallas, Tex., M.B.A. Harvard, 1994. He was a principal at Lehman Brothers (1991–92), a senior manager at Bain and ...

Chauviré, Yvette

(Encyclopedia)Chauviré, Yvette, 1917–2016, French ballerina. She joined the corps de ballet of the Paris Opéra Ballet in 1931, was made a principal dancer in 1937, and attained the rank of étoile in 1941. Chau...

Browse by Subject