Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Luxembourg, city, Luxembourg

(Encyclopedia)Luxembourg or Luxemburg, city (1991 pop. 75,377), capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, S Luxembourg, at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers. It is a commercial, banking, industrial...

Williams, Venus Ebone Starr

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Venus Ebone Starr, 1980–, b. Lynwood, Calif., and Serena Jameka Williams, 1981–, b. Saginaw, Mich., African-American tennis players. Coached by their father, Richard, both sisters turned...

Laver, Rod

(Encyclopedia)Laver, Rod (Rodney George Laver) lāˈvər [key], 1938–, Australian tennis player. He left school at age 15 to pursue tennis and in 1962 became the first male grand-slam winner in tennis since Don B...

Cappello, Bianca

(Encyclopedia)Cappello, Bianca byängˈkä cäpĕlˈlō [key], 1548–87, grand duchess of Tuscany (1579–87). Of a noble Venetian family, she eloped (1563) with a Florentine, Pietro Bonaventuri, who was later kil...

Colter, John

(Encyclopedia)Colter, John kōlˈtər [key], c.1775–1813, American trapper and guide, b. Virginia. In 1803 he enlisted in the Lewis and Clark expedition and in 1806, on the return trip, was granted a discharge to...

Shenandoah valley

(Encyclopedia)Shenandoah valley, part of the Great Valley of the Appalachians, c.150 mi (240 km) long, N Va., located between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny mts. The valley is divided into two parts by Massanutte...

Forbin, Claude, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Forbin, Claude, comte de klōd kôNt də fôrbăNˈ [key], 1656–1733, French naval commander. He fought in the Antilles (1680) and in Abraham Duquesne's Algerian campaign (1682–83) and from 1685 t...

Magliabechi, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Magliabechi, Antonio äntôˈnyō mälyäbĕˈkē [key], 1633–1714, Italian librarian, b. Florence. Magliabechi was a trained goldsmith who devoted his life to learning, and mastered Greek, Latin, a...

Medici, Ferdinand I de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Ferdinand I de', 1549–1609, grand duke of Tuscany (1587–1609); brother and successor of Francesco de' Medici. He was made a cardinal in his youth, and he built the famous Villa Medici at R...

Browse by Subject