Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Andrewes, Lancelot

(Encyclopedia)Andrewes, Lancelot ănˈdro͞oz [key], 1555–1626, Anglican divine, bishop of Chichester (1605), Ely (1609), and Winchester (1619). One of the most learned men of his time (his knowledge encompassed ...

Dasht-e Kavir

(Encyclopedia)Dasht-e Kavir däsht-ēkävērˈ [key], great salt desert, c.500 mi (800 km) long and c.200 mi (320 km) wide, SE of the Elburz Mts., N central Iran. It is a huge basin of interior drainage named after...

Urban V

(Encyclopedia)Urban V, 1310–70, pope (1362–70), a Provençal named Guillaume de Grimoard; successor of Innocent VI. He was a Benedictine renowned for his knowledge of canon law. The great event of Urban's ponti...

Quintilian

(Encyclopedia)Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus) kwĭntĭlˈyən [key], c.a.d. 35–c.a.d. 95, Roman rhetorician, b. Calagurris (now Calahorra), Spain. He taught rhetoric at Rome (Pliny the Younger and possibl...

Rachel, French actress

(Encyclopedia)Rachel ālēˈzä fālēksˈ [key], 1821–58, French actress, b. Switzerland. Exploited by her father in her childhood, she sang in the streets with her sister Sarah. In Paris, showing great promise ...

pass

(Encyclopedia)pass, opening or way by which a natural or artificial barrier can be crossed. The term pass is usually applied to a relatively narrow passage through a mountainous region. A pass, like an isthmus, may...

Fort Necessity

(Encyclopedia)Fort Necessity, entrenched camp built in July, 1754, by George Washington and his Virginia militia at Great Meadows (near the present Uniontown, Pa.). He retired there when he learned that the British...

Jamnia

(Encyclopedia)Jamnia jăbˈnə, –nē [key] [Heb.,=God causes to build], ancient city, central Israel. Its modern name is Yavne. A central city of Philistia, the Bible refers to its walls being destroyed by Uzziah...

Kao, Sir Charles Kuen

(Encyclopedia)Kao, Sir Charles Kuen, 1933–2018, British-American physicist, b. Shanghai, China, Ph.D. Imperial College London, 1965. Kao was an engineer and researcher at Standard Telecommunications Laboratories ...

Karnak

(Encyclopedia)Karnak kärˈnăk [key], village (1986 pop. 20,842), central Egypt, on the Nile. It is 1 mi (1.6 km) NE of Luxor and occupies part of the site of Thebes. Remains of the pharaohs abound at Karnak. Most...