Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

332 results found

Salic law, rule of succession

(Encyclopedia)Salic law sāˈlĭk [key], rule of succession in certain royal and noble families of Europe, forbidding females and those descended in the female line to succeed to the titles or offices in the family...

Saxe-Coburg

(Encyclopedia)Saxe-Coburg săks-kōbərg [key], Ger. Sachsen-Coburg, former duchy, central Germany. A possession of the Ernestine branch of the house of Wettin, it was given by Ernest the Pious (d. 1675) of Saxe-Go...

Murray, river, Australia

(Encyclopedia)Murray, principal and second-longest river of Australia, 1,609 mi (2,589 km) long, rising in the Australian Alps, SE New South Wales, and flowing westward to form the New South Wales–Victoria bounda...

Rossellino, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Rossellino, Antonio äntôˈnyō rōs-sĕl-lēˈnō [key], 1427–c.1478, Florentine sculptor, whose name was Antonio di Matteo di Domenico Gambarelli. He was the youngest and most celebrated of four ...

Beckham, David

(Encyclopedia)Beckham, David (David Robert Joseph Beckham), 1975–, English soccer player known especially for the power and accuracy of his free kicks. After beginning to play on the Manchester United youth squad...

Shimomura, Osamu

(Encyclopedia)Shimomura, Osamu, 1928–2018, Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist, Ph.D. Nagoya Univ., 1960. Shimomura was a researcher at Princeton (1960–82) and a professor (1982–2001) simultaneously...

Frye, Northrop

(Encyclopedia)Frye, Northrop nôrˈthrəp [key], 1912–91, Canadian literary critic, b. Quebec. In 1936 he was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Canada. In 1948 he was appointed professor of English a...

Kauffmann, Angelica

(Encyclopedia)Kauffmann, Angelica äng-gāˈlēkä koufˈmän [key], 1741–1807, Swiss neoclassical painter and graphic artist. From her youth she was known for her artistic, musical, and linguistic abilities. She...

Viti Levu

(Encyclopedia)Viti Levu nä– [key], volcanic island, 4,010 sq mi (10,386 sq km), S Pacific, largest and most important of the Fiji Islands. On Viti Levu are Suva, the capital and chief port of Fiji, and Lautoka, ...

Tom Thumb

(Encyclopedia)Tom Thumb, 1838–83, American entertainer, whose original name was Charles Sherwood Stratton, b. Bridgeport, Conn. His career as General Tom Thumb began in 1842, when the showman P. T. Barnum gave hi...