Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Dutch art

(Encyclopedia)Dutch art, the art of the region that is now the Netherlands. As a distinct national style, this art dates from about the turn of the 17th cent., when the country emerged as a political entity and dev...

Yankee

(Encyclopedia)Yankee, term used by Americans generally in reference to a native of New England and by non-Americans, especially the British, in reference to an American of any section. The word is most likely from ...

Genevieve, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Genevieve, Saint jĕnˈəvēvˌ, Fr. zhənvyĕvˈ [key], c.420–c.500, patron saint of Paris. A nun renowned for good works, she is said to have averted, by fasting and prayer, an expected attack of ...

Jacmel

(Encyclopedia)Jacmel zhäkˈmĕl [key], city (1989 est. pop. 217,000), S Haiti. About 25 mi (40 km) S of Port-au-Prince, Jacmel is an important port on the Caribbean Sea. The city was heavily damaged in the Jan., 2...

Neumann, Saint John Nepomucene

(Encyclopedia)Neumann, Saint John Nepomucene, 1811–60, American Roman Catholic bishop, the first American male to be canonized (1977), b. Bohemia. After studying at Prague he settled (1836) in the United States, ...

Titan , in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Titan tīˈtən [key], in astronomy, the largest of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn VI (or S6), Titan is 3,200 mi (5,150 km) in diameter, orbits Saturn at a mea...

Rivoli Veronese

(Encyclopedia)Rivoli Veronese rēˈvōlē vārōnāˈzā [key], village (1991 pop. 52,683), Venetia, NE Italy, on the Adige River. It was the scene in Jan., 1797, of a decisive French victory over the Austrians. Ma...

Twelfth Night

(Encyclopedia)Twelfth Night, Jan. 5, the vigil or eve of Epiphany, so called because it is the 12th night from Christmas, counting Christmas as the first. In England, Twelfth Night has been a great festival marking...

Black Tom

(Encyclopedia)Black Tom, part of Jersey City, N.J., also called Black Tom Island. In July, 1916, German saboteurs demolished U.S. munitions stores there; in Jan., 1917, they destroyed the Kingsland, N.J., munitions...

Geary, John White

(Encyclopedia)Geary, John White gērˈē [key], 1819–73, American politician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Mt. Pleasant, Pa. In San Francisco from 1849 to 1852, Geary was the first U.S. postmaster, the l...