Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mélusine

(Encyclopedia)Mélusine mĕlyo͝osēˈnä [key], in French legend, a fairy who changed into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. She married a mortal, Count Raymond, said to be the ancestor of the house of...

Nusaybin

(Encyclopedia)Nusaybin nēˈsĭbēn [key], town (1990 pop. 50,605), SE Turkey, near the Syrian border. It is a commercial and transportation center. It has ruins of the ancient Nisibis, the residence of early (2d c...

Öskemen

(Encyclopedia)Öskemen o͝ostˌ-kəmyĭnəgôrskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 324,478), NE Kazakhstan, on the Irtysh River and in the foothills of the W Altai Mts. It is a river port and an industrial center with zinc,...

Komsomolsk

(Encyclopedia)Komsomolsk –ämo͝orˈ [key], Rus. Komsomolsk-na-Amure, city (1989 pop. 315,000), Khabarovsk Territory, S Russian Far East, on the Amur River. It is a manufacturing center producing steel, machinery...

Lumière, Louis Jean

(Encyclopedia)Lumière, Louis Jean ōgüstˈ [key], 1862–1954, French inventors, brothers. They invented the Cinématographe, which was patented and demonstrated in 1895. This mechanism was the first to photograp...

Manado

(Encyclopedia)Manado mānäˈdō [key], town (1990 pop. 318,406), capital of Sulawesi Utara prov., on the northeast coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a trade center and seaport on an inlet of the Celebes Sea; exp...

Leninogor

(Encyclopedia)Leninogor lyĕˌnyĭnəgôrskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 68,706), NE Kazakhstan, in the Altai Mts. It is a mining center in an area that is the chief source of Kazakh zinc and lead. Silver, copper, and ...

Lagarde, Paul Anton de

(Encyclopedia)Lagarde, Paul Anton de lägärdˈ [key], 1827–91, German Orientalist. Lagarde was one of the most important biblical critics and Middle Eastern philologists of his century. His work included studie...

Plombières

(Encyclopedia)Plombières –lā-băN [key], village, Vosges dept., NE France, in the Vosges Mts. It is a fashionable spa, with radioactive springs used since Roman times for medicinal purposes. Housewares and embr...

Phaëthon

(Encyclopedia)Phaëthon fāˈətən [key], in Greek mythology, son of Helios and the nymph Clymene. He tried to drive his father's golden chariot, but he could not control its great steeds. As the chariot plunged t...