Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Trinity , doctrine in Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Trinity [Lat.,=threefoldness], fundamental doctrine in Christianity, by which God is considered as existing in three persons. While the doctrine is not explicitly taught in the New Testament, early Ch...

Woods, Tiger

(Encyclopedia)Woods, Tiger (Eldrick Woods), 1975–, American golfer, b. Cypress, Calif. The son of an African-American father and a Thai mother, he was a college star at Stanford and became the only three-time (19...

Bishop, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911–79, American poet, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Vassar, 1934. During the 1950s and 60s she lived in Brazil, eventually returning to her native New England, where she taught at ...

rammed earth

(Encyclopedia)rammed earth, material consisting chiefly of soil of sufficiently stiff consistency that has been placed in forms and pounded down. It has been used for buildings and walls since ancient times and was...

Raymond IV, count of Toulouse

(Encyclopedia)Raymond IV, c.1038–1105, count of Toulouse (1093–1105), leader in the First Crusade (see Crusades). He was also count of Saint Gilles and marquis of Provence. The first great prince to take the Cr...

Richardson, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, Samuel, 1689–1761, English novelist, b. Derbyshire. When he was 50 and a prosperous printer, Richardson was asked to compose a guide to letter writing. The idea of introducing a central ...

Diaghilev, Sergei Pavlovich

(Encyclopedia)Diaghilev, Sergei Pavlovich syĭrgāˈ pävˈləvĭch dyäˈgĭlyĭf [key], 1872–1929, Russian ballet impresario and art critic, grad. St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music, 1892. In 1898 he founded ...

Marshall, George Catlett

(Encyclopedia)Marshall, George Catlett, 1880–1959, American general and cabinet member, b. Uniontown, Pa. A career army officer, Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute. He first distinguished him...

Boswell, James

(Encyclopedia)Boswell, James, 1740–95, Scottish author, b. Edinburgh; son of a distinguished judge. At his father's insistence the young Boswell reluctantly studied law. Admitted to the bar in 1766, he practiced ...

Vermeer, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Vermeer, Jan or Johannes vərmērˈ, Dutch yän vərmārˈ, yōhänˈəs [key], 1632–75, Dutch genre and landscape painter. He was born in Delft, where he spent his entire life. He was also known as...

Browse by Subject