Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

246 results found

John I, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)John I, 1358–90, Spanish king of Castile and León (1379–90), son and successor of Henry II. He tried unsuccessfully to unite the Portuguese and Castilian crowns but was twice defeated by the Port...

Demme, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Demme, Jonathan (Robert Jonathan Demme) dĕmˈē [key], 1944–2017, American filmmaker, b. Baldwin, N.Y. Demme, known for eclectic subjects and social satire, made feature films, documentaries, and c...

O'Neill, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)O'Neill, Margaret (Peggy O'Neill), c.1796–1879, wife of John Henry Eaton, U.S. secretary of war under President Andrew Jackson. She was the daughter of a Washington tavern keeper and married John Ti...

Cape Canaveral

(Encyclopedia)Cape Canaveral kənăvˈərəl [key], low, sandy promontory extending E into the Atlantic Ocean from a barrier island, E Fla., separated from Merritt Island by the Banana River, a lagoon; named (1963)...

Fernán González

(Encyclopedia)Fernán González fārnänˈ gōnthäˈlāth [key], d. 970, first count of Castile. As count of Burgos from c.930 he took advantage of Leonese divisions and the war against the Moors to establish the ...

Fizeau, Armand Hippolyte Louis

(Encyclopedia)Fizeau, Armand Hippolyte Louis ärmäNˈ ēpôlētˈ lwē fēzōˈ [key], 1819–96, French physicist. The first to measure (1849) the velocity of light in air, he also determined its speed in water. ...

Soria

(Encyclopedia)Soria sōrˈyä [key], town (1990 pop. 32,609), capital of Soria prov., N central Spain, in Castile and León, on the Duero River. It is a food processing and timbering center in a livestock raising r...

Sancho II, Spanish king of Castile

(Encyclopedia)Sancho II sänˈchō [key], d.1072, Spanish king of Castile (1065–72), son and successor of Ferdinand I. He conquered (1072) León from his brother Alfonso VI, but his sister Urraca rebelled against...

Monterrey

(Encyclopedia)Monterrey mōntārāˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 1,068,996), capital of Nuevo León state, NE Mexico, the third largest city of Mexico. Located c.150 mi (240 km) S of Laredo, Tex., in a valley surrounded...

Alfonso X, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso X (Alfonso the Wise), 1221–84, Spanish king of Castile and León (1252–84); son and successor of Ferdinand III, whose conquests of the Moors he continued, notably by taking Cádiz (1262). ...