Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Napier, Sir Charles James

(Encyclopedia)Napier, Sir Charles James nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1782–1853, British general; brother of Sir William Napier. He served with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars. Stationed (1822–30) on the Greek...

Huayna Capac

(Encyclopedia)Huayna Capac wīˈnä käˈpäk [key], d. 1525, Inca of Peru, last of the great emperors. The Inca empire reached its greatest extent and power under his rule, but disruptive forces were already at wo...

Denon, Dominique-Vivant, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Denon, Dominique-Vivant, Baron dōmēnēkˈ-vēväN bärôNˈ dənôNˈ [key], 1747–1825, French artist, writer, and archaeologist. He had a brilliant career as an artist and diplomat during the anc...

Abd ar-Rahman I, emir of Córdoba

(Encyclopedia)Abd ar-Rahman I, d. 788, first Umayyad emir of Córdoba (756–88). The only survivor of the Abbasid massacre (750) of his family in Damascus, he fled from Syria and eventually went to Spain. There he...

Shiloh

(Encyclopedia)Shiloh shīˈlō [key], town, central ancient Palestine, the modern Khirbet Seilun, the West Bank, NNE of Jerusalem. In biblical times it lay in the territory of Ephraim. The Hebrews were, apparently,...

Sikorski, Władysław

(Encyclopedia)Sikorski, Władysław vlädĭˈswäf shēkôrˈskē [key], 1881–1943, Polish general and politician. He fought in World War I and later (1922–25) held various cabinet posts. Premier Piłsudski dis...

Pogodin, Nikolai

(Encyclopedia)Pogodin, Nikolai fyôˈdərəvĭch sto͞okäˈlôf [key], 1900–1962, Russian dramatist. Pogodin wrote many colorful, optimistic, and popular plays generally dealing with the theme of man's conquest ...

Popol Vuh

(Encyclopedia)Popol Vuh pōpōlˈ vo͞oˈ [key] [Quiché,=collection of the council], sacred book of the Quiché. The most important document of the cosmogony, religion, mythology, migratory traditions, and history...

Quisling, Vidkun

(Encyclopedia)Quisling, Vidkun kwĭzˈlĭng, Nor. vĭdˈko͝on kvĭsˈlĭng [key], 1887–1945, Norwegian fascist leader. An army officer, he served as military attaché in Petrograd (1918–19) and Helsinki (1919�...

Bradley, Omar Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Bradley, Omar Nelson, 1893–1981, U.S. general, b. Clark, Mo. A graduate of West Point, he served in World War I and filled various army administrative and academic posts before assuming (1943) comma...