Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Portland, William Bentinck, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Portland, William Bentinck, 1st earl of, 1649–1709, Dutch statesman in England. He was William III's most trusted personal adviser. In 1677 he engaged in negotiating the marriage of William (then pr...

Ferdinand II, king of the Two Sicilies

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II, 1810–59, king of the Two Sicilies (1830–59), son and successor of Francis I. Although initially he sought to improve the wretched conditions of his kingdom, he soon relapsed into the...

Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilyevich syĭrgāˈ vəsēˈlyĭvĭch räkhmäˈnēnôf [key], 1873–1943, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor. He became known as one of the greatest pianists of his gen...

Ferrara-Florence, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Ferrara-Florence, Council of, 1438–45, second part of the 17th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church; the first part was the Council of Basel, canonically convened but after 1437 schismati...

Russia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 CE5 Russia, officially the Russian Federation, Rus. Rossiya, republic (2015 est. pop. 143,888,000), 6,591,100 sq mi (17,070,949 sq km). The largest country in the world by area, Russia is bou...

Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von

(Encyclopedia)Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von bĕrnˈhärt hīnˈrĭkh märˈtĭn fŭrst fən büˈlō [key], 1849–1929, German chancellor. He held many diplomatic posts before he became, through the...

Polish Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Polish Succession, War of the, 1733–35. On the death (1733) of Augustus II of Poland, Stanislaus I sought to reascend the Polish throne. He was supported by his son-in-law, Louis XV of France. The r...

Dalian

(Encyclopedia)Dalian or Talien both: däˈlyĕnˈ [key], Rus. Dalny, Jap. Dairen, city (1994 est. pop. 1,855,200), S Liaoning prov., China, on the Liaodong peninsula in the Bay of Korea. It has annexed Lüshun (Por...

Rykov, Aleksey Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Rykov, Aleksey Ivanovich əlyĭksyāˈ ēväˈnəvĭch rēˈkôf [key], 1881–1938, Russian revolutionary and Communist leader. A Bolshevik, he became commissar for the interior after the October Rev...