Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Peter II, king of Aragón

(Encyclopedia)Peter II, 1174–1213, king of Aragón (1196–1213) and count of Barcelona, son and successor of Alfonso II. He had himself crowned (1204) at Rome by Pope Innocent III, whom he accepted as overlord o...

Lorraine

(Encyclopedia)Lorraine lôrĕnˈ [key], Ger. Lothringen, former province and former administrative region, NE France, bordering in the N on Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany, in the E on Alsace, in the S on Franche-...

English, Bill

(Encyclopedia)English, Bill (Simon William English), 1961–, New Zealand political leader. First elected to parliament in 1990, English held several ministerial positions and served as leader of the National party...

Béziers

(Encyclopedia)Béziers bāzyāˈ [key], city, Hérault dept., S France, in Languedoc. A communications and ...

crank

(Encyclopedia)crank, mechanical linkage consisting of a bar attached to a pivot at one of its ends in such a way that it is capable of rotating through a complete circle about the pivot. One of the principal uses o...

weight lifting

(Encyclopedia)weight lifting, international sport, also a training technique for athletes in other sports. From the earliest times men have lifted weights as a test of strength. Long popular as a competitive sport ...

Creighton, Mandell

(Encyclopedia)Creighton, Mandell mănˈdəl krīˈtən [key], 1843–1901, British historian and churchman. He was professor of ecclesiastical history at Cambridge from 1884 until his appointment (1891) as bishop o...

Lovejoy, Elijah Parish

(Encyclopedia)Lovejoy, Elijah Parish, 1802–37, American abolitionist, b. Albion, Maine, grad. Waterville (now Colby) College, 1826, and later studied theology at Princeton. In 1833 he became editor of the Observe...

Simeon

(Encyclopedia)Simeon or Symeon both: sĭmˈēŏn [key], in the Bible. 1 Second son of Jacob and Leah and ancestor of the southernmost tribe of Israel. He and his tribe are seldom mentioned individually. 2 Devout ma...

Nichols, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Nichols, Mike, 1931–2014, American actor and director, b. Berlin, Germany, as Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky. His family immigrated to the United States in ...

Browse by Subject