Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

McKenna, Reginald

(Encyclopedia)McKenna, Reginald, 1863–1943, British politician and banker. Elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1895, he entered the cabinet as president of the board of education in 1907. As first lord of the a...

William and Mary in Virginia, College of

(Encyclopedia)William and Mary in Virginia, College of, mainly at Williamsburg; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1693, opened 1694 by Episcopalians under James Blair. It became a university in 1779. The se...

Isocrates

(Encyclopedia)Isocrates īsŏkˈrətēz [key], 436–338 b.c., one of the Ten Attic Orators. He was a pupil of Socrates and of the Sophists. Perhaps the greatest teacher in Greek history, he taught every younger or...

Long Island, island, United States

(Encyclopedia)Long Island (1990 pop. 6,861,454), 1,723 sq mi (4,463 sq km), 118 mi (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 mi (19–32 km) wide, SE N.Y.; fourth largest island of the United States and the largest outside ...

langue d'oc and langue d'oïl

(Encyclopedia)langue d'oc dôēlˈ [key], names of the two principal groups of medieval French dialects. Langue d'oc (literally, “language of yes”) was spoken south of a line running, roughly, from Bordeaux to ...

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the

(Encyclopedia)Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the, study of the origins of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. Archaeologists believe humans had entered and occupied much of the Americas by the end of the...

Holstein-Friesian cattle

(Encyclopedia)Holstein-Friesian cattle hōlˈstēn-frēˈzhən, –stīn– [key], breed of dairy cattle originated in N Holland and Friesland. Commonly called Holsteins in the United States, these large cattle wit...

Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino

(Encyclopedia)Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino dōmēngˈgō foustēˈnō särmyānˈtō [key], 1811–88, Argentine statesman, educator, and author, president of the republic (1868–74). An opponent of Juan Manuel de ...

Fraser, Malcolm

(Encyclopedia)Fraser, Malcolm (John Malcolm Fraser), 1930–2015, Australian political leader and prime minister (1975–83). A graduate of Oxford (1952), he entered the Australian parliament as a Liberal member in...