Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

359 results found

freethinkers

(Encyclopedia)freethinkers, those who arrive at conclusions, particularly in questions of religion, by employing the rules of reason while rejecting supernatural authority or ecclesiastical tradition. The freethink...

Geim, Sir Andre Konstantinovich

(Encyclopedia)Geim, Sir Andre Konstantinovich, 1958–, Russian-born Dutch physicist, Ph.D. Russian Academy of Sciences, 1987. He was a professor at the Univ. of Nijmegen in the Netherlands from 1994 to 2001, when ...

Whiskey Ring

(Encyclopedia)Whiskey Ring, in U.S. history, a group of distillers and public officials who defrauded the federal government of liquor taxes. Soon after the Civil War these taxes were raised very high, in some case...

Battle of the Bulge

(Encyclopedia)Battle of the Bulge, popular name in World War II for the German counterattack in the Ardennes, Dec., 1944–Jan., 1945. More than a million men fought in what is also known as the Battle of the Ard...

Ypres, battles of

(Encyclopedia)Ypres, battles of, three major engagements of World War I fought in and around the town of Ypres in SW Belgium. The first battle of Ypres (Oct.–Nov., 1914) was the last of the series of engagements ...

Tippett, Sir Michael

(Encyclopedia)Tippett, Sir Michael, 1905–98, English composer, b. London. Tippett studied at the Royal College of Music. During World War II he was briefly imprisoned as a conscientious objector. His strongly hel...

Montazeri, Hossein Ali

(Encyclopedia)Montazeri, Hossein Ali, 1922–2009, Iranian Islamic scholar and political leader. A follower of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Montazeri objected to Khomeini's arrest and exile, and became involved in ...

Holstein, Friedrich von

(Encyclopedia)Holstein, Friedrich von frēˈdrĭkh fən hôlˈshtīn [key], 1837–1909, German diplomat. After the Congress of Berlin (1878) he became a powerful figure in shaping German foreign policy. His offici...

Francis, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Francis, Dick (Richard Stanley Francis), 1920–2010, English novelist. He was a champion steeplechase jockey (1946–57) and a racing writer for a London newspaper (1957–73). Francis parlayed his k...

humus

(Encyclopedia)humus hyo͞oˈməs [key], organic matter that has decayed to a relatively stable, amorphous state. It is an important biological constituent of fertile soil. Humus is formed by the decomposing action ...