Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Munday, Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Munday, Anthony, 1553–1633, English author, b. London. After spending his early years as an actor, he turned to writing. His literary output includes a number of plays (many written in collaboration...

Margaret Mary, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Margaret Mary, Saint, 1647–90, French nun of the Visitation Convent of Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire dept., France. Her family name was Alacoque. Jesus appeared to her in a number of visions. In ...

Mason City

(Encyclopedia)Mason City, city (1990 pop. 29,040), seat of Cerro Gordo co., N central Iowa; inc. 1874. It is the rail, trade, and industrial center of a large agricultural area. There is food processing and meatpac...

Matovič, Igor

(Encyclopedia)Matovič, Igor, 1973–, Slovakian political leader. A businessman before he entered politics, he founded a publishing house that acquired control of a number of regional newspapers and also invested ...

Ballou, Hosea

(Encyclopedia)Ballou, Hosea, 1771–1852, American clergyman, foremost among expositors of Universalism in the United States, b. Cheshire co., N.H. From 1818 until his death he was pastor of the Second Universalist...

ratio

(Encyclopedia)ratio. The ratio of two quantities expressed in terms of the same unit is the fraction that has the first quantity as numerator and the second as denominator. For example, if in a group of 100 people ...

Thomas, Ambroise

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Ambroise äNbrwäzˈ tōmäˈ [key], 1811–96, French operatic composer, studied at the Paris Conservatory, receiving the Prix de Rome in 1832. He later taught composition there and became it...

Barr, Alfred Hamilton, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Barr, Alfred Hamilton, Jr., 1902–81, American art historian, b. Detroit. Barr taught art history at several colleges and was the first director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York City. He organiz...

coal tar

(Encyclopedia)coal tar, product of the destructive distillation of bituminous coal. Coal tar can be distilled into many fractions to yield a number of useful organic products, including benzene, toluene, xylene, na...

Browse by Subject