Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nayler, James

(Encyclopedia)Nayler, James, 1617?–1660, English Quaker leader. He served in the parliamentary army during the English civil war. In 1651 he became a Quaker and a disciple of George Fox, but gradually gathered a ...

vestal

(Encyclopedia)vestal vĕsˈtəl [key], in Roman religion, priestess of Vesta. The vestals were first two, then four, then six in number. While still little girls, they were chosen from prominent Roman families to s...

Gottlieb, Adolph

(Encyclopedia)Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903–74, American painter, b. New York City. Gottlieb studied under John Sloan and Robert Henri. In the 1940s he created pictographs which were stylized, primitive symbols set in a...

Gouthière, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Gouthière, Pierre pyĕr go͞otyĕrˈ [key], 1732?–c.1813, French metalworker. The greatest artist of ornamental bronzes of the period of Louis XVI, he produced a vast number of superb cast and chis...

Dillinger, John

(Encyclopedia)Dillinger, John dĭlˈĭnjər [key], 1902–34, American bank robber, probably b. Indianapolis. Paroled after serving a prison term for attempted robbery, Dillinger organized a gang and terrorized the...

ermine

(Encyclopedia)ermine, name for a number of northern species of weasel having white coats in winter, and highly prized for their white fur. It most commonly refers to the white phase of Mustela erminea, called short...

erythema

(Encyclopedia)erythema ĕrˌəthēˈmə [key], more or less diffuse redness of the skin due to concentration of an abnormally large amount of blood within the small vessels of the skin (hyperemia), as in burns. Ery...

Dwight, Henry Otis

(Encyclopedia)Dwight, Henry Otis, 1843–1917, American missionary in Turkey, b. Constantinople, studied at Ohio Wesleyan Univ.; son of Harrison Gray Otis Dwight. In 1867 he returned to Constantinople as secular ag...

Kikai Caldera

(Encyclopedia)Kikai Caldera, massive caldera, c.12 mi (19 km) in diameter, Ryukyu Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located c.30 mi (48 km) from the southern tip of the densely populated major island of Kyushu,...

Stephens, John Lloyd

(Encyclopedia)Stephens, John Lloyd, 1805–52, American author and traveler, b. Shrewsbury, N.J., grad. Columbia College, 1822. His travels (1834–36) in Europe, the Middle East, and Central America provided the m...