Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

hall

(Encyclopedia)hall, a communicating passageway or, in medieval buildings, the large main room. In the feudal castle of N Europe it was a single apartment, and in it lord and retainers lounged, ate, and slept. From ...

Brady, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Brady, Samuel, 1758–95, American frontiersman. He fought in several battles of the American Revolution but earned his name as a scout in the Ohio country under Daniel Brodhead and Anthony Wayne. His...

Seydlitz, Friedrich Wilhelm, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Seydlitz, Friedrich Wilhelm, Freiherr von frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm frīˈhĕr fən zīdˈlĭts [key], 1721–73, Prussian general under Frederick II. He helped restore the effectiveness of the Prussia...

Matruh

(Encyclopedia)Matruh mätro͞oˈ [key], town (1986 pop. 43,157), NW Egypt, near the Mediterranean Sea. Built at the site of the Roman town of Paraetonium, it is located on the coast road and is on a railway that li...

Knyphausen, Wilhelm, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Knyphausen, Wilhelm, Baron von vĭlˈhĕlm bärônˈ fən kənüpˈhouzən [key], 1716–1800, German general in British service in the American Revolution. He served in the army of Frederick the Grea...

Wright, Carroll Davidson

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Carroll Davidson, 1840–1909, American statistician, b. Dunbarton, N.H. His varied experience included a term (1872–73) in the Massachusetts senate. As U.S. commissioner of labor he organiz...

Apraksin, Feodor Matveyevich

(Encyclopedia)Apraksin, Feodor Matveyevich fyôˈdər mətvyāˈəvĭch əpräkˈsyĭn [key], 1671–1728, Russian admiral. He helped Peter I (Peter the Great) create the Russian navy and won several naval battles ...

Taliesin

(Encyclopedia)Taliesin or Taliessin both: tălēĕsˈĭn [key], 6th cent.?, Welsh bard, whose Book of Taliesin is one of the great Welsh poetic works. The book exists only in a 13th-century form, but tradition plac...

Skåne

(Encyclopedia)Skåne skānˈyə, –ēə [key], historic province of extreme S Sweden, now included in Malmöhus co. Skåne, the scene of many battles, was held by Denmark until 1658, when it was conquered by Charl...

Jannequin, Clément

(Encyclopedia)Jannequin, Clément klāmäNˈ zhänəkăNˈ [key], c.1485–1558, French composer, famous for his descriptive four-part chansons about birds, battles, hunts, and other subjects. He also composed mote...