Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

aphasia

(Encyclopedia)aphasia əfāˈzhə [key], language disturbance caused by a lesion of the brain, making an individual partially or totally impaired in his ability to speak, write, or comprehend the meaning of spoken ...

Kennicott, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Kennicott, Benjamin kĕnˈĭkət, –kŏtˌ [key], 1718–83, English clergyman and biblical scholar. His long career at Oxford was one of devotion to learning. He was rector of Culham, Oxfordshire, f...

Peter II, king of Aragón

(Encyclopedia)Peter II, 1174–1213, king of Aragón (1196–1213) and count of Barcelona, son and successor of Alfonso II. He had himself crowned (1204) at Rome by Pope Innocent III, whom he accepted as overlord o...

pilot

(Encyclopedia)pilot, person responsible for safe navigation of a ship or airplane. A ship's pilot is an individual possessing local knowledge of coastal waters. Usually licensed by public authority (in the United S...

Mary of Burgundy

(Encyclopedia)Mary of Burgundy, 1457–82, wife of Maximilian of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I), daughter and heiress of Charles the Bold of Burgundy. The marriage of Mary was a major event in Euro...

Ashton-Warner, Sylvia

(Encyclopedia)Ashton-Warner, Sylvia, 1905–84, New Zealand British novelist and educator, b. Stratford, New Zealand. For years a teacher of Maori children, Ashton-Warner developed many stimulating educational meth...

Lockerbie

(Encyclopedia)Lockerbie lŏkˈərbē [key], village (1991 pop. 3,892), Dumfries and Galloway, S Scotland, site of a 1988 airplane crash. On Dec. 21, 1988, a New York–bound Pan Am Boeing 747 exploded in flight as ...

Mboya, Thomas Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Mboya, Thomas Joseph mboiˈə [key], 1930–69, Kenyan political leader. The son of a Luo farmer, he was born in the “white highlands” of Kenya and educated at Roman Catholic mission schools. Earl...

Holinshed, Raphael

(Encyclopedia)Holinshed, Raphael hŏlˈĭnz-hĕdˌ, hŏlˈĭn-shĕdˌ [key], d. c.1580, English chronicler. He was a translator who also assisted Reginald Wolfe in the preparation of a universal history, which was ...

Eugene IV

(Encyclopedia)Eugene IV, 1383–1447, pope (1431–47), a Venetian named Gabriele Condulmer; successor of Martin V. He was of exemplary character and ascetic habits. Gregory XII, his uncle, made him cardinal (1408)...