Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Léger, Fernand

(Encyclopedia)Léger, Fernand fĕrnäNˈ lāzhāˈ [key], 1881–1955, French painter. Léger first studied architecture, then he began to paint, studying briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts. He became known for h...

Kupka, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Kupka, Frank or František fränˈtyĭshĕk ko͝opˈkä [key], 1871–1957, Czech painter, etcher, and illustrator. Kupka illustrated works by Reclus and Leconte de Lisle and an edition of Aristophane...

La Mettrie, Julien Offray de

(Encyclopedia)La Mettrie, Julien Offray de zhülyăNˈ ôfrāˈ də lä mĕtrēˈ [key], 1709–51, French physician and philosopher. On the basis of personal observation he claimed that psychical activity is purel...

Landshut

(Encyclopedia)Landshut läntsˈho͞ot [key], city (1994 pop. 59,640), Bavaria, SE Germany, on the Isar River. Once the capital of Lower Bavaria, it is now a transportation and industrial center. Manufactures includ...

Vincennes, town, France

(Encyclopedia)Vincennes văNsĕnˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 42,651), Val-de-Marne dept., N central France, an industrial and residential suburb E of Paris. Radio, electrical, and photographic equipment, machinery, an...

Vitebsk

(Encyclopedia)Vitebsk vēˈtĕpsk, vēˈtyĭpsk [key], city (1989 pop. 350,000), Belarusian Vitsyebsk, capital of Vitebsk region, N Belarus, on the Western Dvina River. It is a river port and large railroad junctio...

carbide

(Encyclopedia)carbide, any one of a group of compounds that contain carbon and one other element that is either a metal, boron, or silicon. Generally, a carbide is prepared by heating a metal, metal oxide, or metal...

Székesfehérvár

(Encyclopedia)Székesfehérvár sāˈkĕshfĕˌhârvär [key], Ger. Stuhlweissenburg, city (1991 est. pop. 109,100), W central Hungary. It is a county administrative center, a road and rail junction, and an industr...

Taichung

(Encyclopedia)Taichung or T'ai-chung both: tīˈjo͞ongˈ [key], special municipality (2010 pop. 2,731,056), 855 sq mi (2,214 sq km), W central Taiwan. It was created in 2010 by merging the city of Taichung with Ta...

Takeshita, Noboru

(Encyclopedia)Takeshita, Noboru täkĕshˈtä [key], 1924–2000, Japanese politician, b. Kakeya. The son of a sake brewer, he was first elected to parliament in 1958 and served as chief cabinet secretary, construc...

Browse by Subject