Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

swimming

(Encyclopedia)swimming, self-propulsion through water, often as a form of recreation or exercise or as a competitive sport. It is mentioned in many of the classics in connection with heroic acts or religious rites....

chronicle

(Encyclopedia)chronicle, official record of events, set down in order of occurrence, important to the people of a nation, state, or city. Almanacs, The Congressional Record in the United States, and the Annual Regi...

dumb show

(Encyclopedia)dumb show, a theatrical pantomime included as part of a drama, especially in Elizabethan works, from the middle of the 16th cent. well into the 17th cent. Whether presented as a spectacle, with music,...

Abu Tammam Habib ibn Aus

(Encyclopedia)Abu Tammam Habib ibn Aus täm-mämˈ häbēbˈ ĭˈbən ous [key], c.805–c.845, Arab poet, compiler of the Hamasa. His poems of valor, often describing historical events, are important as source mat...

Africanus, Sextus Julius

(Encyclopedia)Africanus, Sextus Julius sĕkˈstəs jo͞olˈyəs ăfrĭkāˈnəs [key], c.160–c.240, Christian historian. He wrote Chronologia, a history of the world from the creation to 221. Tying together the e...

Brandon, city, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Brandon, city, SW Man., Canada, on the Assiniboine River. The business center of the wheat-raising area of SW Manitoba, Brandon has an extensive trade i...

Whistler, town, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Whistler, town (1990 est. pop. 4,459), SW B.C., W Canada, 60 mi (97 km) N of Vancouver, near Alta and Green lakes in Whistler Valley in the Coast Mts. A popular summer resort area since the 1920s, it ...

Thucydides

(Encyclopedia)Thucydides tho͞osĭdˈĭdēz [key], c.460–c.400 b.c., Greek historian of Athens, one of the greatest of ancient historians. His family was partly Thracian. As a general in the Peloponnesian War he ...

decathlon

(Encyclopedia)decathlon dĭkăthˈlŏn [key], in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. It consists of the long jump; the high jump; the discus throw; ...

Collins, Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Collins, Anthony, 1676–1729, English theologian; a friend of John Locke. He set forth the position of the deists and defended the cause of rational theology. His Discourse of Free Thinking (1713) wa...

Browse by Subject