Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

462 results found

Meuse, river, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)Meuse myo͞oz, Fr. möz [key], Du. Maas, river, c.560 mi (900 km) long, rising in the Langres Plateau, NE France and flowing N past Sedan (the head of navigation) and Charleville-Mézières into S Bel...

Della Robbia

(Encyclopedia)Della Robbia dĕlˌə rŏbˈēə, Ital. dĕlˈlä rôbˈbyä [key], Florentine family of sculptors and ceramists famous for their enameled terra-cotta or faience. Many of the Della Robbia pieces are s...

Sacks, Oliver Wolf

(Encyclopedia)Sacks, Oliver Wolf, 1933–2015, British neurologist and author, b. London, educated at Queen's College, Oxford. In 1960 he moved to the United States, where he continued his medical training. He bega...

photoelectric effect

(Encyclopedia)photoelectric effect, emission of electrons by substances, especially metals, when light falls on their surfaces. The effect was discovered by H. R. Hertz in 1887. The failure of the classical theory ...

Bailey, F. Lee

(Encyclopedia) Bailey, F. Lee (Francis Lee Bailey), 1933-2021, American lawyer, b. Waltham, Ma., Boston Univ. Law School (J.D., 1960). Bailey attended Harvard for two...

Oran

(Encyclopedia)Oran ôräNˈ [key], city (1998 pop. 692,516), capital of Oran prov., NW Algeria, a port on the Gulf of Oran of the Mediterranean Sea. One of the country's leading ports, it ships wheat, wine, alcohol...

Trent Affair

(Encyclopedia)Trent Affair, incident in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Great Britain, which occurred during the American Civil War. On Nov. 8, 1861, the British mail packet Trent, carrying J...

californium

(Encyclopedia)californium kălˈĭfôrˌnēəm [key] [from California], artificially produced, radioactive metallic chemical element; symbol Cf; at. no. 98; mass no. of most stable isotope 251; m.p. about 900℃; b...

Hohenzollern, German princely family

(Encyclopedia)Hohenzollern hōˌən-tsôlˈərn [key], German princely family that ruled Brandenburg (1415–1918), Prussia (1525–1918), and Germany (1871–1918). Originating in S Germany and traceable to the 11...

Maastricht

(Encyclopedia)Maastricht mäsˈtrĭkhtˌ [key], city (1994 pop. 118,102), capital of Limburg prov., SE Netherlands, on the Maas (Meuse) River and on the Albert Canal system. It is an important rail and river transp...
 

Browse by Subject