Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gama, Vasco da

(Encyclopedia)Gama, Vasco da văˈskō də găˈmə, Port. väshˈkō dä gäˈmə [key], c.1469–1524, Portuguese navigator, the first European to journey by sea to India. His epochal voyage (1497–99) was made ...

John IV, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)John IV, 1604–56, king of Portugal (1640–56). He succeeded as duke of Braganza in 1630. Descended from Manuel I and in illegitimate line from John I, he had the strongest claim to the Portuguese t...

Juncker, Jean-Claude

(Encyclopedia)Juncker, Jean-Claude, 1954–, Luxembourg political leader. A member of the Christian Social People's party, he was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1984. Juncker served as minister of labo...

Puerto Montt

(Encyclopedia)Puerto Montt mōnt [key], city (1992 pop. 130,730), capital of Los Lagos region, S central Chile, a port on Ancud Gulf, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. It is the southern terminus of Chile's mainland r...

Alemán, Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Alemán, Miguel mēgĕlˈ älāmänˈ [key], 1902–83, president of Mexico (1946–52). Son of a revolutionary general, Alemán became a highly successful lawyer and a champion of Mexican labor. He w...

Belmonte, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Belmonte, Juan hwän bĕlmōnˈtā [key], 1892–1962, Spanish matador, b. Seville. He is generally considered the greatest matador of all time, as remarkable for the poetry of his motion in the bullr...

Cartes Jara, Horacio Manuel

(Encyclopedia)Cartes Jara, Horacio Manuel, 1956–, Paraguayan businessman and political leader. The son of a businessman who owned an aircraft franchise, Cartes studied aviation in the United States. At 19 he inve...

Lourenço, João Manuel Gonçalves

(Encyclopedia)Lourenço, João Manuel Gonçalves, 1954–, Angolan political leader and military officer. A member of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), he fought against the Portuguese in th...

Lombardo Toledano, Vicente

(Encyclopedia)Lombardo Toledano, Vicente vēsānˈtā lōmbärˈdō tōlāᵺäˈnō [key], 1894–1968, Mexican labor leader. A successful lawyer, he became (1920) governor of the state of Puebla. In 1921 he joine...

John II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)John II (John the Perfect), 1455–95, king of Portugal (1481–95), son and successor of Alfonso V. He was an astute politician and statesman and a patron of Renaissance art and learning. He reduced ...
 

Browse by Subject