Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

270 results found

South African literature

(Encyclopedia)South African literature, literary works written in South Africa or written by South Africans living in other countries. Populated by diverse ethnic and language groups, South Africa has a distinctive...

hymn

(Encyclopedia)hymn, song of praise, devotion, or thanksgiving, especially of a religious character (see also cantata). Early Christian hymnody consisted mainly of the Psalms and the great canticles Nunc dimittis, M...

Napoleon I

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Napoleonic Europe (1812) Napoleon I nəpōˈlēən, Fr. näpôlāōNˈ [key], 1769–1821, emperor of the French, b. Ajaccio, Corsica, known as “the Little Corporal.” The Napoleonic...

Persian literature

(Encyclopedia)Persian literature, literary writings in the Persian language, nearly all of it written in the area traditionally known as Persia, now Iran. The 15th cent. period of the second Turko-Tartar invasi...

Monroe Doctrine

(Encyclopedia)Monroe Doctrine, principle of American foreign policy enunciated in President James Monroe's message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1823. It initially called for an end to European intervention in the Americas,...

Rubens, Peter Paul

(Encyclopedia)Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577–1640, foremost Flemish painter of the 17th cent., b. Siegen, Westphalia, where his family had gone into exile because of his father's Calvinist beliefs. Almost every princ...

Djibouti, country, Africa

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Djibouti jēbo͞otēˈ [key], officially Republic of Djibouti, republic (2015 est. pop. 828,000), c.8,900 sq mi (23,057 sq km), E Africa, on the Gulf of Aden. It is bounded by Eritrea (N), Ethi...

World Trade Center

(Encyclopedia)World Trade Center, former building complex in lower Manhattan, New York City, consisting of seven buildings and a shopping concourse on a 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site; it was destroyed by a terrorist a...

Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3d Earl

(Encyclopedia)Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3d Earl, 1872–1970, British philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer, b. Trelleck, Wales. As with his philosophical stance, Russell's positions on ...

Eisenhower, Dwight David

(Encyclopedia)Eisenhower, Dwight David īˈzənhouˌər [key], 1890–1969, American general and 34th President of the United States, b. Denison, Tex.; his nickname was “Ike.” In his farewell address as pr...
 

Browse by Subject