Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ripley, Robert LeRoy

(Encyclopedia)Ripley, Robert LeRoy, 1890–1949, American cartoonist, b. Santa Rosa, Calif., as Leroy Robert Ripley. The creator of the Believe It or Not! newspaper cartoon, Ripley began his career at 16 as a sport...

Soest

(Encyclopedia)Soest zōst [key], city (1994 pop. 44,917), North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany. It is a manufacturing city and an agricultural trade center. Known in the 7th cent., Soest is one of the oldest cities ...

Schadow, Johann Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Schadow, Johann Gottfried yōˈhän gôtˈfrēt shäˈdôf [key], 1764–1850, German sculptor of the neoclassical school. He studied in Rome. In 1788 he returned to Berlin, where he became court scul...

Tara

(Encyclopedia)Tara târˈə [key], village, Co. Meath, E Republic of Ireland. The Hill of Tara (507 ft/155 m high) was the seat of the high kings of Ireland from ancient times until the 6th cent. and may have been ...

Luke, Gospel according to Saint

(Encyclopedia)Luke, Gospel according to Saint, third book of the New Testament. It was composed in the second half of the 1st cent. Since the 2d cent. it and the Acts of the Apostles have been ascribed to St. Luke;...

Ayrault, Jean-Marc

(Encyclopedia)Ayrault, Jean-Marc zhäN-märk āˈrō [key], 1950–, French politician. The son of a textile worker, he graduated (1971) from Nantes Univ. Obtaining (1972) his teaching diploma, from 1973 to 1986 he...

Crocker, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Crocker, Charles, 1822–88, American railroad builder, b. Troy, N.Y. In 1836 he moved with his family to Marshall co., Ind., where he later set up a small foundry. He joined a party to seek gold in C...

sumptuary laws

(Encyclopedia)sumptuary laws sŭmpˈcho͞oĕˌrē [key], regulations based on social, religious, or moral grounds directed against overindulgence of luxury in diet and drink and extravagance in dress and mode of li...

Rackham, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Rackham, Arthur răkˈəm [key], 1867–1939, English illustrator and watercolorist. He is known for imaginative, delicately colored, and cheerful pen drawings, especially for children's books. Among ...

Minnesota, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Minnesota, river, 332 mi (534 km) long, rising in Big Stone Lake at the W boundary of Minnesota and flowing SE to Mankato, then NE to the Mississippi S of Minneapolis. Earlier called the St. Peter or ...
 

Browse by Subject