Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bay of Pigs Invasion

(Encyclopedia)Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961, an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, supported by the U.S. government. On Apr. 17, 1961, an armed force of about 1,500 Cuban exiles landed in the Bahía de Coc...

Peter III, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Peter III, 1728–62, czar of Russia (1762), son of Charles Frederick, dispossessed duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. He succeeded to the throne on the death...

Baltic Sea

(Encyclopedia)Baltic Sea, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.163,000 sq mi (422,170 sq km), including the Kattegat strait, its northwestern extension. The Øresund, Store Bælt, and Lille Bælt connect the Baltic Sea wit...

bustard quail

(Encyclopedia)bustard quail or button quail, any of the small ground-running Old World birds of the family Turnicidae. Also called a hemipode, it resembles a true quail in appearance and way of life but is more clo...

waxbill

(Encyclopedia)waxbill, common name for small, brightly colored weaver finches of the Estrildini tribe of the family Estrildidae. Most are African with the exception of two S Asian species of avadavats, and one Aust...

Gond

(Encyclopedia)Gond gŏnd [key], ethnic group of central India. The group is now found especially in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and in neighboring areas of Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Uttar P...

stavkirke

(Encyclopedia)stavkirke stäfˈkērˌkĕ [key] [Nor.], medieval wooden church building of Scandinavian countries. Of hundreds erected in the 11th, 12th, and 13th cent., only a score survive, and these are all in No...

Demetrius I, king of Macedon

(Encyclopedia)Demetrius I (Demetrius Poliorcetes) dĭmēˈtrēəs pŏlˌēôrsēˈtēz [key], c.337–283 b.c., king of Macedon. The son of Antigonus I, he proved himself a very able commander in his father's wars,...

Khan, Abdul Qadeer

(Encyclopedia)Khan, Abdul Qadeer (A. Q. Khan), 1936–, Pakistani metallurgical engineer, often called the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, b. Bhopal, India. He moved (1952) to Pakistan and studied at the D. J. Sc...

armor

(Encyclopedia)armor, apparatus for defense of persons, horses, and such objects as vehicles, naval vessels, and aircraft. Body armor developed early as protective suits made of such materials as leather, shells, wo...
 

Browse by Subject