Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

secret police

(Encyclopedia)secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. Many states, including Chile, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Romania,...

folktale

(Encyclopedia)folktale, general term for any of numerous varieties of traditional narrative. The telling of stories appears to be a cultural universal, common to pre-industrial, ancient, and more modern and develop...

Conway of Allington, William Martin Conway, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Conway of Allington, William Martin Conway, 1st Baron, 1856–1937, English explorer, art historian, and writer. Conway filled several university positions and in 1918–31 represented the combined En...

America, in geography

(Encyclopedia)America [for Amerigo Vespucci], the lands of the Western Hemisphere—North America, Central (or Middle) America, and South America. The world map published in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller is the fir...

Sokoloff, Nicolai

(Encyclopedia)Sokoloff, Nicolai nyĭkəlīˈ sōˈkəlôfˌ [key], 1886–1965, American conductor and violinist, b. near Kiev, Russia. After studying at Yale and under Charles Martin Loeffler, he toured France and...

Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von

(Encyclopedia)Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von bĕrnˈhärt hīnˈrĭkh märˈtĭn fŭrst fən büˈlō [key], 1849–1929, German chancellor. He held many diplomatic posts before he became, through the...

Catullus

(Encyclopedia)Catullus (Caius Valerius Catullus) kətŭlˈəs [key], 84? b.c.–54? b.c., Roman poet, b. Verona. Of a well-to-do family, he went c.62 b.c. to Rome. He fell deeply in love, probably with Clodia, sist...

Perkin, Sir William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Perkin, Sir William Henry, 1838–1907, English chemist. In 1856 he discovered the first aniline dye (aniline purple, known as mauve and mauveine); by founding a factory to make it, Perkin established...

King, William, English poet

(Encyclopedia)King, William, 1663–1712, English poet. He supported the Tory and High Church party. He is noted for his humorous and satirical writings, which include Dialogues of the Dead (attacks against Richard...
 

Browse by Subject