Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

nutcracker

(Encyclopedia)nutcracker, common name for a small crow of the genus Nucifraga in the family Corvidae (crow family). The Old World nutcracker (N. caryocatactes) is found throughout the colder regions of Europe, incl...

Milne, A. A.

(Encyclopedia)Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander Milne) mĭln, mĭl [key], 1882–1956, English author. Milne began his literary career as a journalist and later became a regular contributor to Punch. He is best known fo...

Muhammad V, Ottoman sultan

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad V or Mehmet V, 1844–1918, Ottoman sultan (1909–18). He succeeded to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) when the liberal Young Turk revolution of 1909 deposed his brother, Abd al-Ha...

Mark, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Mark, Saint [Lat. Marcus], Christian apostle, traditional author of the 2d Gospel (see Mark, Gospel according to). His full name was John Mark. His mother, named Mary, had a house in Jerusalem, which ...

Montagu, Ashley

(Encyclopedia)Montagu, Ashley (Montague Francis Ashley Montagu) ăshˈlē mäntˈəgyü [key], 1905–99, British-American anthropologist, b. London as Israel Ehrenberg, Ph.D. Columbia Univ., 1937. He was assistant...

Pickford, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Pickford, Mary, 1893–1979, American movie actress, b. Toronto, Ont. In 1909 she began working with D. W. Griffith. Specializing in playing young girls, she was dubbed “America's Sweetheart.” Her...

Conradin

(Encyclopedia)Conradin kŏnˈrədĭn [key], 1252–68, duke of Swabia, titular king of Jerusalem and Sicily, the last legitimate Hohenstaufen, son of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad IV. While Conradin was still a child i...

Cradle of Humankind

(Encyclopedia)Cradle of Humankind, extensive archaeological site, c.180 sq mi (470 sq km), encompassing dolomitic limestone caves containing numerous hominin fossils, Gauteng and North West prov., South Africa, c.3...

Curran, John Philpot

(Encyclopedia)Curran, John Philpot kŭrˈən [key], 1750–1817, Irish statesman and orator. He became the best-known trial lawyer in Dublin when he was still very young and entered the Irish Parliament in 1783. He...

Alfonso VI, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso VI, 1643–83, king of Portugal (1656–83), son and successor of John IV. Slightly paralyzed and mentally defective, he led a dissolute youth until he came under the influence of the count of...
 

Browse by Subject