Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Sargent, Henry, 1770–1845, American genre and portrait painter, b. Gloucester, Mass., studied in London with Benjamin West. He was skilled in the rendering of textures and accessories. Fine examples...

(Encyclopedia) Goucher College gouˈchər [key], at Towson, Md., formerly at Baltimore; inc. 1885, opened 1888 by Methodists as a college for women, coeducational since 1987. It is named after John Franklin Goucher ...

(Encyclopedia) Muslim mŭzˈlĭm [key] [Arab.,=one who surrenders (himself to God), an agent form of the verb of which Islam is a verbal noun], one who has embraced Islam, a follower of Muhammad. The form Moslem is ...

(Encyclopedia) Albumazar älˌbo͞omäˈzər [key], 805?–885, Arab astronomer, more fully Abu-Mashar Jafar ibn Muhammad. In his De magnis conjunctionibus he claimed that the world had been created when the seven p...

(Encyclopedia) Baphomet băfˈəmĕt [key], idol or mystical figure that the Knights Templars were accused of worshiping in the 14th cent. Apparently the name was unknown before that time in Western demonology. Its ...

(Encyclopedia) Shafi'i, al- (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i), 767–820, Islamic jurist. Raised and educated in Mecca and Medina, he taught in Egypt and Baghdad. His teachings laid the groundwork for the...

(Encyclopedia) Fatima fătˈĭmə, fäˈtĭmə, fətēˈmə [key], 616?–633?, daughter of Muhammad by his first wife, Khadija. Fatima was the wife of Ali, the mother of Hasan and Husein, and reputedly the ancestre...

(Encyclopedia) Ferrier, Kathleen, 1912–53, British contralto, b. Higher Walton, Lancashire. Ferrier began voice lessons at 25. She became known for her rich, expressive, and remarkably low voice. Her celebrated pe...

(Encyclopedia) Rusk, Jeremiah McLain, 1830–93, American political leader, b. Malta, Ohio. He became a farmer in Wisconsin, where he entered politics and held numerous offices. After serving in the Civil War, he wa...

(Encyclopedia) Babism bäˈbĭzəm [key], system of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz. Influenced by the Shaykhi Shiite theology that viewed the Twelve Imams as incarnations of the Div...