Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) week, period of time shorter than the month, commonly seven days. The ancient Egyptians used a 10-day period, as did the French under the short-lived French Revolutionary calendar. In many regions a f...

(Encyclopedia) asperges əspûrˈjəs [key], ceremonial sprinkling of the people with holy water by the priest before the Sunday High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church. The accompanying antiphon begins, Asperges me,...

(Encyclopedia) Charles, river, c.60 mi (97 km) long, rising in E Mass. and flowing generally NE to Boston Bay; it separates Boston from Cambridge. Extensive development to the riverfront includes the Esplanade, a se...

(Encyclopedia) Kermadec Islands kərmădˈĕk [key], almost uninhabited, active volcanic group (c.13 sq mi/34 sq km), South Pacific, 450 mi (720 km) NE of New Zealand, of which they are a dependency. Raoul, or Sunda...

(Encyclopedia) Gillespie, Dizzy (John Birks Gillespie) gəlĕsˈpē [key], 1917–93, American jazz musician and composer, b. Cheraw, S.C. He began to play the trumpet at 15 and later studied harmony and theory at L...

(Encyclopedia) Hosanna hōzănˈə [key] [Heb.,=save now; Psalm 118], an intensified imperative, a cry, addressed to God, particularly used in the Feast of Tabernacles, when prayers for rain were offered. In the New...

(Encyclopedia) ember days, in the Western Church, traditionally the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following the first Sunday in Lent; Whitsunday; Sept. 14 (Exaltation of the Cross); and Dec. 13 (St. Lucy's Day). T...

(Encyclopedia) Bradbury, William Batchelder băchˈəldər [key], 1816–68, American hymn composer and music editor, b. York, Maine; pupil of Lowell Mason. He organized the Juvenile Music Festivals in New York, and...

(Encyclopedia) Steinbrenner, George Michael, 3d, 1930–2010, American businessman, principal owner of the New York Yankees (1973–2010), b. Rocky River, Ohio, grad. Williams College (B.A., 1952). A wealthy shippin...

(Encyclopedia) blue laws, legislation regulating public and private conduct, especially laws relating to Sabbath observance. The term was originally applied to the 17th-century laws of the theocratic New Haven colon...