Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) cutlery, various types of implements for cutting, preparing, and eating food. In addition to different kinds of knives and the steels to sharpen them, the term usually encompasses forks and spoons. Th...

(Encyclopedia) Stella, Frank, 1936–, American artist, b. Malden, Mass. In his early “black paintings” Stella exhibits the precision and rationality that characterized minimalism, employing parallel angular str...

(Encyclopedia) vase, vessel of pottery, glass, metal, stone, wood, or synthetic material. The pottery vase was anciently employed as a container for water (a hydria), wine and other products (an amphora), or oil (a ...

(Encyclopedia) geodesy jēŏdˈĭsē [key] or geodetic surveying, theory and practice of determining the position of points on the earth's surface and the dimensions of areas so large that the curvature of the earth...

(Encyclopedia) Lipton, Sir Thomas Johnstone, 1850–1931, Scottish merchant and yachting enthusiast. After spending several years in the United States he returned (1869) to his native Glasgow and opened a small groc...

(Encyclopedia) Muratori, Ludovico Antonio lo͞odōvēˈkō äntôˈnyō mo͞orätôˈrē [key], 1672–1750, Italian historian, a Roman Catholic priest. One of the foremost scholars of his age, he was long archivist...

(Encyclopedia) Maiden Castle, prehistoric fortress, Dorset, S England, near Dorchester. The finest earthwork in the British Isles, c.120 acres (50 hectares) in area, is there. Two sets of large-scale excavations at ...

(Encyclopedia) Hilda, Saint, 614–80, English abbess of Whitby, princess of Northumbria. She became a Christian at the age of 13 and a nun at 33. About 647 she set out for a convent in France, but was recalled by S...

(Encyclopedia) Öland öˈländ [key], narrow island (1995 pop. 25,690), 520 sq mi (1,347 sq km), Kalmar co., SE Sweden, in the Baltic Sea, separated from mainland Sweden by the Kalmarsund. Borgholm is the chief tow...

(Encyclopedia) Marston, John Westland, 1819–90, English playwright and critic. Although his poetic dramas, including The Patrician's Daughter (1842) and The Favourite of Fortune (1866), were popular, he is more no...