Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bernese mountain dog bərnēzˈ [key], breed of sturdy working dog first brought to Switzerland by the invading Roman armies over two millennia ago. It stands from 23 to 27 in. (58–69 cm) high at th...

(Encyclopedia) Ryman, Robert Tracy, 1930–2019, American painter, b. Nashville, Tenn. While working (1953–60) as a guard at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City he was immersed in modern and contemporary wor...

(Encyclopedia) sparrow, common name of various small brown-and-gray perching birds. New World birds called sparrows are members of the finch family. They were named for their resemblance to the English sparrow and t...

(Encyclopedia) bunting, common name for small, plump birds of the family Fringillidae (finch family). Among the American buntings are the indigo bunting, in which the summer plumage of the male reflects sunlight as ...

(Encyclopedia) egret ēgrĕtˈ [key], common name for several species of herons of the Old and New Worlds, belonging to the family Ardeidae. Before they were protected by law the birds were nearly exterminated by hu...

(Encyclopedia) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organization composed mainly of American blacks, but with many white members, whose goal is the end of racial discrimination and seg...

(Encyclopedia) mystery or mystery story, literary genre in which the cause (or causes) of a mysterious happening, often a crime, is gradually revealed by the hero or heroine; this is accomplished through a mixture o...

(Encyclopedia) Lincoln sheep, very large-bodied, white-faced, hornless breed having coarse wool, developed in England. It has made considerable contributions to the American sheep industry in the parentage of other ...

(Encyclopedia) wine, alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of the juice of the grape. Wine is so ancient that its origin is unknown. The earliest archaeological evidence of winemaking dates to 8,000 years ago,...

(Encyclopedia) Kem kĕm [key], river, c.240 mi (390 km) long, Karelia, NW European Russia. It rises SE of Kuusamo, Finland, and flows E into the White Sea. ...