Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Exeter Book, manuscript volume of Old English religious and secular poetry, of various dates of composition, compiled c.975 and given to Exeter Cathedral by Bishop Leofric (d. 1072). See edition by G...

(Encyclopedia) Hazare, Anna, 1937–, Indian social activist, b. Kisan Baburao Hazare. He served (1963–75) in the army then, inspired by the teachings of Vivekananda, devoted himself to social causes. Promoting wa...

(Encyclopedia) hail, precipitation in the form of pellets composed of ice or of ice and snow, occurring at any time of the year, usually during the passage of a cold front or during a thunderstorm. Small hailstones ...

(Encyclopedia) Hazlitt, William, 1778–1830, English essayist. The son of a reform-mindeed Unitarian minister, he abandoned the idea of entering the clergy and took up painting, philosophy, and later journalism. He...

(Encyclopedia) Billy the Kid, 1859–81, American outlaw, b. New York City. His real name was probably Henry McCarty; he was known as William H. Bonney. His family moved to Kansas and then to New Mexico when he was ...

(Encyclopedia) Maine de Biran mĕn də bēräNˈ [key], 1766–1824, French philosopher, member of the Council of Five Hundred (1797), and councilor of state (1816). His real name was Marie François Pierre Gonthier...

(Encyclopedia) Trikora Peak, 15,518 ft (4,730 m) high, in the Jayawijaya Mts., Papua prov., Indonesia, the third highest peak in Indonesia. The snow-covered peak was formerly called Mt. Wilhelmina. ...

(Encyclopedia) Murdoch, Dame Iris (Dame Jean Iris Murdoch) mûrˈdŏk [key], 1919–99, British novelist and philosopher, b. Dublin, Ireland, grad. Oxford (1942). In 1948 she was named lecturer in philosophy at Oxfo...

(Encyclopedia) country music, American popular music form originating in the Southern and Western United States. Country music is directly descended from the folk songs, ballads, and popular songs of the English, Sc...

(Encyclopedia) leopard, large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera pardus, widely distributed in Africa and Asia. It is commonly yellow, buff, or gray, patterned with black spots and rings. The rings, unlike those ...