Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Annapurna ən-nəpo͝orˈnə [key], massif of the Himalayas, N central Nepal, forming a ridge 35 mi (56 km) long, including two of the highest peaks in the world, Annapurna I (26,502 ft/8,078 m) in th...

(Encyclopedia) Chaldaea or Chaldea both: kăldēˈə [key], properly the southernmost portion of the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. Sometimes it is extended to include Babylonia and thus comprises al...

(Encyclopedia) Ecbatana ĕkbătˈənə, ĕkbətäˈnə [key], capital of ancient Media, later the summer residence of Achaemenid and Parthian kings, beautifully situated at the foot of Mt. Elvend and NE of Behistun....

(Encyclopedia) Smerdis smûrˈdĭs [key], d. c.528 b.c., second son of Cyrus the Great, king of Persia. He is also called Bardiya. He was assassinated by his brother Cambyses II, who kept the murder a secret. Patizi...

(Encyclopedia) Scudéry, Madeleine de zhôrzh [key], 1601–67, who was probably only a secondary collaborator. Georges wrote plays and other works and actively attacked Corneille's Cid. ...

(Encyclopedia)  Bassett, Angela Evelyn 1958- , American actress, b. New York, N.Y., Yale Univ. (B.A., 1980; M.F.A., 1983; D.F.A. (2018, hon.). Bassett’s parents ...

(Encyclopedia) Pierce, John, 1910–2002, American electrical engineer, b. Des Moines, Iowa, grad. California Institute of Technology (Ph.D. 1936). Pierce worked at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he proposed...

(Encyclopedia) Weissman, Drew 1959–, b. Lexington, Mass., American Immunologist, studied at Brandeis University (B.A., M.A., 1981) and Boston University (M.D, Ph.D.,...

(Encyclopedia) Kura ko͝oräˈ [key], ancient Cyrus, Georgian Mktvari, Azeri Kür, river, c.950 mi (1,530 km) long, the chief river of Georgia and Azerbaijan. It rises in NE Turkey, NW of Kars, and flows NE into Geo...

(Encyclopedia) Harris, William Torrey, 1835–1909, American educator and philosopher, b. Windham co., Conn., educated at Yale. He was superintendent (1868–80) of the St. Louis public school system and was U.S. co...