Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin mēˈnē, mēˈnē, tēˈkəl, yo͞ofärˈsĭn [key], in the Bible, the mysterious riddle written by a hand on the wall at Belshazzar's feast. These Aramaic words may be tr...

(Encyclopedia) Hicks, Thomas, 1823–90, American portrait painter, b. Newtown, Pa. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and abroad, where he lived for several years. He settled in New York City i...

(Encyclopedia) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1891 when businessman Charles Norman Fay invited the German-born conductor Theodore Thomas to establish and lead a new city orchestra; he conducted it until his ...

(Encyclopedia) Aram, Eugene āˈrəm [key], 1704–59, English philologist, b. Yorkshire. A self-taught linguist, Aram was the first to identify the Celtic languages as related to the other languages of Europe. In 1...

(Encyclopedia) Amherst. 1 Town (2020 pop. 39,263), Hampshire co., central Mass., in a fertile farm area; inc. 1759. Named for Lord Jeffery Amherst, it is a college town. Emily Dickinson was born an...

(Encyclopedia) Rethel, Alfred älˈfrĕt rāˈtəl [key], 1816–59, German historical painter and draftsman. He gained a reputation in Frankfurt, where he painted Daniel in the Lions' Den and Guardian Angel of Empe...

(Encyclopedia) Flint, Timothy, 1780–1840, American author, b. North Reading, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1800, and entered the ministry. As a missionary he traveled up and down the Mississippi valley from 1815 until 182...

(Encyclopedia) Mason, Lowell, 1792–1872, American composer and music educator, b. Medfield, Mass. While working as a bank clerk in Savannah, Ga., he helped compile an anthology that was published as The Boston Han...

(Encyclopedia) Sheppard, Jack, 1702–24, English criminal. Raised in a workhouse, he ran away with Bess Lyon, known as Edgeworth Bess, who, with another girl known as Poll Maggott, incited him to a short but specta...

(Encyclopedia) Hardin, John, 1753–92, Native American fighter, b. Fauquier co., Va. He served in Lord Dunmore's War (1774) and was a noted member of Daniel Morgan's riflemen during the Revolution. His services at ...