Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Schwarzenberg, Felix, Fürst zu fāˈlĭks fürst tso͞o shvärˈtsənbĕrk [key], 1800–1852, Austrian premier; nephew of Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg. A soldier and diplomat, he was named (Nov., 1...

(Encyclopedia) Ramos, Fidel Valdez fēdĕlˈ väldĕsˈ räˈmōs [key], 1928–, Philippine general and politician, president of the Philippines (1992–98), b. Lingayen. A career army officer, he became deputy chi...

(Encyclopedia) semiotics or semiology, discipline deriving from the American logician C. S. Peirce and the French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. It has come to mean generally the study of any cultural product (e.g....

(Encyclopedia) Naples, kingdom of, former state, occupying the Italian peninsula south of the former Papal States. It comprised roughly the present regions of Campania, Abruzzi, Molise, Basilicata, Apulia, and Calab...

(Encyclopedia) Wettin vĕtˈĭn [key], German dynasty, which ruled in Saxony, Thuringia, Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, and Bulgaria. It takes its name from a castle on the Saale near Halle. The family gained promi...

(Encyclopedia) Katharine of Aragón, 1485–1536, first queen consort of Henry VIII of England; daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragón and Isabella of Castile. In 1501 she was married to Arthur, eldest son of Henry VII...

(Encyclopedia) Regensburg rāˈgənsbo͝orkh [key], city (1994 pop. 125,337), Bavaria, SE Germany, a port at the confluence of the Danube (Donau) and Regen rivers. In English it is known as Ratisbon. The city is a c...

(Encyclopedia) aerial and satellite photography, technology and science of taking still or moving-picture photographs from a camera mounted on a balloon, airplane, satellite, rocket, or spacecraft. In the 19th cent....

(Encyclopedia) Tuscany tŭsˈkənē [key], Ital. Toscana, region (1991 pop. 3,538,619), 8,876 sq mi (22,989 sq km), N central Italy, bordering on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west and including the Tuscan Archipelago. ...

(Encyclopedia) Medici mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], Italian family that directed the destinies of Florence from the 15th cent. until 1737. Of obscure origin, they rose to immense wealth as merchants and ba...