Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Aha of Shabcha äˈkhī [key], c.680–c.762, Babylonian rabbi. He settled (c.752) in Palestine after being passed over for appointment as head of the rabbinic academy of Pumbedita for political reaso...

(Encyclopedia) Catawba kətôˈbə [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They have for centuries occupied a r...

(Encyclopedia) Charron, Pierre pyĕr shärôNˈ [key], 1541–1603, French Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher. He was an important contributor to 17th-century theological thought, combining an individual form...

(Encyclopedia) Huskisson, William hŭsˈkĭsən [key], 1770–1830, British statesman. First elected to Parliament in 1796, he was secretary of the treasury (1804–5, 1807–9) but resigned with his close associate...

(Encyclopedia) Ignatiev, Nikolai Pavlovich, Count nyĭkəlīˈ pävˈləvĭch ĭgnäˈtyəf [key], 1832–1908, Russian diplomat. He was sent to China as an envoy in 1859. There he played the Chinese against the Bri...

(Encyclopedia) basset hound, breed of short-legged, long-bodied hound developed centuries ago in France. It stands from 12 to 15 in. (30.1–38.1 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 25 to 50 lb (11.3–22.7 kg)...

(Encyclopedia) Zhivkov, Todor tôˈdôr zhĭvkôfˈ [key], 1911–98, Bulgarian political leader. A printer, and a Communist party member from 1932, he rose to prominence as a partisan leader during World War II and...

(Encyclopedia) suspension, in automobiles, system of springs used to suspend the frame, body, engine, and power train above the wheels. Its principal purpose is to lessen the jarring of the automobile that is caused...

(Encyclopedia) Queloz, Didier Patrick, 1966–, Swiss astronomer, Ph.D. Univ. of Geneva, 1995. He has been a member of the faculty at the Univ. of Geneva since 2003 (professor from 2008) and since 2013 also has been...

(Encyclopedia) Tisza, Kálmán kälˈmän tĭˈsŏ [key], 1830–1902, Hungarian premier (1875–90), of an old Calvinist family. He entered politics in the Hungarian revolution of Mar., 1848. Elected (1861) to the ...