Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Maginot Line măzhˈĭnō, Fr. mäzhēnōˈ [key], system of fortifications along the eastern frontier of France, extending from the Swiss border to the Belgian. It was named for André Maginot, who w...

(Encyclopedia) Ness, Loch lŏkh [key], lake, 22 mi (35 km) long, Highland, N central Scotland, in the Great Glen. More than 700 ft (213 m) deep and ice free, it is fed by the Oich and other streams and drained by th...

(Encyclopedia) Ayeyarwady ĭrəwŏdˈē [key], chief river of Myanmar, c.1,000 mi (1,600 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Mali and Nmai rivers in N Myanmar. The combined stream flows south through gorges st...

(Encyclopedia) Marius, Caius mârˈēəs [key], c.157 b.c.–86 b.c., Roman general. A plebeian, he became tribune (119 b.c.) and praetor (115 b.c.) and was seven times consul. He served under Scipio Africanus Minor...

(Encyclopedia) Medan mādänˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 1,730,052), capital of North Sumatra prov., NE Sumatra, Indonesia, on the Deli River, c.15 mi (25 km) from its mouth, where the city's port (Belawan) is situated...

(Encyclopedia) Bonneville Salt Flats bŏnˈəvĭl, bŏˈnēvĭl, bŏnˈvĭl [key], desert area in Tooele co., NW Utah, c.14 mi (22.5 km) long and 7 mi (11.2 km) wide. The smooth salt surface of the Flats is ideal fo...

(Encyclopedia) Bossuet, Jacques Bénigne zhäk bānēˈnyə bôsüāˈ [key], 1627–1704, French prelate, one of the greatest orators in French history. At an early age he was made a canon at Metz; he became bishop...

(Encyclopedia) Alabama claims, claims made by the U.S. government against Great Britain for the damage inflicted on Northern merchant ships during the American Civil War by the Alabama and other Confederate cruisers...

(Encyclopedia) Thorndike, Edward Lee thôrnˈdīk [key], 1874–1949, American educator and psychologist, b. Williamsburg, Mass., grad. Wesleyan Univ., 1895, and Harvard, 1896, Ph.D. Columbia, 1898. Appointed instru...

(Encyclopedia) Bellini, Vincenzo vēnchānˈtsō bĕl-lēˈnē [key], 1801–35, Italian opera composer. He acquired his musical training from his grandfather and father, and began composing religious and secular mu...