Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Lefort, François fräNswäˈ ləfôrˈ [key], 1656–99, Swiss soldier of fortune in Russian service, b. Geneva. He was one of the early boon companions of Peter I (Peter the Great) and remained Pete...

(Encyclopedia) Phelps, Edward John, 1822–1900, American lawyer and diplomat, b. Middlebury, Vt. He attended (1841–42) Yale law school, was admitted (1843) to the bar, and practiced law in Vermont and later in Ne...

(Encyclopedia) Shore, Jane, or Elizabeth Shore, d. 1527?, mistress of Edward IV of England. The wife of William Shore, a goldsmith, she became c.1470 mistress to Edward IV and exerted a great influence over the king...

(Encyclopedia) Trent Affair, incident in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Great Britain, which occurred during the American Civil War. On Nov. 8, 1861, the British mail packet Trent, carrying J...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Atlantic Ocean [Lat.,=of Atlas], second largest ocean (c.31,800,000 sq mi/82,362,000 sq km; c.36,000,000 sq mi/93,240,000 sq km with marginal seas). The North Atlantic Ocean has some of the w...

(Encyclopedia) rhinoceros, massive hoofed mammal of Africa, India, and SE Asia, characterized by a snout with one or two horns. The rhinoceros family, along with the horse and tapir families, forms the order of odd-...

(Encyclopedia) Lothair, 941–86, French king (954–86), son and successor of King Louis IV. During the early part of his reign he was dominated by Hugh the Great. Even after Hugh's death he was involved in conflic...

(Encyclopedia) Picard, Jean, 1620–82, French astronomer, noted for having made the first accurate measurement of a degree of the earth's meridian. The figures he established were of great value to Newton in his ca...

(Encyclopedia) Akrotiri āˌkrōtēˈrē [key], Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, or Western Sovereign Base Area, British air force base (2004 est. pop. 6,300), 47 sq mi (123 sq km), located on a peninsula on the SW Cyp...

(Encyclopedia) Independents, in religion, those bodies of Christians who claim freedom from ecclesiastical and civil authority for their individual churches. They hold that each congregation should have control of i...