Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) viaduct vīˈədŭktˌ [key] [Lat.,=road conveyor], type of bridge for carrying a highway or railroad over a valley, over low ground, or over a road. It is commonly constructed in the form of several ...

(Encyclopedia) Guanajuato, city, capital of Guanajuato state, W central Mexico. The city, with an altitude of c.6,600 ft (2,000 m), is situated in the Cañada de Marfi...

(Encyclopedia) Chinese music, the classical music forms of China. Throughout the political and social turmoil following World War I, Western (classical and popular) and Japanese sources dominated Chinese music. At...

(Encyclopedia) pyramid. The true pyramid exists only in Egypt and Sudan, though the term has also been applied to similar structures in other countries. Egyptian pyramids are square in plan and their triangular side...

(Encyclopedia) Pasargadae pəsärˈgədē [key], capital of ancient Persia under Cyrus the Great. Its ruins lie 54 mi (87 km) by road NE of Persepolis, in present Iran. The buildings of Cyrus include a temple in the...

(Encyclopedia) Laurence, Margaret (Jean Margaret Laurence), 1926–87, Canadian novelist, b. Manitoba. She lived in Somaliland, Ghana, and England and many of her early works had an African setting. Laurence was par...

(Encyclopedia) Medusa mədo͞oˈsə [key], in Greek mythology, most famous of the three monstrous Gorgon sisters. She was once a beautiful woman, but she offended Athena, who changed her hair into snakes and made he...

(Encyclopedia) Stavanger stävängˈər [key], city (1995 est. pop. 103,496), capital of Rogaland co., SW Norway, a port on the Stavangerfjord (an arm of the Boknfjord). It is an important commercial and industrial ...

(Encyclopedia) Iowa City, city (2020 pop. 74,828), seat of Johnson co., E Iowa, on both sides of the Iowa River; founded 1839 as the capital of Iowa Territory, inc. 18...

(Encyclopedia) Flannagan, John Bernard flănˈəgən [key], 1895–1942, American sculptor, b. Fargo, N.Dak., studied at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. His early life was a bitter struggle against poverty. Too p...