Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bedford, town and borough, central England, on the Ouse River. It is an important industrial center; diesel engines, pumps, turbines, agricultural machi...

(Encyclopedia) Sacsahuamán säksäwämänˈ [key], stronghold of the Incas outside Cuzco, Peru. Built in the 15th cent., Sacsahuamán is an imposing terraced fortress more than one third of a mile long; it is a mas...

(Encyclopedia) milling, mechanical grinding of wheat or other grains to produce flour. Milling separates the fine, mealy parts of grain from the fibrous bran covering. In prehistoric times grain was crushed between ...

(Encyclopedia) Borglum, Gutzon (John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum) gŭtˈsən dĕ lˈə mät bôrˈgləm [key], 1867–1941, American sculptor, b. Idaho; son of a Danish immigrant physician and rancher. He studied at ...

(Encyclopedia) Rowling, J. K. (Joanne Kathleen Rowling) rōlˈibreve;ing [key], 1965–, English author known for her popular children's books. While unemployed she completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone...

(Encyclopedia) Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren and one of the finest church designs of the English baroque. It stands at the head of Ludgate Hill, where, according to tradition, a...

(Encyclopedia) Mandelstam, Osip Emilyevich ôˈsĭp ĕmyēlˈyəvĭch mänˈdĭlstəm [key], 1892–1938, Russian poet. Mandelstam was a leader of the Acmeist school. He wrote impersonal, fatalistic, meticulously co...

(Encyclopedia) Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. The 20 republics are Arge...

(Encyclopedia) Omri ŏmˈrī [key]. 1 King of Israel. He was a general in the army of Elah, and on the king's death at the hands of Zimri (1,) Omri proclaimed himself king. Soon after this Zimri killed himself. Omri...

(Encyclopedia) Breshkovsky, Catherine brĕshkôfˈskē [key], 1844–1934, Russian revolutionary, called “the little grandmother (babushka) of the Russian Revolution.” Of a noble family, she began on her father'...