Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kitchen Cabinet, in U.S. history, popular name for the group of intimate, unofficial advisers of President Jackson. Early in his administration Jackson abandoned official cabinet meetings and used hea...

(Encyclopedia) robot or automaton ôtämˈətänˌ [key] mechanical device designed to perform the work generally done by a human being. The Czech dramatist Karel Čapek popularized the expression [Czech,=compulsory...

(Encyclopedia) Soyer, three brothers, American painters, emigrated with their family from Russia in 1912. Two were twins, Raphael Soyer, 1899–1987, and Moses Soyer, 1899–1974, b. Borisoglebsk. They settled in Ne...

(Encyclopedia) Brunelleschi, Filippo fēlēpˈpō bro͞onĕl-lĕsˈkē [key], 1377–1446, first great architect of the Italian Renaissance, a Florentine by birth. Trained as sculptor and goldsmith, he designed a tr...

(Encyclopedia) Rulers of the Byzantine Empire ...

(Encyclopedia) Dutilleux, Henri, 1916–2013, French composer, b. Angers; studied (1933–38) Paris Conservatory, received (1938) the Grand Prix de Rome. After serving in World War II, he was a pianist, teacher, arr...

(Encyclopedia) Constitution, U.S. 44-gun frigate, nicknamed Old Ironsides. It is perhaps the most famous vessel in the history of the U.S. navy. Authorized by Congress in 1794, the ship was launched in 1797 and was ...

(Encyclopedia) Beersheba bērshēˈbə, bērˈshēbə [key] [Heb.,=seven wells or well of the oath],...

(Encyclopedia) Guggenheim go͝ogˈənhīm [key], family of American industrialists and philanthropists. Meyer Guggenheim, 1828–1905, b. Aargau canton, Switzerland, emigrated (1847) to the United States, prospered ...

(Encyclopedia) miniature painting [Ital.,=artwork, especially manuscript initial letters, done with the red lead pigment minium; the word originally had no implication as to size]. In a general sense the term denote...