Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) retrograde motion, in astronomy, real or apparent movement of a planet, dwarf planet, moon, asteroid, or comet from east to west relative to the fixed stars. The most common direction of motion in the...

(Encyclopedia) Silk Road, ancient overland trade route linking Asia and Europe, consisting of a network of caravan routes running from China across central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean. Its starting point...

(Encyclopedia) frontier, in U.S. history, the border area of settlement of Europeans and their descendants; it was vital in the conquest of the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The importance of the westwa...

(Encyclopedia) Louis the Pious: see Louis I, emperor of the West. ...

(Encyclopedia) Charles the Great, Frankish king, emperor of the West: see Charlemagne. ...

(Encyclopedia) Louis I, French king: see Louis I, emperor of the West. ...

(Encyclopedia) Charles II, French king: see Charles II, emperor of the West. ...

(Encyclopedia) panhandle, in geography, a strip of land projecting from the main body of an area and shaped like the handle of a pan, such as the panhandles of West Virginia, Texas, and Alaska. ...

(Encyclopedia) Charles the Bald, French king: see Charles II, emperor of the West. ...

(Encyclopedia) Charles the Fat, French king: see Charles III, emperor of the West. ...