Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Augustus III, 1696–1763, king of Poland (1735–63) and, as Frederick Augustus II, elector of Saxony (1733–63); son of Augustus II, whom he succeeded in Saxony. Elected king of Poland by a minorit...

(Encyclopedia) mah jongg mä jông [key], four-handed game, probably of Chinese origin, popular in the United States. It is played in many variations throughout China. In 1920, Joseph P. Babcock, an American travele...

(Encyclopedia) Keaton, Buster (Joseph Francis Keaton), 1895–1966, American movie actor, b. Piqua, Kans. Considered one of the greatest comic actors in film history, Keaton used his considerable acrobatic skills, w...

(Encyclopedia) phlogiston theory flōjĭsˈtŏn [key], hypothesis regarding combustion. The theory, advanced by J. J. Becher late in the 17th cent. and extended and popularized by G. E. Stahl, postulates that in all...

(Encyclopedia) Black Hand, symbol and name for a criminal and terroristic secret society, and especially associated with the Mafia and the Camorra. The Black Hand flourished in Sicily in the late 19th cent., and in ...

(Encyclopedia) cast-iron architecture, a term used to designate buildings that incorporate cast iron for structural and/or decorative purposes. After 1800 cast-iron supports were exploited as an alternative to mason...

(Encyclopedia) West Hartford, town (1990 pop. 60,110), Hartford co., central Conn., a suburb of Hartford; settled c.1679, inc. 1854. Industrial production, which comprises a geographically small part of West Hartfor...

(Encyclopedia) Devonshire, Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th duke of kăvˈəndĭsh, dĕvˈənshĭr [key], 1833–1908, British statesman. He became marquess of Hartington in 1858. He frequently held office in Liberal ...

(Encyclopedia) Edel, Leon (Joseph Leon Edel) ĕdˈəl, āˈdəl [key], 1907–97, American literary scholar and biographer, b. Pittsburgh, Pa. A professor at New York Univ. (1953–72) and the Univ. of Hawaii (1972�...

(Encyclopedia) Blinken, Antony John, 1962–, U.S. government official, b. Yonkers, N.Y., J.D. Columbia, 1988. A Democrat, he served (1994–2001) on the staff of the National Security Council under President Clinto...