Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Northern War, 1700–1721, general European conflict, fought in N and E Europe at the same time that the War of the Spanish Succession was fought in the west and the south. It arose chiefly from the d...

(Encyclopedia) Saxony săkˈsənē [key], Ger. Sachsen, Fr. Saxe, state (1994 pop. 4,901,000), 7,078 sq mi (18,337 sq km), E central Germany. Dresden is the capital. In its current form, Saxony is a federal state of...

(Encyclopedia) Ludwig, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm kärl frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm lo͞otˈvĭkh [key], 1816–95, German physiologist. He became world famous as professor (from 1865) and head of the physiological institu...

(Encyclopedia) Lafargue, Paul pôl läfärgˈ [key], 1842–1911, French socialist, b. Cuba; son-in-law of Karl Marx. With Jules Guesde he helped found a Marxist socialist party in France. His many writings, which w...

(Encyclopedia) Spitzweg, Carl kärl shpĭtsˈvĕk [key], 1808–85, German genre painter and draftsman. Self-taught, he depicted the daily life of his native Munich in small, charming pictures in which realism, fanc...

(Encyclopedia) Hallé, Sir Charles hălˈē [key], 1819–95, German-English conductor and pianist, originally named Karl Halle. In 1857 he founded the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England He conducted many music...

(Encyclopedia) Königsmark, Countess Maria Aurora märēˈä ouro͞oˈrä köˈnĭksmärk [key], 1666–1728, Swedish noblewoman; sister of Count Philipp Christoph Königsmark. She went to Dresden in search of her m...

(Encyclopedia) forum, market and meeting place in ancient Roman towns in Italy and later in the provinces, corresponding to the Greek agora. By extension the word forum often indicates the meeting itself in modern u...

(Encyclopedia) Saxe-Weimar săks-vīˈmär [key], Ger. Sachsen-Weimar, former duchy, Thuringia, central Germany. The area passed in the division of 1485 to the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty and remained wit...

(Encyclopedia) Welsbach, Carl Auer, Baron von kärl ouˈər bärōnˈ fən vĕlsˈbäkh [key], 1858–1929, Austrian chemist. He discovered the rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium (1885) and lutetium (c.1...