Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bel and the Dragon, customary name for chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel, a passage included in the Septuagint and the Apocrypha. It was written possibly in the 1st cent. b.c. as a response to Gentile ...

(Encyclopedia) Hengist and Horsa hĕngˈgĭst, hôrˈsə [key], names of two brothers who, according to tradition, led the Jutish invasion of Britain and founded the kingdom of Kent. Hengist would more properly be w...

(Encyclopedia) Osgood, Herbert Levi, 1855–1918, American historian, b. Canton, Maine. He taught at Worcester Academy (1877–79) and Brooklyn High School (1883–89). From 1890 to 1896 he was adjunct professor and...

(Encyclopedia) testis tĕsˈtĭkəl [key], one of a pair of glands that produce the male reproductive cells, or sperm. In fetal life the testes develop in the abdomen, then descend into an external sac, the scrotum....

(Encyclopedia) Nayler, James, 1617?–1660, English Quaker leader. He served in the parliamentary army during the English civil war. In 1651 he became a Quaker and a disciple of George Fox, but gradually gathered a ...

(Encyclopedia) Nollekens, Joseph nŏlˈĭkənz [key], 1737–1823, English sculptor, b. London. He studied in Rome and in 1770 returned to London, where he became the most fashionable portrait sculptor of his day. A...

(Encyclopedia) snail, name commonly used for a gastropod mollusk with a shell. Included in the thousands of species are terrestrial, freshwater, and marine forms. Some eat both plant and animal matter; others eat on...

(Encyclopedia) Laibach, Congress of līˈbäkh [key], conference of European powers in 1821, held in what is now Ljubljana, Slovenia. The chief powers at the congress were Russia, Austria, Prussia, France, and Great...

(Encyclopedia) Keith, George, c.1638–1716, Scottish preacher. Joining the Quakers c.1663, he was closely associated with Robert Barclay, George Fox, and other influential Friends. Shortly after his arrival in Amer...

(Encyclopedia) Calderón Hinojosa, Felipe de Jesús fālēˈpā dā hāso͞osˈ käldārōnˈ ēˌnōhōˈsä [key], 1962–, Mexican politician, president of Mexico (2006–2012). His father, Luis Calderón Vega, h...