Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Saxo Grammaticus săkˈsō grəmătˈĭkəs [key], c.1150–c.1220, the first important Danish historian. He was in the service of Absalon, archbishop of Lund, at whose suggestion Saxo wrote the Gesta...

(Encyclopedia) Scott, Hugh Lenox, 1853–1934, U.S. army officer, b. Danville, Ky., grad. West Point, 1876. He was assigned (1876) to military service in the West and took part in the Sioux, Nez Percé, and Cheyenne...

(Encyclopedia) Sandby, Paul săndˈbē [key], 1725–1809, English watercolorist and draftsman. He was employed to survey the Highlands of Scotland after the 1745 rebellion. During his years in Scotland (1746–51) ...

(Encyclopedia) Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin mēˈnē, mēˈnē, tēˈkəl, yo͞ofärˈsĭn [key], in the Bible, the mysterious riddle written by a hand on the wall at Belshazzar's feast. These Aramaic words may be tr...

(Encyclopedia) blackjack, one of the world's most widely played gambling card games; also known as twenty-one or vingt-et-un. Despite contesting claims between the French and Italians, its origins are unknown. Each ...

(Encyclopedia) combing, process that follows carding in the preparation of fibers for spinning, lays the fibers parallel, and removes noils (short fibers). The modern combing machine is a specialized carding machine...

(Encyclopedia) Blind Harry or Henry the Minstrel, fl. late 15th cent., supposed Scottish poet. He is considered the author of the patriotic epic, The Wallace, which celebrates the life of Sir William Wallace. Violen...

(Encyclopedia) Hunter, Dard, 1883–1966, American printer-publisher, b. Steubenville, Ohio. Hunter is known for his researches and writings on the history and technique of papermaking. From 1938 he was curator of t...

(Encyclopedia) Hémon, Louis lwē āmôNˈ [key], 1880–1913, French Canadian novelist, b. France. After working as a journalist for French publications in England (1903–11), he moved to Quebec, where he worked a...

(Encyclopedia) chiropractic kīrəprăkˈtĭk [key] [Gr.,=doing by hand], medical practice based on the theory that all disease results from a disruption of the functions of the nerves. The principal source of inter...