Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Glass, Carter, 1858–1946, American politician, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1918–20), U.S. Senator from Virginia (1920–46), b. Lynchburg, Va. He learned the printer's trade and became owner o...

(Encyclopedia) Day, Benjamin Henry, 1810–89, American journalist. He learned the printer's trade in the office of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican and opened a printing office in New York City. Lack of work duri...

(Encyclopedia) artificial limb, mechanical replacement for a missing limb. An artificial limb, called a prosthesis, must be light and flexible to permit easy movement, but must also be sufficiently sturdy to support...

(Encyclopedia) mower, farm machine used for cutting grasses and other hay crops. Mowers, drawn by or attached to tractors, or self-propelled, have superseded scythes. The mower is essentially an adaptation of the mu...

(Encyclopedia) Osorio, Oscar ōskärˈ ōsōˈryō [key], 1910–69, president of El Salvador (1950–56). A peasant farmer, he joined the army and rose to the rank of major. As a member of the junta that seized pow...

(Encyclopedia) morocco, goatskin leather, dyed on the grain side and boarded by hand or machine to bring up the grain in a bird's-eye effect. It probably originated with the Arabs in North Africa as an alum-tanned p...

(Encyclopedia) flamethrower, mechanism for shooting a burning stream of liquid or semiliquid fuel at enemy troops or positions. Primitive types of flamethrowers, consisting of hollow tubes filled with burning coals,...

(Encyclopedia) Excalibur ĕkskălˈĭbər [key], in Arthurian legend, sword given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. At Arthur's death Sir Bedivere threw Excalibur into the lake; a hand rose from the water, cau...

(Encyclopedia) bookbinding. The art and business of bookbinding began with the protection of parchment manuscripts with boards. Papyrus had originally been produced in rolls, but sheets of parchment came to be folde...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Basic feedback control system feedback, arrangement for the automatic self-regulation of an electrical, mechanical, or biological system by returning part of its output as input. A simple exam...