Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Namaqualand näˈməlănd [key], region, c.150,000 sq mi (388,500 sq km), SW Africa. It extends from Windhoek, Namibia, in the north to Northern Cape, South Africa, in the south and from the Namib Des...

(Encyclopedia) Ursa Major ûrˈsə [key] and Ursa Minor [Lat.,=the great bear; the little bear], two conspicuous northern constellations. Known to many peoples from ancient times, these constellations have had vario...

(Encyclopedia) Smoky, river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, rising in Jasper National Park, W Alta., Canada, and flowing generally NE to the Peace River. It receives the Wapiti and Little Smoky rivers. It was explored (179...

(Encyclopedia) Nore, the, sandbank in the Thames estuary, SE England, 3 mi (4.8 km) E of Sheerness. At the east end is Nore Lightship. The name is also applied to part of the Thames estuary, a famous anchorage. A mu...

(Encyclopedia) Böhm, Karl, 1894–1981, Austrian conductor. He studied with the musicologist Eusebius Mandyczewski and took a law degree before turning to conducting. After successful appearances with leading Germa...

(Encyclopedia) Cargill, Donald, 1619?–1681, Scottish Covenanter. He was a minister in Glasgow from c.1655 until 1662, when he was expelled for denouncing the Restoration and resisting the establishment of the epis...

(Encyclopedia) Cavalier poets, a group of English poets associated with Charles I and his exiled son. Most of their work was done between c.1637 and 1660. Their poetry embodied the life and culture of upper-class, p...

(Encyclopedia) Crespin, Régine rāzhēnˈ krĕspăNˈ [key], 1927–2007, French soprano. She made her major debut at the Paris Opéra in 1950. The range, flexibility, subtlety, and richness of her voice were criti...

(Encyclopedia) Jeritza, Maria yərĭtˈsə [key], 1887–1982, Austrian-American soprano. b. Brünn (now Brno). After her debut as Elsa in Lohengrin at Olmütz (now Olomouc) in 1910, she was a member (1912–35) of ...

(Encyclopedia) Puttenham, George pŭtˈənəm [key], d. 1590, English author. The Arte of English Poesie (1589), generally considered the best treatise on English versification of its time, has been attributed to hi...