Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) ‘Oumuamua ōmo͞oˈəmo͞oˈə [key], officially 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua), interstellar object, the first to be discovered in the solar system. Highly variable in brightness, it also is highly and u...

(Encyclopedia) Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste frādārēkˈ ōgüstˈ bärtōldēˈ [key], 1834–1904, French sculptor, b. Colmar, Alsace. He studied painting under Ary Scheffer but turned to sculpture. Among his ma...

(Encyclopedia) dipper, common name for the only aquatic member of the order Perciformes (perching birds) found near cold mountain streams. With their short, stubby wings and tails and their thick brownish plumage, d...

(Encyclopedia) disco, style of popular music that flourished during the 1970s. Originating in the United States, it evolved mainly from funk, soul, and salsa and became popular worldwide. Characterized by a heavy, t...

(Encyclopedia) Boise boiˈsē, –zē [key], city (2020 pop. 235,684), state capital...

(Encyclopedia) Catawba kətôˈbə [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They have for centuries occupied a r...

(Encyclopedia) Albert I, 1875–1934, king of the Belgians (1909–34), nephew and successor of Leopold II. He married (1900) Elizabeth, a Bavarian princess. In World War I his heroic resistance (1914) to the German...

(Encyclopedia) Anuradhapura ənäˈräjə– [key], city (1995 est. pop. 40,000), N central Sri Lanka, on the Aruvi River. Rice plantations and vegetable gardens surround the city, which is famous chiefly for its va...

(Encyclopedia) Absheron əp– [key], peninsula, c.40 mi (60 km) long, extending into the Caspian Sea, E Azerbaijan. It is a dry, hilly area at the eastern end of the Greater Caucasus Mts. and is underlain by rich o...

(Encyclopedia) Feld, Eliot, 1942–, American dancer and choreographer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. As a teenager he danced in musicals, notably West Side Story on Broadway and film, and on television. While a dancer (1963–...