Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Mexican art and architecture, works of art and structures produced in the area that is now the country of Mexico. Such arts were already highly developed in the ancient civilizations flourishing befor...

(Encyclopedia) Columbus, Christopher, Ital. Cristoforo Colombo krēstōˈbäl kōlōnˈ [key], 1451–1506, European explorer, b. Genoa, Italy. Columbus was not the first European mariner to sail to the New World�...

(Encyclopedia) Florence flôrˈəns, flŏrˈ– [key], Ital. Firenze, city (2021 est. metro area pop.709,064...

(Encyclopedia) Arthurian legend, the mass of legend, popular in medieval lore, concerning King Arthur of Britain and his knights. Although there are innumerable variations of the Arthurian legend, the basic story...

(Encyclopedia) Panama Canal, waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic (by way of the Caribbean Sea) and Pacific oceans, built by the United States (1904–14, on territory leased from the repub...

(Encyclopedia) Industrial Revolution, term usually applied to the social and economic changes that mark the transition from a stable agricultural and commercial society to a modern industrial society relying on comp...

(Encyclopedia) Jesus or Jesus Christ jēˈzəs krīst, jēˈzəz [key], 1st-century Jewish teacher and prophet in whom Christians have traditionally seen the Messiah [Heb.,=annointed one, whence Christ from the Gree...

(Encyclopedia) free trade, in modern usage, trade or commerce carried on without such restrictions as import duties, export bounties, domestic production subsidies, trade quotas, or import licenses. The basic argume...

(Encyclopedia) language, systematic communication by vocal symbols. It is a universal characteristic of the human species. Nothing is known of its origin, although scientists have identified a gene that clearly cont...

(Encyclopedia) dolphin, aquatic mammal, any of the small toothed whales of the family Delphinidae, numbering more than 50 species. These include the true, or beaked, dolphins, the killer whale, the pilot whale, and ...