Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Steam engine steam engine, machine for converting heat energy into mechanical energy using steam as a medium, or working fluid. When water is converted into steam it expands, its volume increa...

(Encyclopedia) Emigrant Aid Company, organization formed in 1854 to promote organized antislavery immigration to the Kansas territory from the Northeast. Eli Thayer conceived the plan as early as Feb., 1854, even be...

(Encyclopedia) Leicester lĕsˈtər [key], city and unitary authority (1991 pop. 324,394), central England. The city is connected by canals with the Trent River and London, and it is also a railway center. Leicester...

(Encyclopedia) Leo X, 1475–1521, pope (1513–21), a Florentine named Giovanni de' Medici; successor of Julius II. He was the son of Lorenzo de' Medici, was made a cardinal in his boyhood, and was head of his fami...

(Encyclopedia) Münzer or Müntzer, Thomas tōˈmäs münˈtsər [key], c.1489–1525, radical German Protestant reformer. During his studies at Leipzig (1518) Münzer fell under the influence of Martin Luther. On L...

(Encyclopedia) Le Clézio, Jean-Marie Gustave, 1940–, French novelist, b. Nice, grad. Univ. of Nice (L. ès L., 1963), Univ. of Aix-en-Provence (M.A., 1964), Univ. of Perpignan (D. ès L., 1983). He spent much of ...

(Encyclopedia) Cassavetes, John 1929–89, American film actor and director, a pioneer of independent filmmaking, b. New York City. The son of Greek immigrants, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and ...

(Encyclopedia) domestic service, work performed in a household by someone who is not a member of the family. It was performed by slaves in many early civilizations, e.g., in Greece and Rome. Under the feudal system ...

(Encyclopedia) Dover dōˈvər [key], town, Kent, SE England, on the Strait of Dover, beneath chalk cliffs (...

(Encyclopedia) catechism kătˈəkĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=oral instruction], originally oral instruction in religion, later written instruction. Catechisms are usually written in the form of questions and answers. Almost...