Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Statius, Publius Papinius pŭbˈlēəs pəpĭnˈēəs stāˈshəs [key], c.a.d. 45–c.a.d. 96, Latin poet, b. Naples. A favorite of Emperor Domitian, he won the poetry prize at an annual festival und...

(Encyclopedia) Porvoo bôrˈgō [key], city (1996 pop. 21,313), Southern Finland prov., S central Finland, on the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of the Porvoonjoki River. It is an export center for forest products and...

(Encyclopedia) Dumyat dămēĕtˈə [key], city (1986 pop. 89,069), capital of Dumyat governorate, N Egypt, on Lake Manzala near the Mediterranean Sea. It is a manufacturing and trade center. Its products include gl...

(Encyclopedia) earring, a personal adornment, sometimes an amulet, worn attached to the ear lobe. Since prehistoric times the ear has been pierced for the insertion of the earring; certain primitive tribes distort t...

(Encyclopedia) brazilwood, common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye. The dye has largely been replaced by synthetic dyes for fabrics, but it is still used in...

(Encyclopedia) Bydgoszcz bĭdˈgôshch [key], Ger. Bromberg, city (1994 est. pop. 384,000), capital (with Toruń) of Kujawsko-Pomorskie prov., N central Poland, on the Brda River, a tributary of the Vistula. One of ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Hurdy-gurdy hurdy-gurdy, musical instrument with three strings that are caused to vibrate by a wooden wheel turned by a crank. Stopping is accomplished by keys that usually affect only the str...

(Encyclopedia) Herefordshire, county, 842 sq mi (2,181 sq km), W central England, on the Welsh border; adminstratively, it is a unitary authority (since 1998). Herefordshire has an undulating terrain, which reaches ...

(Encyclopedia) Košice kôˈshĭtsĕ [key], Ger. Kaschau, Hung. Kassa, city (1991 pop. 235,160), E Slovakia. It is a major industrial center and transportation hub and a market for the surrounding agricultural area....

(Encyclopedia) Soest zōst [key], city (1994 pop. 44,917), North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany. It is a manufacturing city and an agricultural trade center. Known in the 7th cent., Soest is one of the oldest cities ...