Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Van Gogh, Vincent văn gō, Dutch vĭnsĕntˈ vän khôkh [key], 1853–90, postimpressionist painter, b. the Netherlands. Van Gogh's works are perhaps better known generally than those of any other p...

(Encyclopedia) New York City Ballet (NYCB), one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th and 21st cents. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. In 1948 th...

(Encyclopedia) New Jersey College for Women: see Rutgers Univ. ...

(Encyclopedia) Brotherhood of the New Life: see Harris, Thomas Lake. ...

(Encyclopedia) Nurmi, Paavo päˈvō no͝orˈmē [key], 1897–1973, Finnish track star. Between 1920 and 1932 he set 20 world running records and won nine Olympic gold medals. His Olympic victories included the 10,...

(Encyclopedia) Manasseh ben Israel, 1604–57, Jewish scholar and communal leader, b. Portugal. Early in his life he settled in Amsterdam, where he became a rabbi and started (1627) the first Hebrew press there. He ...

(Encyclopedia) Spieghel, Hendrick Laurenszoon hĕnˈdrək louˈrənszōnˌ spēˈkhəl [key], 1549–1612, Dutch poet. In his cycle of spiritual songs Lieden Op't Vader Ons (modern ed. 1957), he was among the first ...

(Encyclopedia) World Council of Churches, an international, interdenominational organization of most major Protestant, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox Christian churches; founded in Amsterdam in 1948, its headquarter...

(Encyclopedia) New Democratic party (NDP), Canadian political party, founded in 1961 when the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) reorganized itself and entered into close ties with Canadian labor unions, espe...

(Encyclopedia) Swedenborg, Emanuel swēdˈənbôrg; āmäˈno͞oĕl svāˌdənbōrkˈ [key], 1688–1772, Swedish scientist, religious teacher, and mystic. His religious system, sometimes called Swedenborgianism, is...