Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Scouts or Boy Scouts, organization of boys and girls 11 to 17 years old, founded (1907) in Great Britain by Sir Robert (later Lord) Baden-Powell and originally for boys only; since the late 20th cent....

(Encyclopedia) radon rāˈdŏn [key], gaseous radioactive chemical element; symbol Rn; at. no. 86; mass no. of most stable isotope 222; m.p. about −71℃; b.p. −61.8℃; density 9.73 grams per liter at STP; vale...

(Encyclopedia) Messina mās-sēˈnä [key], city (1991 pop. 231,693), capital of Messina prov., NE Sicily, Italy, on the Strait of Messina, opposite the Italian mainland. It is a busy seaport and a commercial and li...

(Encyclopedia) Nijinsky, Vaslav vəsläfˈ nyĭzhēnˈskē [key], 1890–1950, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer; brother of Bronislava Nijinska. Nijinsky is widely considered the greatest dancer of the 20th c...

(Encyclopedia) Westminster Abbey, originally the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery (closed in 1539) in London. One of England's most important Gothic structures, it is also a national shrine. The first church ...

(Encyclopedia) Caen käN [key], city, capital of Calvados dept., N France, in Normandy, on the Orne River. I...

(Encyclopedia) Chester, city, Cheshire West and Chester, W central England, on a sandstone height above the Dee River. It is a railroad junction. Manufactures include ...

(Encyclopedia) Basilicata bäzēlēkäˈtä [key], region, 3,856 sq mi (9,987 sq km), S Italy, bordering on the ...

(Encyclopedia) Safra, family of Brazilian bankers with Sephardic Jewish roots. They began as merchant bankers in Syria and Lebanon, financing caravans throughout the Middle East. The Safras are also noted philanthro...

(Encyclopedia) glove, hand covering with a separate sheath for each finger. The earliest gloves, relics of the cave dwellers, closely resembled bags. Reaching to the elbow, they were most probably worn solely for pr...