Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Saint David's, Welsh Tyddewi, small town, Pembrokeshire, SW Wales. The renowned town cathedral is mainly Transitional Norman in style, built of red-violet stone. Among its features is the late 13th-ce...

(Encyclopedia) barbed wire, wire composed of two zinc-coated steel strands twisted together and having barbs spaced regularly along them. The need for barbed wire arose in the 19th cent. as the American frontier mov...

(Encyclopedia) Tantalus tănˈtələs [key], in Greek mythology, king of Sipylos, son of Zeus and father of Pelops and Niobe. He was admitted to the society of the gods, but his abominable behavior aroused their ang...

(Encyclopedia) Tara târˈə [key], village, Co. Meath, E Republic of Ireland. The Hill of Tara (507 ft/155 m high) was the seat of the high kings of Ireland from ancient times until the 6th cent. and may have been ...

(Encyclopedia) Portobelo, Porto Bello pwārˈtō bāˈyō [key], town, central Panama, on the Caribbean Sea. The site, an excellent harbor, was visited by Columbus. The town was founded in 1597. A thriving colonial...

(Encyclopedia) Gezer gēˈzər [key], ancient city of Canaan, on the coastal plain of Sharon, NW of Jerusalem. Its position guarding the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa has always given it importance, e.g., in the wars...

(Encyclopedia) gneiss nīs [key], coarse-grained, imperfectly foliated, or layered, metamorphic rock. Gneiss is characterized by alternating light and dark bands differing in mineral composition and having coarser g...

(Encyclopedia) Galway, city, seat of Co. Galway, W Republic of Ireland, on Galway Bay near the mouth of the Corrib River. Industries include tourism, food processing, ...

(Encyclopedia) Morley, John, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, 1838–1923, English statesman and man of letters. Educated at Oxford, he made his reputation as a journalist in London and served (1867–82) as editor...

(Encyclopedia) impressment, forcible enrollment of recruits for military duty. Before the establishment of conscription, many countries supplemented their militia and mercenary troops by impressment. In England, imp...