Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Thanet, Isle of thănˈĭt [key], former island forming the NE portion of Kent, SE England, bounded by the North Sea and branches of the Stour River. The isle was occupied by the Romans, who had a for...

(Encyclopedia) Fust yōˈhän foust [key], d. 1466?, printer at Mainz. Johann Gutenberg borrowed substantial sums of money from Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and money lender. When Gutenberg was unable to repay these s...

(Encyclopedia) piano or pianoforte, musical instrument whose sound is produced by vibrating strings struck by felt hammers that are controlled from a keyboard. The piano's earliest predecessor was the dulcimer. The ...

(Encyclopedia) Catherine II or Catherine the Great, 1729–96, czarina of Russia (1762–96). Catherine increased the power and prestige of Russia by skillful diplomacy and by extending Russia's western boundary i...

(Encyclopedia) Los Angeles Opera Company, also known as LA Opera, founded 1986; it performs at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center. It grew out of the Los Angeles Civic Grand Opera Associat...

(Encyclopedia) Kenrick, Francis Patrick, 1797–1863, American Roman Catholic churchman, b. Dublin, Ireland, educated in Rome. In 1821 he was ordained priest and went to America to teach in the college at Bardstown,...

(Encyclopedia) Nazarenes năzˈərēnz [key], group of German artists of the early 19th cent., who attempted to revive Christian art. In 1809, J. F. Overbeck and Franz Pforr formed an art cooperative in Vienna calle...

(Encyclopedia) Mark, Saint [Lat. Marcus], Christian apostle, traditional author of the 2d Gospel (see Mark, Gospel according to). His full name was John Mark. His mother, named Mary, had a house in Jerusalem, which ...

(Encyclopedia) Underhill, John, c.1597–1672, military commander in the American colonies, b. England. In 1630 he accompanied John Winthrop (1588–1649) to Massachusetts Bay, and in 1637 he distinguished himself a...

(Encyclopedia) adoptionism, Christian heresy taught in Spain after 782 by Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo, and Felix, bishop of Urgel (Seo de Urgel). They held that Jesus at the time of his birth was purely human an...