Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rasht rĕsht [key], city (1991 pop. 340,637), capital of Gilan prov., NW Iran, near the Caspian Sea. It is an administrative and trade center for a fertile agricultural region where rice, cotton, silk...

(Encyclopedia) balsam fir, common name for the evergreen tree Abies balsamea of NE North American boreal forests. It has small needles and cones and is used for lumber. It is also called Canada balsam, as is the res...

(Encyclopedia) Bunshaft, Gordon, 1909–90, American architect, b. Buffalo, N.Y. As chief designer for the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Bunshaft was responsible for Lever House, New York City'...

(Encyclopedia) John, 1167–1216, king of England (1199–1216), son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. John, though often cruel and treacherous, was an excellent administrator, much concerned with rendering...

(Encyclopedia) Henry VII, 1457–1509, king of England (1485–1509) and founder of the Tudor dynasty. Henry was an astute political leader. He established the Tudor tradition of strong rule tempered by a sense ...

(Encyclopedia) Arthur III, 1394–1458, duke of Brittany (1457–58), known before 1457 as comte de Richemont, constable of France in the Hundred Years War. He led the coalition that overthrew Georges de La Trémoil...

(Encyclopedia) Middleboro, town (1990 pop. 17,867), Plymouth co., SE Mass.; inc. 1669. Cranberry-processing is a major industry in the town, and fire apparatus, chemicals, and shoes are manufactured. The town was de...

(Encyclopedia) Marlboro or Marlborough märlˈbərō [key], city (1990 pop. 31,813), Middlesex co., E Mass.; settled on the site of a Native American village 1657, inc. as a city 1890. A shoe-manufacturing center fo...

(Encyclopedia) Broederlam, Melchior mĕlˈkhēôr bröˈdərläm [key], active c.1381–1409, Franco-Flemish painter. Broederlam was among the first practitioners of the International Gothic style (see Gothic archit...

(Encyclopedia) Braudel, Fernand, 1902–85, French historian. He studied under Lucien Febvre and was a founder of the Annales school of historiography. As a German prisoner-of-war during World War II, he wrote his m...