Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) domestic service, work performed in a household by someone who is not a member of the family. It was performed by slaves in many early civilizations, e.g., in Greece and Rome. Under the feudal system ...

(Encyclopedia) Charles University, at Prague, Czech Republic; also called Univ. of Prague. The oldest and one of the most important universities of central Europe, it was founded in 1348 by Holy Roman Emperor Charle...

(Encyclopedia) Aosta, Valle d' väldäôˈstä [key], region, 1,260 sq mi (3,263 sq km), NW Italy, bordering on France in the west and on Switzerland in the north. Aosta is the capital o...

(Encyclopedia) Cook, Frederick Albert, 1865–1940, American explorer and physician, b. Sullivan co., N.Y. Cook early became interested in the arctic and accompanied the expedition of Robert E. Peary in 1891–92 as...

(Encyclopedia) July Revolution, revolt in France in July, 1830, against the government of King Charles X. The attempt of the ultraroyalists under Charles to return to the ancien régime provoked the opposition of th...

(Encyclopedia) White, Stanford, 1853–1906, American architect, b. New York City; son of Richard Grant White. In 1872 he entered the office of Gambrill and Richardson in Boston, at the time when H. H. Richardson wa...

(Encyclopedia) Death Valley, SE Calif. and SW Nev., a deep, arid basin, 140 mi (225 km) long, bordered on the W by the Panamint Range and on the E by the Amargosa Range. In summer the valley has recorded some of the...

(Encyclopedia) Alps, great mountain system of S central Europe, c.500 mi (800 km) long and c.100 mi (160 km) wide, curving in a great arc from the Riviera coast on the Mediterranean Sea, along the borders of N Italy...

(Encyclopedia) Mauna Kea Observatories mouˈnə kāˈə [key], astronomical observatory complex located on Mauna Kea peak, the “white mountain” on the island of Hawaii, at an altitude of more than 13,600 ft (4,1...

(Encyclopedia) inclosure or enclosure, in British history, the process of inclosing (with fences, ditches, hedges, or other barriers) land formerly subject to common rights. Such land included fields cultivated by t...