Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kun, Béla bāˈlŏ ko͞on [key], 1886–1937, Hungarian Communist. A prisoner of war in Russia after 1915, he embraced Bolshevism. After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917 he was sent to ...

(Encyclopedia) tody tōˈdē [key], common name for small (3–4 in./9–10 cm) West Indian birds of the family Todidae, comprising the single genus Todus. Bright green above with red throats, they are forest birds ...

(Encyclopedia) beet, biennial or annual root vegetable of the family Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot family). The beet (Beta vulgaris) has been cultivated since pre-Christian times. Among its numerous varieties are the re...

(Encyclopedia) pomegranate pŏmˈgrănĭt, pŏmˈə– [key], handsome deciduous and somewhat thorny large shrub or small tree (Punica granatum) belonging to the family Punicaceae, native to semitropical Asia and na...

(Encyclopedia) Exodus ĕkˈsədəs [key], book of the Bible, 2d of the 5 books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. The book continues the story of the ancestors of Israel in Egypt, n...

(Encyclopedia) seaweed, name commonly used for the multicellular marine algae. Simpler forms, consisting of one cell (e.g., the diatom) or of a few cells, are not generally called seaweeds; these tiny plants help to...

(Encyclopedia) Langham, Simon lăngˈəm [key], d. 1376, English prelate and statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He ruled the abbey of Westminster with such skill that Edward III appointed (1360) him t...

(Encyclopedia) algum ălˈməg, ôlˈ– [key], precious wood mentioned in the Bible (2 Chron. 2.8; 9.10,11), used in the Temple of Solomon and in his palace, brought from Ophir and Lebanon. It is perhaps a red sand...

(Encyclopedia) Dove, Arthur Garfield dŭv [key], 1880–1946, American painter, b. Canandaigua, N.Y. Early in his career he did commercial illustration in New York City. Following a European trip (1907–9), he adop...

(Encyclopedia) Dufour, Guillaume Henri gēyōmˈ äNrēˈ düfo͞orˈ [key], 1787–1875, Swiss general. He served in the French army under Napoleon I, and in 1847 he led the Swiss federal forces to victory against ...