Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Semiramis sĕmĭrˈəmĭs [key], mythical Assyrian queen, noted for her beauty and wisdom. She was reputed to have conquered many lands and founded the city of Babylon. After a long and prosperous rei...

(Encyclopedia) Abbeville ăˈbēvĭl [key], city (2020 pop. 11,760), seat of Vermilion parish, S La., on the Vermilion River, with access to the Intracoastal Waterway; inc. 1850. It is a...

(Encyclopedia) Cohen, Stanley, 1922–2020, American biochemist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Univ. of Michigan, 1948. Cohen did his most important work at Washington Univ. with Rita Levi-Montalcini in the 1950s. Studyin...

(Encyclopedia) Grasmere, village, Cumbria, NW England, in the Lake District, near Lake Grasmere. Dove Cottage was the home of William Wordsworth from 1799 to 1808; the Wordsworth museum is also there, and the Jerwoo...

(Encyclopedia) Lake Charles, city (1990 pop. 70,580), seat of Calcasieu parish, SW La.; inc. 1867. It is located on Lake Charles at the mouth of the Calcasieu River in a rice, timber, oil, and natural gas region. Th...

(Encyclopedia) Kiner, Ralph McPherran, 1922–2014, American baseball player and sportscaster, b. Santa Rita, N. Mex. A right-handed slugger and outfielder, he played with the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates (1...

(Encyclopedia) Puig, Manuel mänwĕlˈ pwēg [key], 1932–90, Argentine novelist. He is considered one of Latin America's most creative writers, and his writing reflects the myths and realities of contemporary Arge...

(Encyclopedia) Cornforth, Sir John Warcup wôrˈkəp côrnˈfərth [key], 1917–2013, Australian chemist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1941. Although Cornforth suffered a hearing loss from childhood and was deaf by the time he gr...

(Encyclopedia) collage kəläzhˈ, kō– [key] [Fr.,=pasting], technique in art consisting of cutting and pasting natural or manufactured materials to a painted or unpainted surface—hence, a work of art in this m...

(Encyclopedia) Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost [ghost, i.e., spirit, a translation of Gr. pneuma=breath, air], in Christian doctrine, the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is sometimes defined as the aspect of ...