Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Farnsworth, Philo Taylor, 1906–71, American inventor, b. Beaver, Utah, grad. Brigham Young Univ., 1925. He demonstrated (1927) a working model of a television system. His “dissector tube” (calle...

(Encyclopedia) legislative apportionment, subdivision of a political body (e.g., a state or province) for the purpose of electing legislative representatives. In the United States, the Constitution requires that Con...

(Encyclopedia) Tilak, Bal Gangadhar bäl gŭngˈgədär tēˈläk [key], 1856–1920, Indian nationalist leader. He was a journalist in Pune, and in his newspapers, the Marathi-language Kesari [lion] and the English...

(Encyclopedia) Fredericksburg, battle of, in the Civil War, fought Dec. 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Va. In Nov., 1862, the Union general Ambrose Burnside moved his three “grand divisions” under W. B. Franklin, ...

(Encyclopedia) Cambrai, Treaty of, called the Ladies' Peace, treaty negotiated and signed in 1529 by Louise of Savoy, representing her son Francis I of France, and Margaret of Austria, representing her nephew Holy R...

(Encyclopedia) Amiel, Henri Frédéric äNrēˈ frādārēkˈ ämyĕlˈ [key], 1821–81, Swiss critic. He was unsuccessful and unnoticed during his life, but the posthumous publication of his Journal intime (1883, ...

(Encyclopedia) John VII (John Palaeologus) pāˌlēŏlˈəgəs [key], c.1370–1408, Byzantine emperor, grandson of John V. Backed by the sultan Beyazid I, he usurped (1390) the throne from John V but was dethroned ...

(Encyclopedia) Bradford, Gamaliel, 1863–1932, American biographer, b. Boston. After many unsuccessful years as a writer, he achieved literary fame as a biographer with his Lee, the American (1912). He perfected th...

(Encyclopedia) Aranjuez äränghwāthˈ [key], town, Madrid prov., central Spain, on the Tagus River. As a market for the irrigated horticulture nearby, it is known for its asparagus and...

(Encyclopedia) Prester John, legendary Christian priest and monarch of a vast, wealthy empire in Asia or in Africa. The legend first appeared in the latter part of the 12th cent. and persisted for several centuries....