Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Fructidor frŭkˈtĭdôr, Fr. früktēdôrˈ [key], 12th month of the French Revolutionary calendar. The coup of 18 Fructidor (Sept. 4, 1797), in which General Augereau was a key figure, annulled the ...

(Encyclopedia) Directory, group of five men who held the executive power in France according to the constitution of the year III (1795) of the French Revolution. They were chosen by the new legislature, by the Counc...

(Encyclopedia) Reign of Terror, 1793–94, period of the French Revolution characterized by a wave of executions of presumed enemies of the state. Directed by the Committee of Public Safety, the Revolutionary govern...

(Encyclopedia) Shiraz shēräzˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 965,117), capital of Fars prov., SW Iran, at an altitude of c.5,200 ft (1,580 m). It is a commercial and industrial center and has long been known for its wine...

(Encyclopedia) Stirling engine, an external combustion reciprocating engine having an enclosed working fluid that is alternately compressed and expanded to operate a piston, thus converting heat from a variety of so...

(Encyclopedia)  Rulers of France since 987(including dates of reign) The Capetians House of Valois House of Bourbon The First Republic The First Empire Bourbon Restoration House of Bourbon-Orléans T...

(Encyclopedia) Persian literature, literary writings in the Persian language, nearly all of it written in the area traditionally known as Persia, now Iran. The 15th cent. period of the second Turko-Tartar invasi...

(Encyclopedia) French Revolutionary Wars, wars occurring in the era of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, the decade of 1792–1802. The wars began as an effort to defend the Revolution a...

(Encyclopedia) mysticism mĭsˈtĭsĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=the practice of those who are initiated into the mysteries], the practice of putting oneself into, and remaining in, direct relation with God, the Absolute, or a...

(Encyclopedia) physics, branch of science traditionally defined as the study of matter, energy, and the relation between them; it was called natural philosophy until the late 19th cent. and is still known by this na...