Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Giordano, Luca lo͞oˈkä jōrdäˈnō [key], 1632–1705, Italian decorative painter, b. Naples. He was the pupil of Ribera and Pietro da Cortona. He imitated the works of the great masters with amaz...

(Encyclopedia) Saint Peter's Church, Vatican City, principal and one of the largest churches of the Christian world. The present structure was built mainly between 1506 and 1626 on the original site of the Vatican c...

(Encyclopedia) Los Cabos, resort area centered on the towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, encompassing much of the S tip of the Baja California peninsula. The communiti...

(Encyclopedia) Norton, Joshua Abraham, 1818–80, colorful eccentric of San Francisco known as “Emperor Norton,” b. London. He went (1820) with his parents to Cape Town, South Africa, and news of the California ...

(Encyclopedia) LaLanne, Jack ləlānˈ [key], 1914–2011, American fitness advocate and television personality, b. San Francisco as François Henri LaLanne. Widely regarded as the founder of the modern fitness move...

(Encyclopedia) Chacabuco, battle of, Feb. 12, 1817, fought between Chilean independence forces and Spanish troops. It took place just N of Santiago, Chile. José de San Martín, with Bernardo O'Higgins, assaulted an...

(Encyclopedia) Paredes y Arrillaga, Mariano märyäˈnō pärāˈᵺās ē ärēyäˈgä [key], 1797–1849, Mexican general and president (1846). A leader of the ultraconservatives, he helped to put Antonio López ...

(Encyclopedia) Éboli, Ana de Mendoza de la Cerda, princesa de äˈnä ᵺā māndōˈthä ᵺā lä thārˈdä prēnthāˈsä ᵺā āˈbōlē [key], 1540–92, Spanish noblewoman. After the death (1573) of her hus...

(Encyclopedia) Cadamosto, Luigi da lo͞oēˈjē dä kädämôˈstō [key], 1432?–1488, Venetian navigator in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal. He seems to have entered Portuguese service in 14...

(Encyclopedia) Captains' Revolution, coup staged (Apr. 25, 1974) by military officers who opposed Portugal's policy toward its African territories. By early 1974 dissatisfaction with the debilitating, seemingly endl...