Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Sicyon sĭshˈēŏn, sĭsˈ– [key], ancient city of Greece, in the Peloponnesus, NW of Corinth and 2 mi (3.2 km) S of the Gulf of Corinth. Sicyon was founded by Argos and attained its greatest power...

(Encyclopedia) Susquehanna səskwĭhănˈə [key], river, 444 mi (715 km) long, rising in Otsego Lake, at Cooperstown, N.Y., and zigzagging SE and SW through E central Pa. to Chesapeake Bay near Havre de Grace, Md. ...

(Encyclopedia) Sargsyan or Sarkisyan, Serzh, 1954–, Armenian political leader, president (2008–18) and prime minister (2007–8, 2018) of Armenia, b. Nagorno-Karabakh. He served in the Soviet armed forces (1972�...

(Encyclopedia) bull-roarer, an instrument consisting of slit board or chamber attached to a cord. When swung around in the air, it emits a deep, vibrant, “whirrrrrr”-like sound. The mythology of some Native Sout...

(Encyclopedia) milling, mechanical grinding of wheat or other grains to produce flour. Milling separates the fine, mealy parts of grain from the fibrous bran covering. In prehistoric times grain was crushed between ...

(Encyclopedia) Marsilius of Padua märsĭlˈēəs, păˈdyo͞oə [key], d. c.1342, Italian political philosopher. He is satirically called Marsiglio. Little is known with certainty of his life except that he was rec...

(Encyclopedia) Interior, United States Department of the, federal executive department established in 1849, delegated custodian of U.S. natural resources, and whose head, the Secretary of the Interior, has cabinet r...

(Encyclopedia) supercomputer, a state-of-the-art, extremely powerful computer capable of manipulating massive amounts of data in a relatively short time. Supercomputers are very expensive and are employed for specia...

(Encyclopedia) Goebbels, Joseph (Paul Joseph Goebbels) poul yōˈzĕf göbˈəls [key], 1897–1945, German National Socialist propagandist. He was kept out of the service in World War I by a clubfoot. After graduat...

(Encyclopedia) Weyburn wāˈbərn [key], city (1991 pop. 9,673), SE Sask., Canada, SE of Regina. A trade center for a wheat-growing and oil-producing region, it has grain elevators and a feed mill. Power-line and tr...