Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Davenport, Charles Benedict dăvˈənpôrtˌ [key], 1866–1944, American zoologist, b. Stamford, Conn., Ph.D. Harvard, 1892. As director (1904–34) of the experimental station of Carnegie Institutio...

(Encyclopedia) day nursery, day-care center, or crèche krĕsh [key], institution for the care of the children of working parents. Originating in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th cent., day nurseries were est...

(Encyclopedia) Faraday, Michael fârˈədē, –dāˌ [key], 1791–1867, English scientist. The son of a blacksmith, he was apprenticed to a bookbinder at the age of 14. He had little formal education, but acquired...

(Encyclopedia) Mound Builders, in North American archaeology, name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian ...

(Encyclopedia) genius, in Roman religion, guardian spirit of a man, a family, or a state. In some instances, a place, a city, or an institution had its genius. As the guardian spirit of an individual, the genius (co...

(Encyclopedia) cabildo käbēlˈdō [key], autonomous municipal council, the lowest administrative unit in the Spanish government. The institution was especially influential in Spanish America, where it was set up i...

(Encyclopedia) Court of Justice of the European Union, judicial institution of the European Union (EU). Located in Luxembourg, it was founded in 1958 as the joint court for the three treaty organizations that were c...

(Encyclopedia) Exodus ĕkˈsədəs [key], book of the Bible, 2d of the 5 books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. The book continues the story of the ancestors of Israel in Egypt, n...

(Encyclopedia) Lewis, John Robert, 1940–2020, African-American politician and civil-rights leader, b. near Troy, Ala., B.A. American Baptist Theological Seminary, 19...

(Encyclopedia) Carrère, John Merven kərârˈ [key], 1858–1911, American architect, b. Rio de Janeiro. After graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, he worked under McKim, Mead, and White in New York Ci...