Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste frādārēkˈ ōgüstˈ bärtōldēˈ [key], 1834–1904, French sculptor, b. Colmar, Alsace. He studied painting under Ary Scheffer but turned to sculpture. Among his ma...

(Encyclopedia) stalactite ornament, type of ornament characteristic of Islamic architecture. Generally executed in wood or in plaster over a wood or brick base, it consists of little vertical polygonal or curved nic...

(Encyclopedia) Branson, city (2020 pop. 12,638), Taney and Stone cos., SW Mo.; inc. 1912. Located in the Ozark mountains, the town was originally established when Reub...

(Encyclopedia) Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, accredited institution of higher education; in New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened in 1859. Founded by Peter Cooper, it pioneered in...

(Encyclopedia) forging, shaping metal by heating it and then hammering or rolling it. Forging is the method by which metal was first worked when it came into use about 4000 b.c. in Egypt and Asia. Modern forging is ...

(Encyclopedia) kithara sĭthˈ– [key], musical instrument of the ancient Greeks. It was a plucked instrument, a larger and stronger form of the lyre, used by professional musicians both for solo playing and for th...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Ziggurat ziggurat zĭgˈo͝orăt [key], form of temple common to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians. The earliest examples date from the end of the 3d millenium b.c., the latest from the...

(Encyclopedia) stoa stōˈə [key], in ancient Greek architecture, an extended, roofed colonnade on a street or square. Early examples consisted of a simple open-fronted shed or porch with a roof sloping from the ba...

(Encyclopedia) Virginia Company, name of two English colonizing companies, chartered by King James I in 1606. By the terms of the charter, the Virginia Company of London (see London Company) was given permission to ...

(Encyclopedia) weber vāˈbər, wē–, wĕbˈər [key] [for W. E. Weber], abbr. Wb, unit of magnetic flux in the mks system of weights and measures; 1 Wb is equal to 1 volt-second. The weber per square meter, calle...