Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, 1977–, one of the leading African writers of her generation, b. Enugu, Nigeria. She left Nigeria for the United States in 1997 to study, and since has split her time betwe...

(Encyclopedia) Fairfax of Cameron, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Baron, 1693–1781, proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia, b. England. He inherited the Northern Neck, comprising the land between the Rappahannock and Po...

(Encyclopedia) Minoan civilization mĭnōˈən [key], ancient Cretan culture representing a stage in the development of the Aegean civilization. It was named for the legendary King Minos of Crete by Sir Arthur Evans...

(Encyclopedia) land, in law, any ground, soil, or earth regarded as the subject of ownership, including trees, water, buildings added by humans, the air above, and the earth below. Private ownership of land does not...

(Encyclopedia) wrestling, sport in which two unarmed opponents grapple with one another. The object is to secure a fall, i.e., cause the opponent to lose balance and fall to the floor, and ultimately to pin the supi...

(Encyclopedia) Ophites ōˈfīts [key] [Gr.,=believers in the serpent], group of Gnostic sects notorious for extreme cultism and inverted morality. Certain of these sects were known as Naasseni. Almost all that is k...

(Encyclopedia) osteopathy ŏstēŏpˈəthē [key], practice of therapy based on manipulation of bones and muscles. This school of medicine, founded by A. T. Still in 1874, maintains that the normal body produces for...

(Encyclopedia) Decembrists dĭsĕmˈbrĭsts [key], in Russian history, members of secret revolutionary societies whose activities led to the uprising of Dec., 1825, against Czar Nicholas I. Formed after the Napoleon...

(Encyclopedia) Boutwell, George Sewall so͞oˈəl boutˈwəl, –wĕl [key], 1818–1905, American politician, b. Brookline, Mass. He served seven terms in the Massachusetts legislature between 1842 and 1851, was el...

(Encyclopedia) Clotaire II, d. 629, Frankish king, son of Chilperic I and Fredegunde. He succeeded (584) his father as king of Neustria, but his mother ruled for him until her death (597). In 613, after the death of...