Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) lien, claim or charge held by one party, on property owned by a second party, as security for payment of some debt, obligation, or duty owed by that second party. A lien may arise by agreement between...

(Encyclopedia) Passion cycle, in art, the depiction of the last events in the life of Jesus. The Passion was a favorite subject of medieval and Renaissance artists and was considered the most ambitious of projects. ...

(Encyclopedia) Peruzzi, Baldassare bäldäs-säˈrā pāro͞otˈtsē [key], 1481–1536, Italian architect and painter of the High Renaissance and mannerist periods. His outstanding architectural works are the Villa...

(Encyclopedia) Brin, Sergey Mikhaylovich, 1973–, American business executive and computer scientist, b. Moscow, grad. Univ. of Maryland (B.S., 1993) and Stanford (M.S., 1995). His family immigrated to the United S...

(Encyclopedia) Brashear, John Alfred brəshērˈ [key], 1840–1920, American maker of scientific instruments and educator, b. Brownsville, Pa. A mechanic by trade, he taught himself the art of making lenses and mir...

(Encyclopedia) Kresge Foundation krĕsˈkē [key], fund established (1924) by retail chain store owner Sebastian S. Kresge (1867–1966) as a broad-purpose philanthropic institution. The foundation describes its pol...

(Encyclopedia) Siemens, Sir William, 1823–83, English electrical engineer, b. Germany; brother of Ernst Werner von Siemens. Originally his name was Carl Wilhelm Siemens. After visiting England to introduce an elec...

(Encyclopedia) William II, 1626–50, prince of Orange, stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (1647–50), son and successor of Frederick Henry. He married (1641) Mary, eldest daughter of Charles I ...

(Encyclopedia) Taeuber-Arp, Sophie, 1889–1943, Swiss textile designer, painter, and sculptor, b. Sophie Henriette Gertrude Taeuber. She taught textile design (1916–29) at the School of Arts and Crafts in Zürich...

(Encyclopedia) Buell, Abel byo͞oˈəl [key], 1742–1822, American silversmith, engraver, and type founder, b. Killingworth, Conn. He engraved a number of maps, including maps of the Florida coast and a large wall ...