niobium (Nb), chemical element, refractory metal of Group 5 (Vb) of the periodic table, used in alloys, tools and dies, and superconductive magnets. Niobium is closely associated with tantalum in ores and in properties. Due to the great chemical similarity of niobium and tantalum, the establishment

Peter Falk: …Columbo in the television series Columbo (1971–78) and made-for-TV movies.

Columbus, city, Bartholomew county, south-central Indiana, U.S., on the East Fork White River, 43 miles (70 km) south of Indianapolis. Founded in 1821 as the county seat, it was named Tiptona for General John Tipton, who had given the land to the county, but a month later it was renamed Columbus. A

Columbus, city (since 1971 consolidated with Muscogee county), western Georgia, U.S., at the head of navigation on the Chattahoochee River, opposite Phenix City, Alabama. Founded in 1828 and carved out of the wilderness, it had by 1840 become a leading inland cotton port with a thriving textile

space station: The International Space Station: …ports for a European laboratory, Columbus, and a Japanese laboratory, Kibo. In February 2008 Columbus was mounted on Harmony’s starboard side. Columbus was Europe’s first long-duration crewed space laboratory and contained experiments in such fields as biology and fluid dynamics. In the following month an improved variant of the Ariane…

Columbus, city, Franklin, Fairfield, and Delaware counties, capital (1816) of Ohio, U.S., and seat (1824) of Franklin county. It is situated in the central part of the state on the relatively flat Ohio till plain, at the junction of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. Columbus is at the centre of a

Columbus, city, seat (1830) of Lowndes county, eastern Mississippi, U.S., on the Tombigbee River, about 90 miles (145 km) north of Meridian, near the Alabama border. Settled as a trading post (1817), it was known until 1821 as Possum Town. In 1822 or 1823 the Cotton Plant first docked in Columbus,

European Space Agency: With the launching of the Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station in 2008, ESA became a full partner in the operation of the station. In 2009 ESA launched Planck, a satellite that is designed to study the cosmic microwave background, and Herschel, an infrared observatory that is the largest…

Columbus, city, seat (1857) of Platte county, eastern Nebraska, U.S., on the Loup River near its confluence with the Platte, about 85 miles (135 km) west of Omaha. Pawnee, Omaha, and Oto Indians were early inhabitants of the area. Columbus was founded in 1856 on the proposed railroad route by

Columbus Blue Jackets, American professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, that plays in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blue Jackets joined the NHL in 2000 alongside fellow expansion team the Minnesota Wild. The franchise’s nickname, the product of a

Columbus Day, in the United States, holiday (originally October 12; since 1971 the second Monday in October) to commemorate the landing of Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492, in the New World. Although his explorations were financed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Columbus was

Christopher Columbus: The fourth voyage and final years of Christopher Columbus: …have been interred in the Columbus Lighthouse (Faro a Colón).

Reform Judaism: …of Reform rabbis issued the Columbus (Ohio) Platform, supporting the use of traditional customs and ceremonies and the liturgical use of Hebrew. In the late 20th century the Central Conference of American Rabbis continued to debate how best to continue the spirit of the Reform movement. It issued several new…

Columbus: The contemporary city: The Columbus Zoo, located in the northwest near Dublin, is one of the country’s most renowned zoos. Area reservoirs (including Griggs, O’Shaughnessy, and Hoover) are also popular recreational venues, as is Alum Creek State Park north of the city. Scioto Downs and Beulah Park have horse…

Bartholomew Columbus was an Italian explorer, brother of Christopher Columbus, accomplished cartographer and cosmographer, and probably collaborator on his brother’s project to sail around the world. In 1484, according to tradition, he visited Henry VII of England and gave him a map of the world,

Battle of Columbus, also known as the Burning of Columbus or the Columbus Raid, (8–9 March 1916). In need of supplies during the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa led his men in a raid across the border into the United States, at Columbus, New Mexico. The raid quickly escalated into a full-scale

Macaulay Culkin: Early life and work: …John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus, sees Kevin first reveling in having the house all to himself, indulging in all sorts of activities that he had not been allowed to do, and then, once he realizes that two thieves have targeted his house, he rallies an impressive and creative…

Christopher Columbus was a master navigator and admiral whose four transatlantic voyages (1492–93, 1493–96, 1498–1500, and 1502–04) opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas. He has long been called the “discoverer” of the New World, although Vikings

Diego Columbus was the eldest son of Christopher Columbus and viceroy of the Indies for 15 years, who spent most of his life in legal battles to secure the Columbus claims. When his father undertook the great voyage of discovery in 1492, Diego was made a page at the Spanish court. After his

Christopher Columbus: Written sources: …attributed to Columbus’s younger son, Ferdinand, who traveled with the admiral. Further light is thrown upon the explorations by the so-called Pleitos de Colón, judicial documents concerning Columbus’s disputed legacy. A more recent discovery is a copybook that purportedly contains five narrative letters and two personal ones from Columbus, all…

Diego Columbus: His son Luis was to receive the title admiral of the Indies but would renounce all other rights in return for a perpetual annuity of 10,000 ducats, the island of Jamaica in fief, and an estate of 25 square leagues on the Isthmus of Panama with the…

Swedish literature: The 17th century: …followers included the two brothers Columbus, one of whom, Samuel, wrote Odae sueticae (1674; “Swedish Odes”) as well as a collection of anecdotes that illumine Stiernhielm’s character. A rival to Stiernhielm was the unidentified Skogekär Bärgbo (a pseudonym), whose Wenerid (1680) was the first sonnet cycle in Swedish.

St. Columba ; feast day June 9) is an Irish saint who is credited with having had a main role in the conversion of Scotland to Christianity in the 6th century. He is a patron saint of Scotland and one of the three patron saints of Ireland, along with St. Patrick and St. Brigid. He is also revered

bryophyte: Annotated classification: …mouth and influencing spore release; columella usually present, encircled or overarched by a spore-bearing layer; calyptra capping apex of elongating seta and influencing survival and differentiation of sporangium; spores generally shed over extended period; seta a rigid structure with internal conducting strand and holding sporangium well above gametophore in most…

gastropod: The shell: …a central axis called the columella. Generally, the coils, or whorls, added later in life are larger than those added when the snail is young. At the end of the last whorl is the aperture, or opening. The shell is secreted along the outer lip of the aperture by the…

amphibian: Common features: …unique to lissamphibians is the columella-opercular complex, a pair of elements associated with the auditory capsule that transmit airborne (columella) or seismic (operculum) signals.

Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella was a Roman soldier and farmer who wrote extensively on agriculture and kindred subjects in the hope of arousing a love for farming and a simple life. He became in early life a tribune of the legion stationed in Syria, but neither an army career nor the law

muscle: Mollusks: The columellar (shell) muscles of gastropods pull the foot and other parts of the body into the shell. The adductor muscles of bivalves (Figure 4) shorten to close the shell or relax to allow the shell to spring open, enabling the mollusk to extend its foot…

column, in architecture, a vertical element, usually a rounded shaft with a capital and a base, which in most cases serves as a support. A column may also be nonstructural, used for a decorative purpose or as a freestanding monument. In the field of architectural design a column is used for

climate: Snow and sleet: of snow crystals: plates, stellars, columns, needles, spatial dendrites, capped columns, and irregular crystals. The size and shape of the snow crystals depend mainly on the temperature of their formation and on the amount of water vapour that is available for deposition. The two principal influences are not independent; the…

column chromatography, in analytical chemistry, method for separating mixtures of substances in which a liquid or gaseous solution of the mixture is caused to flow through a tube packed with a finely divided solid, which may be coated with an adsorbent liquid, or through a long capillary tube

krater: …of a flower; and the column krater, with columnar handles rising from the shoulder to a flat, projecting lip rim.

Ladik carpet: The term column Ladik has been applied to prayer rugs that, regardless of their actual places of origin, share a motif derived from a 16th-century Ottoman court design, consisting of three arches of unequal height supported upon slender columns and surmounted by a panel as described earlier.…

Gaius Duilius: Called the columna rostrata, it was a favourite site for speeches. The English term rostrum derives from this Roman custom. In 258 Duilius was censor (magistrate responsible for the census and for public morality), and in 231 he was empowered (as a magistrate with emergency powers, or…

Bolívar Peak, mountain in Sierra Nevada National Park, northwestern Venezuela. Rising 16,332 feet (4,978 metres), it is the highest mountain in the Cordillera de Mérida (a northeastern spur of the Andes Mountains) and in

tree: The anatomy and organization of wood: …the third major tree form, columnar, in which the central axis develops without branching until the apex of the bole.

epithelium: Columnar epithelium covers the intestinal tract from the end of the esophagus to the beginning of the rectum. It also lines the ducts of many glands. A typical form covers the villi (nipple-like projections) of the small intestine. Cubical epithelium is found in many glands…

ice in lakes and rivers: Variations in ice structure: …single crystals and is termed columnar ice. When a very thin section of the ice is cut and examined with light through crossed polaroid sheets, the crystal structure is clearly seen.

igneous rock: Fractures: The columnar jointing found in many mafic volcanic rocks is a typical result of contraction upon cooling.

columnist, the author or editor of a regular signed contribution to a newspaper, magazine, or Web site, usually under a permanent title and devoted to comment on some aspect of the contemporary scene. The column may be humorous or serious, on one subject or on life in general, frivolous in tone or

Mitla: …structures—Grupo de las Columnas (Columns Group), Grupo de las Iglesias (Churches Group), Grupo del Arroyo (Arroyo Group), Grupo de los Adobes (Adobe Group), and Grupo del Sur (Southern Group)—of which only the first two had been fully excavated and restored by the early 1980s. Each group has several rectangular…

Madgaon: …city is not far from Colva, considered to have one of India’s most beautiful beaches. Pop. (2001) town, 78,382; urban agglom., 94,383; (2011) city, 87,650; urban agglom., 106,484.

Alaskan mountains: Physiography of the northern ranges: …east-flowing upper portion of the Colville River, most drainage is northward. The tundra-covered area, called the North Slope, is underlain by permafrost, which is permanently frozen sediment and rock; only a shallow surface zone thaws during the short summer, producing a vast number of small ephemeral lakes and ponds. That…

Alex Colville was a Canadian painter whose detailed works depicted everyday subject matter and possessed a mysterious, mythic quality that belied psychological acuity. Though he worked during the heyday of the abstract art movement, Colville never deviated from his figurative style. Upon graduating

Alex Colville was a Canadian painter whose detailed works depicted everyday subject matter and possessed a mysterious, mythic quality that belied psychological acuity. Though he worked during the heyday of the abstract art movement, Colville never deviated from his figurative style. Upon graduating

Nanaimo, city, southwestern British Columbia, Canada, on Vancouver Island and the Georgia Strait. Founded as Colvilletown around a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post, it developed after 1849 when coalfields were discovered nearby by local Indigenous people. In 1860 the settlement was renamed

Claudette Colvin is an American woman who was arrested as a teenager in 1955 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white woman. Her protest was one of several by Black women challenging segregation on buses in the months before Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. Parks’s

Steve Earle: …Colvin for a folk-oriented collection, Colvin & Earle (2016).

Robert Louis Stevenson: Early life: …Suffolk, England, where he met Sidney Colvin, the English scholar, who became a lifelong friend, and Fanny Sitwell (who later married Colvin). Sitwell, an older woman of charm and talent, drew the young man out and won his confidence. Soon Stevenson was deeply in love, and on his return to…

Colwyn Bay, seaside resort town and urban area (from 2011 built-up area), Conwy county borough, historic county of Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych), northern Wales. It lies on the North Wales coast of the Irish Sea. The town, which dates from the 19th century, grew rapidly after World War I to become

coly, any member of the genus Colius, a group of African birds that, because of their long, drooping tails, look much like mice when seen running along branches. The single genus (Colius) and six species constitute the family Coliidae, order Coliiformes. The body is sparrow sized, but the tail

Colymbiformes, former taxonomic order that included the water birds known as loons and grebes. Later scholarship determined that these two groups were not related, and ornithologists devised new and separate classifications for them: Gaviiformes (loons) and Podicipediformes (sometimes spelled

rapeseed, (Brassica napus, variety napus), plant of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) grown for its seeds, which yield canola, or rapeseed, oil. Canola oil is variously used in cooking, as an ingredient in soap and margarine, and as a lamp fuel (colza oil). The esterified form of the oil is used as

comet: …comet nucleus known as a coma. As dust and gas in the coma flow freely into space, the comet forms two tails, one composed of ionized molecules and radicals and one of dust. The word comet comes from the Greek κομητης (kometes), which means “long-haired.” Indeed, it is the appearance…

coma, state of unconsciousness, characterized by loss of reaction to external stimuli and absence of spontaneous nervous activity, usually associated with injury to the cerebrum. Coma may accompany a number of metabolic disorders or physical injuries to the brain from disease or trauma. Different

optics: Coma: The S2 term in the OPD expression represents the aberration called coma, in which the image of a point has the appearance of a comet. The x′ and y′ components are as follows:

Coma Berenices, constellation in the northern sky at about 13 hours right ascension and 20° north in declination. Its brightest star is Beta Comae Berenices, with a magnitude of 4.3. This constellation contains the Coma cluster of galaxies, the nearest rich galaxy cluster at a distance of 33

Coma cluster, nearest rich cluster of galaxies containing thousands of systems. The Coma cluster lies about 330 million light-years away, about seven times farther than the Virgo cluster, in the direction of the constellation Coma Berenices. The main body of the Coma cluster has a diameter of about

death: Evolution of the concept of brain-stem death: …described a condition they called coma dépassé (literally, “a state beyond coma”). Their patients all had primary, irremediable, structural brain lesions; were deeply comatose; and were incapable of spontaneous breathing. They had not only lost their ability to react to the external world, but they also could no longer control…

Roscommon, market and county town (seat), County Roscommon, Ireland, lying northwest of Dublin. A monastery and school were established on the site in the 7th century by St. Coman. In the town and its environs are the remains of a Dominican abbey founded in 1253 by Felim O’Connor, king of Connacht,

Roscommon, county in the province of Connaught, north-central Ireland. It is bounded by Counties Sligo (north), Leitrim (northeast), Longford and Westmeath (east), Offaly (southeast), Galway (southwest), and Mayo (west). The town of Roscommon, in the central part of the county, is the county town

New Braunfels: …at a point where the Comal River (3 miles [5 km] long and within city limits) flows into the Guadalupe River, 30 miles (50 km) northeast of San Antonio. The community was established in 1845 by a group of German immigrants led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and sponsored by…

Nilo-Saharan languages: Linguistic characteristics: …consonants—are found, for example, in Koma, a Komuz language of western Ethiopia; comparable consonant distinctions occur in such Omotic (Afro-Asiatic) languages as Maale (southwestern Ethiopia). Several Central Sudanic languages, most of which are situated along the southern fringe of the Nilo-Saharan zone, share the presence of complex consonant systems with…

Komuz languages, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family formed by a group of related languages spoken in the border area that separates Ethiopia from Sudan and South Sudan. The Komuz group consists of Koma, Twampa (Uduk), Kwama, and Opo (Opo-Shita). Another variety of Komuz, known as Gule

Comana, ancient city of Cappadocia, on the upper course of the Seyhan (Sarus) River, in southern Turkey. Often called Chryse to distinguish it from Comana in Pontus, it was the place where the cult of Ma-Enyo, a variant of the great west Asian mother goddess, was celebrated with orgiastic rites.

Hebat: …Hebat had cult centres at Kummanni (classical Comana Cappadociae) and at Aleppo (Ḥalab) and other cities in the region of the Taurus Mountains. Hebat is represented as a matronly figure either standing on a lion or seated on a throne. She survived during Hellenistic times as Hipta, a goddess of…

Tokat: …near the site of ancient Comana of Pontus, one of the most important cities of the Pontus district during the Roman period. Tokat rose to prominence after Comana’s decline in Byzantine times. During the 11th–13th century it was an important city of a Turkmen principality and later of the Seljuq…

Comanche, North American Indian tribe of equestrian nomads whose 18th- and 19th-century territory comprised the southern Great Plains. The name Comanche is derived from a Ute word meaning “anyone who wants to fight me all the time.” The Comanche had previously been part of the Wyoming Shoshone.

Budd Boetticher: Westerns: …last picture in the cycle, Comanche Station, was released. The solid western found Scott’s lone hero searching for a woman who has been kidnapped by Comanches.

Michael Curtiz: Last films of Michael Curtiz: … and Wayne in the western The Comancheros as a Texas Ranger. The Comancheros was arguably the best film Curtiz had made in 10 years; it was also his last motion picture, as he died a year later.

Oliver Stone: …documentaries about Latin American politics: Comandante (2003), about Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and South of the Border (2009), which focused on several other left-wing leaders, notably Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chávez. He revisited both leaders in the documentaries Castro in Winter (2012) and Mi amigo Hugo (2014; “My Friend Hugo”). With…

Dilma Rousseff: Early life and political career: …associated with the militant group National Liberation Command (Comando de Libertação Nacional; Colina), and she married fellow activist Cláudio Galeno Linhares in 1968. After a raid on a Colina safe house resulted in police fatalities, the pair went into hiding in Rio de Janeiro. She and Galeno later fled Rio…

Patricio Aylwin: …became the spokesperson for the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertación de los Partidos por la Democracia; CPD). The CPD was a grouping of political parties created in February 1988, originally under the name Command for No (Comando por el No). After the resounding “no” vote that paved the way…

bastard toadflax: …name bastard toadflax refers to Comandra umbellata, the sole member of its genus. The plant is sometimes parasitic on the roots of other plants and has creeping roots, small white flowers clustered at the top of each plant, and one-seeded fruits.

Nadia Comăneci is a Romanian gymnast who was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic event. Comăneci was discovered by Bela Karolyi, later the Romanian gymnastics coach, when she was six years old. She first competed in the national junior championships in 1969, placing

tapestry: 17th and 18th centuries: …van den Planken; 1573–1627) and Marc de Comans (1563–before 1650). Satisfactory working conditions were found for them in the old Gobelins family dyeworks on the outskirts of the city, and so began the establishment commonly known by that name that has lasted ever since. One of its first ambitious productions…

sex therapy: Comarital therapy refers to the Masters and Johnson model, in which both members of the couple are treated by a team consisting of one male and one female therapist. The couple approach recognizes that sexual dysfunctions take place in the context of the interaction between…

feather star, any of the 550 living species of crinoid marine invertebrates (class Crinoidea) of the phylum Echinodermata lacking a stalk. The arms, which have feathery fringes and can be used for swimming, usually number five. Feather stars use their grasping “legs” (called cirri) to perch on

feather star, any of the 550 living species of crinoid marine invertebrates (class Crinoidea) of the phylum Echinodermata lacking a stalk. The arms, which have feathery fringes and can be used for swimming, usually number five. Feather stars use their grasping “legs” (called cirri) to perch on

Comayagua, city, west-central Honduras, on the right bank of the Humuya River in a fertile valley. Founded in 1537 as Valladolid de Santa María de Comayagua, the city served as the Spanish colonial capital of Honduras province. A variation of its name, Comayaguela, is used for the government

comb, a toothed implement used for cleaning and arranging the hair and also for holding it in place after it has been arranged. The word is also applied, from resemblance in form or in use, to various appliances employed for dressing wool and other fibrous substances, to the indented fleshy crest

fern: Annotated classification: …thickened cells; 2 genera (Schizaea and Actinostachys) with about 30 species, mostly tropical. Family Lygodiaceae Rhizomes long-creeping, hairy; leaves indeterminate in growth, climbing and often twining, the primary divisions alternate along the elongating stemlike rachis; sporangia often in 2 rows, densely spaced along specialized slender lobes of the

beekeeping: Comb honey: In production of honey in the comb, or comb honey, extreme care is necessary to prevent the bees’ swarming. The colony must be strong, and the bees must be crowded into the smallest space they will tolerate without swarming. New frames or sections…

ctenophore, any of the numerous marine invertebrates constituting the phylum Ctenophora. The phylum derives its name (from the Greek ctene, or “comb,” and phora, or “bearer”) from the series of vertical ciliary combs over the surface of the animal. The body form resembles that of the cnidarian

comb pottery, main pottery type of the Korean Neolithic Period (c. 3000–700 bce). Derived from a Siberian Neolithic prototype, the pottery is made of sandy clay, and its colour is predominantly reddish brown. The vessel form found in early comb pottery is a simple V-shape with a pointed or rounded

ctenophore: Form and function.: …their beautifully iridescent rows of comb plates. Most of the comb jellies are bioluminescent; they exhibit nocturnal displays of bluish or greenish light that are among the most brilliant and beautiful known in the animal kingdom.

scallop, any of the marine bivalve mollusks of the family Pectinidae, particularly species of the genus Pecten. The family, which includes about 50 genera and subgenera and more than 400 species, is worldwide in distribution and ranges from the intertidal zone to considerable ocean depths. The two

comb-clawed beetle, (subfamily Alleculinae), any of numerous insects in the order Coleoptera that are known for the comblike appearance of their claws. Their oval bodies are typically a glossy brown or black in colour. The adults are usually found on flowers or leaves and the larvae in rotten wood

comb-footed spider, any member of the spider family Theridiidae (order Araneida). The more than 1,000 species of comb-footed spiders are distributed around the world, and they include the black widow. The webs of theridiids consist of an irregular network of threads from which the spider often

Combahee River, river formed in southern South Carolina, U.S., by the confluence of the Salkehatchie and Little Salkehatchie rivers. It flows 40 miles (64 km) southeast to join the Coosaw River near its mouth on Saint Helena Sound. Combahee is derived from the name of a Muskogean-speaking Native

Combahee River Collective, Black, feminist, lesbian, socialist group primarily based in Boston, Massachusetts. The group, created in response to racism within the feminist movement and sexism and homophobia within the civil rights movement, operated from 1974 to 1980. Barbara Smith, a founder of

Combahee River Collective: The statement: Historians credit “The Combahee River Collective Statement” as a formative text in developing the contemporary Black feminist movement. The statement begins with a short account of the group’s purpose and proceeds to discuss the history of contemporary Black feminism, the collective’s political beliefs, the problems they faced…

history of Europe: Planning the peace: …was the masthead slogan of Combat, the left-wing French Resistance newspaper founded in 1941 but after the war edited as a Paris daily by the novelist Albert Camus. The words could well have been endorsed by others, especially the radical Action Party in Italy and many socialists there and elsewhere.

Delta Force, tier-one special missions unit within the U.S. armed forces. It has also been referred to as the Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), Task Force Green, and simply “the Unit,” as well as a host of cover names. Delta Force is primarily devoted to

armour: Modern body armour systems: …the late 1980s a lightweight Combat Body Armour (CBA) was introduced, consisting of a vest with soft ballistic filler capable of protecting against fragments and 9-mm pistol rounds. The Enhanced Body Armour (EBA) version could be reinforced with ceramic plates for greater protection against higher-velocity projectiles. In response to combat…

military unit: A combat brigade, for example, usually has infantry, armour, artillery, and reconnaissance units.

dance: Defining according to function: …as descendants of the tribal war and hunting dances that have also been integral to many cultures. War dances, often using weapons and fighting movements, were used throughout history as a way of training soldiers and preparing them emotionally and spiritually for battle. Many hunting tribes performed dances in which…

snake: Mating: The combat dance engaged in by two males is believed to be a competitive behaviour for the acquisition of females during the breeding season. As in the courtship dance, the front of the bodies entwine and are raised higher and higher off the ground until finally…

drill: …types: close-order and extended-order, or combat drill. Close-order drill comprises the formal movements and formations used in marching, parades, and ceremonies. Combat drill trains a small unit in the looser, extended formations and movements of battle.

combat effectiveness, the readiness of a military unit to engage in combat based on behavioral, operational, and leadership considerations. Combat effectiveness measures the ability of a military force to accomplish its objective and is one component of overall military effectiveness. The