These 11 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Varangians, Vardaman, Vargunteius.
or VARAGIANS, the name applied to the Norse vikings, who at the close of the 9th century, founded various principalities in Russia. Some of them afterward entered the service of the Byzantine emperors, and became the imperial guards at Constantinople. Here they were recruited by Anglo-Saxons and Danes, who fled from England to escape the Norman yoke.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
JAMES KIMBLE, an American public official, born in Jack son co., Texas, in 1861. He was educated in the public schools of Mississippi and was admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1882. In 1883 he was editor of the Winona (Miss.) "Advance," from 1890 to 1896 editor of the Greenwood (Miss.) "Enterprise," and in the latter year established the Greenwood "Commonwealth." He became in 1908 editor of "The Issue,” Jackson, Miss. He was a presidential elector in 1892 and 1896, a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1890 to 1896, captain and later major of the 5th United States Volunteer Infantry from 1898 to 1899, Governor of Mississippi from 1904 to 1908, and Democratic United States Senator from 1913 to 1919. He was defeated for re-election in 1918.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
A senator, and one of Catiline's conspirators, who undertook, in conjunction with C. Cornelius, to murder Cicero in B. c. 63, but their plan was frustrated by information conveyed to Cicero through Fulvia . Varius Rufus, L. One of the most distinguished poets of the Augustan age, the companion and friend of Vergil and Horace. By the latter he is placed in the foremost rank among the epic bards, and Quintilian has pronounced that his tragedy of Thyestes might stand a comparison with any production of the Grecian stage.
Only in 1000 Classical Characters
in astronomy, any deviation from the mean orbit or mean motion of a heavenly body produced by the perturbation of another body or bodies. Thus the planets are considered to move mathematically in elliptic orbits, which would be the case if they were subject to the attraction of the sun only, but being acted on by each other, there is supposed to be a minute and slow but constant variation in the elements of the ellipse. Variations which are compensated in short intervals are called periodic, and those which require for their compensation a long period are called secular. In biology: (1) A tendency in all organisms to vary slightly from other organisms produced by the same parents. (2) Hereditary modification. (3) A modification directly due to the physical conditions of life; such as the dwarfed condition of shells in the Baltic, or of stunted plants on Alpine summits. (4) An organism, or a group of organisms, exhibiting modification due to external conditions.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
A distinguished electrician and fellow of the Royal Society, who on several occasions turned his Vaulderie knowledge of electricity to account in devising tests for spiritualistic mediums. In March, 1874 he applied such a test to Miss Florence Cook, during a materialisation séance. The experiment, in common with many of these earlier tests, has since been proved inadequate. (See Spiritualism .)
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
a fortified town of Bulgaria (of which it is the chief port), on the Black Sea, and the capital of a district of the same name (area, 2,554 square miles; pop. about 350,000). It has a good harbor, and a large trade in grain. It is the see of a Greek archbishop. It was taken by the Russians in 1828, but restored to Turkey a year later by the peace of Adrianople. The Crimean expedition sailed from Varna in 1854. It was bombarded by the Russian fleet in 1915. Pop. about 45,000.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about other peoples, religions, or nationalities that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: ET 2026-07-22) KARL AUGUST (värn-hä'gen fon en'se), en's a distinguished Prussian diplomatist, regarded as one of the best of German prose writers; born in Düsseldorf, Feb. 21, 1785. In 1814 he married Rahel Levin, an accomplished Jewess, and became conspicuous in Berlin society. His numerous works consist mainly of biographical studies including two memorials of his wife, who died in 1833-tales, criticisms, and poems. Of his "Diaries" several volumes have appeared. He died in Berlin, Oct. 10, 1858.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the name given to various trees which furnish varnish. They are chiefly natives of the hotter parts of the Eastern Hemisphere and the varnish tree of each country or large province is, as a rule, different from that of others. In Tenasserim, Pegu, etc., the varnish tree is Melanorrhea usitatissima, sometimes specifically called the Black, or Martabam varnish; that of Japan is Rhus vernicifera and Stagmaria verniciflua; that of Sylhet, Semecarpus The varnish tree of the anacardium. the Meditercountries bordering on ranean is Rhus coriaria. It is a tree the leaves of which are divided into five to seven pairs of hairy leaflets with a terminal one. It is 15 to 20 feet high.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
A Latin author celebrated for his great learning. He wrote no less than five hundred volumes, but all his works are lost except a treatise De Re Rustica, and another De Lingua Latina. He died B. C. 28, in his eightyeighth year. 2026 Editor's Note: Marcus Terentius Varro , often called Varro Reatinus, was a Roman polymath regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar. He is distinguished from his younger contemporary, the poet Varro Atacinus. The 14th-century poet Petrarch later described him as 'the third great light of Rome,' alongside Virgil and Cicero. (Ed: BR 2026-06-19)
Only in 1000 Classical Characters
CAIUS TERENTIUS, the Roman commander who was defeated at Cannæ by Hannibal in 216 b. c.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
GIORGIO (vä-sä'rē), an Italian painter and architect, but most distinguished as the biographer of artists; born in Arezzo, Tuscany, July 30, 1512. He studied under Luca Signorelli, Michael Angelo, and Andrea del Sarto. As an architect he showed great ability, as exemplified in his designs of the Palazzo degli Uffizi at Florence, and the church of Abbadia at Arezzo. As a painter he was less successful. His principal paintings are a "Lord's Supper," in the cathedral of Arezzo, several works in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and in the Vatican in Rome. His "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects" is of great interest, but it exhibits many errors respecting the earlier masters; and it is also guilty of partiality toward the Tuscan artists. It was first printed in 1550, and an enlarged and improved edition appeared in 1568. It has been translated into English. Vasari died in Florence, June 27, 1574.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia