Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ashkin, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Ashkin, Arthur, 1922–2020, American physicist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Ph.D. Cornell, 1952. Ashkin worked for four decades at Bell Laboratories, retiring in 1992. Ashkin researched microwaves, nonlinear ...

Horne, Lena

(Encyclopedia)Horne, Lena (Lena Mary Calhoun Horne), 1917–2010, American singer and actress, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Elegantly beautiful, Horne entered show business at 16 in the chorus line at Harlem's Cotton Club; sh...

Douglas, Donald Wills

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Donald Wills, 1892–1981, aviation pioneer and aerospace executive, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1914. He helped design the first wind tunnel (1914–15) an...

Tyson, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Tyson, Mike (Michael Gerald Tyson), 1966–, American boxer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. At the age of 12, Tyson was sent to reform school, where he began to box. In a whirlwind career begun in 1985 when he tur...

Jinja

(Encyclopedia)Jinja jĭnˈjə [key], city (2002 pop. 71,213), SE Uganda, on the Victoria Nile River, near Lake Victoria. It is an industrial city and the commercial and processing center for a region where cotton, ...

Longview

(Encyclopedia)Longview. 1 City (1990 pop. 70,311), seat of Gregg co., E Tex.; inc. 1872. It is a manufacturing, business, and distribution center for the rich East Texas oil field. The city has oil and natural-gas ...

kithara

(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...

Ammanati, Bartolomeo

(Encyclopedia)Ammanati, Bartolomeo bärtōlōmĕˈō äm-mänäˈtē [key], 1511–92, Italian sculptor and architect. He studied under Bandinelli in Florence and assisted Jacopo Sansovino in his work on the Librar...

Albi

(Encyclopedia)Albi älbēˈ [key], town, capital of Tarn dept., S France, in Languedoc, on the Tarn River. A commercial center, its has glassworks and food-processing, textile-manufactu...