Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Palmer, Daniel David

(Encyclopedia)Palmer, Daniel David, 1845–1913, American founder of chiropractic, b. near Toronto, Canada. He practiced and taught chiropractic, chiefly in Davenport, Iowa. His work was carried on and extended by ...

Paterson, David Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Paterson, David Alexander, 1954–, American politician, the first African-American governor of New York (2008–11), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1977), Hofstra Law School (J.D., 1982). T...

Père David's deer

(Encyclopedia)Père David's deer pĕr dävēdzˈ [key], Asian deer, Elaphurus davidianus, known only in a semidomesticated state. Also known as milu and elaphure, it has a bulky, donkeylike body, reaching a shoulde...

Wilkie, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Wilkie, Sir David, 1785–1841, Scottish genre painter. He studied in Edinburgh and at the Royal Academy and won early popularity with his admirable little scenes of everyday life. Anecdotal painting ...

Wineland, David Jeffrey

(Encyclopedia)Wineland, David Jeffrey, 1944–, American physicist, b. Milwaukee, Wis., Ph.D. Harvard, 1970. Wineland has been a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Univ. of Col...

Wolfensohn, James David

(Encyclopedia)Wolfensohn, James David, 1933–2020, Australian-American investment banker and financial executive, b. Sydney. Wolfensohn worked for banking institutions in Australia, London, and New York City, even...

Wyss, Johann David

(Encyclopedia)Wyss, Johann David yōˈhän däˈvĭt vēs [key], 1743–1818, Swiss author. His Swiss Family Robinson (1813, tr. 1814), an internationally popular classic for children, relates the adventures of a s...

Wallace, David Foster

(Encyclopedia)Wallace, David Foster, 1962–2008, American writer, b. Ithaca, N.Y., grad. Amherst College (B.A., 1985), Univ. of Arizona (M.F.A., 1987). He published his comic first novel, The Broom of the System (...

Ben-Gurion, David

(Encyclopedia)Ben-Gurion, David bĕn-go͞oˈrēŏn [key], 1886–1973, Israeli statesman, b. Plońsk, Poland, as David Grün. He settled in Palestine in 1906, but lived for periods of time in Istanbul, London, and ...

Burnet, David Gouverneur

(Encyclopedia)Burnet, David Gouverneur gŭvˌəno͝orˈ bûrˈnĭt [key], 1788–1870, provisional president of Texas (1836), b. Newark, N.J.; son of William Burnet (1730–91). He went to Texas c.1817, and his leg...