Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Millet, Francis Davis

(Encyclopedia)Millet, Francis Davis mĭlāˈ [key], 1846–1912, American illustrator, painter, and journalist, b. Mattapoisett, Mass. He had been a drummer boy in the Civil War before going to college. As a corres...

millet

(Encyclopedia)millet, common name for several species of grasses cultivated mainly for cereals in the Eastern Hemisphere and for forage and hay in North America. The principal varieties are the foxtail, pearl, and ...

Davis, Paulina Wright

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Paulina Wright, 1813–76, American lecturer and suffragist, b. Bloomfield, N.Y. Born Paulina Kellogg, she was married in 1833 to a merchant, Francis Wright, who died two years later. In 1849 s...

Davis

(Encyclopedia)Davis, city (2020 pop. 66,850), Yolo co., central Calif.; settled in the 1850s, inc. 1917. It is an education center with light industry; machinery, pro...

Francis, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Francis, Dick (Richard Stanley Francis), 1920–2010, English novelist. He was a champion steeplechase jockey (1946–57) and a racing writer for a London newspaper (1957–73). Francis parlayed his k...

Davis, Al

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Al (Allen Davis), 1929–2011, American football executive, b. Brockton, Mass. After coaching mainly college teams in the 1950s, he was (1960–62) a coach with the Los Angeles, then San Diego,...

Davis, Bette

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Bette bĕtˈē [key], 1908–89, American film actress, b. Lowell, Mass., as Ruth Elizabeth Davis. One of the most durable stars of the American screen, she made her debut in 1931. With a strik...

Davis, Chuck

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Chuck (Charles Rudolph Davis), 1937–2017), American dancer, choreographer, and proponent of African dance, b. Raleigh, N.C. After serving in the navy, Davis studied with Martha Graham, Alvin ...

Davis, David

(Encyclopedia)Davis, David, 1815–86, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1862–77), b. Cecil co., Md., grad. Kenyon College, 1832; cousin of Henry Winter Davis. In 1836 he settled as a ...

Davis, Elmer

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Elmer, 1890–1958, American newspaperman, radio commentator, and author, b. Aurora, Ind. Davis was a Rhodes scholar (1910–13) at Oxford. For 10 years (1914–24) he was on the staff of the N...