Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nicholas Brothers

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas Brothers, African-American tap dance team consisting of Fayard Antonio Nicholas, 1914–2006, b. Mobile, Ala., and Harold Lloyd Nicholas, 1921–2000, b. Winston-Walem, N.C. Performing on sta...

Price, Lloyd

(Encyclopedia) Price, Lloyd, 1933-2021, b. Kenner, La. Price began his first band at age 18 while also working in construction. Signed to Specialty Records, his firs...

Prince, Hal

(Encyclopedia)Prince, Hal (Harold Smith Prince), 1928–2019, American theatrical producer and director, b. New York City. After working as an assistant stage manager to George Abbott, Prince became at 26 the copro...

Brandeis, Louis Dembitz

(Encyclopedia)Brandeis, Louis Dembitz brănˈdīs [key], 1856–1941, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1916–39), b. Louisville, Ky., grad. Harvard law school, 1877. As a successful Boston lawyer (1879...

Hudson, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Hudson, William Henry, 1841–1922, English author and naturalist, b. Quilmes, Argentina, of American parents. He spent his childhood on the pampas but developed a heart condition and finally emigrate...

Lane, Franklin Knight

(Encyclopedia)Lane, Franklin Knight, 1864–1921, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1913–20), b. near Charlottetown, P.E.I., Canada. Raised in California, he later studied law and practiced in San Francisco, where ...

Burleson, Albert Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Burleson, Albert Sidney bûrˈləsən [key], 1863–1937, U.S. Postmaster General (1913–21), b. San Marcos, Tex.; grandson of Edward Burleson. He was a lawyer of Austin, Tex., and a member of the U....

Shapley, Harlow

(Encyclopedia)Shapley, Harlow shăpˈlē [key], 1885–1972, American astronomer, b. Nashville, Mo., grad. Univ. of Missouri, 1910, Ph.D. Princeton, 1913. He was astronomer at Mt. Wilson Observatory from 1914 to 19...

Ritchey, George Willis

(Encyclopedia)Ritchey, George Willis, 1864–1945, American astronomer, b. Meigs co., Ohio, studied at the Univ. of Cincinnati (1883–84, 1886–87). He was superintendent of instrument construction (1899–1904) ...

cloud chamber

(Encyclopedia)cloud chamber, device used to detect elementary particles and other ionizing radiation. A cloud chamber consists essentially of a closed container filled with a supersaturated vapor, e.g., water in ai...