Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fleming, Sir Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Fleming, Sir Alexander, 1881–1955, Scottish bacteriologist, discoverer of penicillin (1928) and lysozyme (1922), an antibacterial substance found in saliva and other body secretions. Educated at St....

Avalon Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Avalon Peninsula, 3,579 sq mi (9,270 sq km), SE N.L., Canada, on Newfoundland. It is nearly divided at its center by Conception Bay and St. Mary's Bay. The peninsula is the most densely populated part...

Bethune-Cookman College

(Encyclopedia)Bethune-Cookman College, at Daytona Beach, Fla.; United Methodist; coeducational. Named for its founder and first president, Mary McCleod Bethune, the school was formed as a result of a merger (1923) ...

Mawson, Sir Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Mawson, Sir Douglas, 1882–1958, Australian antarctic explorer and geologist, b. England. His first geographical expedition was to the New Hebrides Islands as a geologist in 1903. As a member of the ...

Christie, Dame Agatha

(Encyclopedia)Christie, Dame Agatha, 1890–1976, English detective story writer, b. Torquay, Devon, as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller. Christie's second husband was the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, and she gained ...

Ridley, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Ridley, Nicholas, c.1500–1555, English prelate, reformer, and Protestant martyr. In 1534, while a proctor of Cambridge, he signed the decree against the pope's supremacy in England. In 1537 he becam...

Kufuor, John Kofi Agyekum

(Encyclopedia)Kufuor, John Kofi Agyekum, 1938–, Ghanaian political leader. A lawyer educated at Lincoln's Inn, London, and Oxford, he served in Ghana's parliament (1969–72, 1979–81) between periods of militar...

Johnson, Herschel Vespasian

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Herschel Vespasian, 1812–80, U.S. political leader, b. Burke co., Ga. Admitted to the bar in 1834, he filled (1848–49) an unexpired Senate term before serving as circuit court judge (1849...

Linlithgow

(Encyclopedia)Linlithgow, town (1991 pop. 9,524), West Lothian, central Scotland. Manufactures include paper, whiskey, and computers. Linlithgow Palace, now a ruin, was a seat of Stuart kings and the birthplace of ...

Morgan City

(Encyclopedia)Morgan City, city (1990 pop. 14,531), St. Mary parish, S La., a fishing port on the Atchafalaya River (connected to the Intracoastal Waterway); inc. 1860 as Brasher, renamed 1876. The city is headquar...