Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

299 results found

Maathai, Wangari Muta

(Encyclopedia)Maathai, Wangari Muta wän-gäˈrē mātīˈ [key], 1940–2011, Kenyan environmental...

Buhari, Muhammadu

(Encyclopedia)Buhari, Muhammadu, 1942–, Nigerian military officer and political leader. A Fulani from Katsina State, he joined the army in 1961; he rose to the rank of general and participated in several coups. H...

Washington, Denzel

(Encyclopedia) Washington, Denzel (Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.), 1954- , African-American actor, b. Mount Vernon, N.Y., Fordham Univ. (B.A., 1977). Washington’s fa...

Alexandria, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Alexandria. 1 City (2020 pop. 45,275), seat of Rapides parish, central La., on the Red River; inc. 1818. It is a trade, rail, and medical center for a rich agricultural and timber area. ...

Johnson City

(Encyclopedia)Johnson City. 1 Village (1990 pop. 16,890), Broome co., S N.Y., in a tricity area including Endicott and Binghamton; inc. 1892. It has been noted for its Endicott-Johnson shoes. Originally called Lest...

Mishna

(Encyclopedia)Mishna mĭshˈnə [key], in Judaism, codified collection of Oral Law—legal interpretations of portions of the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and other legal material. ...

Benn, Anthony Wedgwood

(Encyclopedia)Benn, Anthony Wedgwood (Tony Benn), 1925–2014, British politician, b. London, grad. New College, Oxford. After working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (1949–50), he was elected a Labour m...

Tlingit

(Encyclopedia)Tlingit tlĭngˈgĭt [key], group of related Native North American tribes, speaking a language that forms a branch of the Nadene linguistic stock (see Native American languages). The 14 divisions of t...

Thorpe, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Thorpe, Jim (James Francis Thorpe), 1888–1953, American athlete, b. near Prague, Okla. Thorpe was probably the greatest all-round male athlete the United States has ever produced. His mother, a Sac,...

Hartley, Marsden

(Encyclopedia)Hartley, Marsden, 1877–1943, American painter widely considered the first great American modernist of the 20th cent., b. Lewiston, Maine. He was educated in Cleveland, but early in his career (1899)...

Browse by Subject