Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bay of Pigs Invasion

(Encyclopedia)Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961, an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, supported by the U.S. government. On Apr. 17, 1961, an armed force of about 1,500 Cuban exiles landed in the Bahía de Coc...

Biddle, Nicholas, American financier

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, Nicholas, 1786–1844, American financier, b. Philadelphia. After holding important posts in the American legations in France and England, he returned to the United States in 1807 and became o...

Little America

(Encyclopedia)Little America, base for Antarctic exploring expeditions, Antarctica, on the Ross Ice Shelf, S of the Bay of Whales. Richard E. Byrd, a U.S. explorer, established and named Little America in 1929 and ...

Jeritza, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Jeritza, Maria yərĭtˈsə [key], 1887–1982, Austrian-American soprano. b. Brünn (now Brno). After her debut as Elsa in Lohengrin at Olmütz (now Olomouc) in 1910, she was a member (1912–35) of ...

Crespin, Régine

(Encyclopedia)Crespin, Régine rāzhēnˈ krĕspăNˈ [key], 1927–2007, French soprano. She made her major debut at the Paris Opéra in 1950. The range, flexibility, subtlety, and richness of her voice were criti...

Davis, Rebecca Harding

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Rebecca Harding, 1831–1910, American novelist, b. Washington, Pa.; mother of Richard Harding Davis. Her early nonfiction pieces, particularly those collected under the title Life in the Iron ...

Amadas, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Amadas or Amidas, Philip both: ămˈədăs [key], 1550–1618, English navigator. With Arthur Barlowe he was sent by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 to explore the North American coast. Their favorable rep...

Puttenham, George

(Encyclopedia)Puttenham, George pŭtˈənəm [key], d. 1590, English author. The Arte of English Poesie (1589), generally considered the best treatise on English versification of its time, has been attributed to hi...

Nore, the

(Encyclopedia)Nore, the, sandbank in the Thames estuary, SE England, 3 mi (4.8 km) E of Sheerness. At the east end is Nore Lightship. The name is also applied to part of the Thames estuary, a famous anchorage. A mu...

Browse by Subject