Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Billings, Josh

(Encyclopedia)Billings, Josh, pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw, 1818–85, American humorist and lecturer, b. Lanesboro, Mass. After a roving life as farmer, explorer, and coal miner, he settled in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., ...

Welsh Marches

(Encyclopedia)Welsh Marches, lands in Wales along the English border. After the Norman conquest of England in the 11th cent., William I established the border earldoms of Chester, Shrewsbury, and Hereford to protec...

Pritzker Prize

(Encyclopedia)Pritzker Prize, officially The Pritzker Architecture Prize prĭtˈskər [key], award for excellence in architecture, given annually since 1979. Largely modeled on the Nobel Prize, it is the premier ar...

Melfi

(Encyclopedia)Melfi mĕlˈfē [key], town (1991 pop. 15,757), in Basilicata, S Italy. It is an agricultural and tourist center noted for its wine. In 1041 it was made the first capital of the Norman county of Apuli...

Green, Samuel Swett

(Encyclopedia)Green, Samuel Swett, 1837–1918, American librarian, b. Worcester, Mass. Green was librarian of the Worcester, Mass., Free Public Library (1871–1909) and was a member of the Free Public Library Com...

Northampton, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Northampton, city (1991 pop. 154,172) and district, Northamptonshire, central England, on the Nene River. The city of Northampton is the county seat. Shoemaking has long been the chief industry; engin...

Guardi, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Guardi, Francesco fränchāsˈkō gwärˈdē [key], 1712–93, Venetian landscape and architectural painter. A follower of Canaletto, he developed a freer style of great brilliance. Guardi's work rang...

Pitoëff, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Pitoëff, Georges zhôrzh pēˈtōĕf [key], 1884–1939, Russian actor-manager. Although he had both engineering and law degrees, Pitoeff was drawn to the theater. He directed his own amateur company...

Straus, Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Straus, Oscar ôsˈkär shtrous [key], 1870–1954, Austrian composer; studied in Vienna and with Max Bruch in Berlin. After a brief career as conductor he turned entirely to composition. His operas a...

Sweet, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Sweet, Henry, 1845–1912, English philologist and phonetician. An authority on Anglo-Saxon and the history of the English language, Sweet was also a pioneer in modern scientific phonetics. His Histor...