Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

146 results found

Béliveau, Jean Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Béliveau, Jean Arthur, 1931–2014, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Trois-Rivières, Québec. He joined the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League in 1953, playing for 18 seasons and becomin...

Livingstone, David

(Encyclopedia)Livingstone, David lĭvˈĭngstən, –stōnˌ [key], 1813–73, Scottish missionary and explorer in Africa, the first European to cross the African continent. From 1841 to 1852, while a medical missi...

Johnston, Sir Harry Hamilton

(Encyclopedia)Johnston, Sir Harry Hamilton, 1858–1927, British explorer and colonial official. His early interest in the natural sciences was combined with his concern for the political problems of colonial Afric...

Ovechkin, Alexander Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Ovechkin, Alexander Mikhailovich, 1985–, Russian hockey player. He joined Dynamo Moscow, a professional team, at 16, and led Russia to a junior championship. A Washington Capitals first-round pick i...

Hoff, Ted

(Encyclopedia)Hoff, Ted (Marcian Edward Hoff, Jr.), 1937–, American computer-industry executive, b. Rochester, N.Y., Ph.D. Stanford (1962). He received his first two patents while working for the General Railway ...

Sumner, James Batcheller

(Encyclopedia)Sumner, James Batcheller, 1887–1955, American biochemist, b. Canton, Mass., Ph.D. Harvard Medical School, 1914. He was a professor at Cornell from 1914 until his death in 1955. In 1946 Sumner was a ...

black humor

(Encyclopedia)black humor, in literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usu...

Mikita, Stan

(Encyclopedia)Mikita, Stan, 1940–2018, Canadian hockey player, b. Sokolče, Czechoslovakia (a former village whose site is now in Slovakia), as Stanislav Gvoth [key]. Adopted by relatives in Ontario, Canada, Mik...

Pratt, Parley Parker

(Encyclopedia)Pratt, Parley Parker, 1807–57, Mormon apostle, b. Otsego co., N.Y.; brother of Orson Pratt. He joined (1830) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was made an apostle in 1835. In 1838,...

Tanganyika, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Tanganyika, Lake, second largest lake of Africa, c.12,700 sq mi (32,890 sq km), E central Africa on the borders of Tanzania, Congo (Kinshasa), Zambia, and Burundi. It is c.420 mi (680 km) long and up ...