Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Alsop, Marin

(Encyclopedia)Alsop, Marin ôlˈsəp [key], 1956–, American conductor, b. New York City. The daughter of professional musicians, she began playing the piano at two and the violin at five. Alsop started conducting...

Olney, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Olney, Richard, 1835–1917, American cabinet member, b. Oxford, Mass. He was a successful Boston lawyer and had served briefly in the state legislature before President Cleveland appointed him to his...

Lille

(Encyclopedia)Lille lēl [key], city (1990 pop. 178,301), capital of Nord dept., N France, near the Belgian border. With its central position in NW Europe, Lille became a great commercial, cultural, and manufacturi...

disk plow

(Encyclopedia)disk plow or disk, farm implement employing a row or rows of concave circular steel disks that cut and pitch the soil in a way somewhat similar to a moldboard plow. It can be used in many situations w...

Donald, David Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Donald, David Herbert, 1920–2009, American historian, b. Goodman, Miss. After receiving his Ph.D. from the Univ. of Illinois in 1946, he taught at Columbia (1947–49; 1951–59), Smith (1949–51),...

Cooperative Extension Service

(Encyclopedia)Cooperative Extension Service, in the United States, former agency of the Dept. of Agriculture, est. 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act. Designed to provide Americans with the understanding and skills essent...

L'Engle, Madeleine

(Encyclopedia)L'Engle, Madeleine, 1918–2007, American writer, b. New York City, grad. Smith College, 1941. A devout Episcopalian, L'Engle served as librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of St....

Whipple, Amiel Weeks

(Encyclopedia)Whipple, Amiel Weeks, 1818–63, American soldier and topographical engineer, b. Greenwich, Mass. He became (1841) a topographical engineer in the U.S. army and engaged in surveying the U.S. borders w...

Borgese, Giuseppe Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Borgese, Giuseppe Antonio jo͞ozĕpˈpā äntōˈnyō bōrjāˈzā [key], 1882–1952, Italian-American author, b. near Palermo, Ph.D. Univ. of Florence, 1903. From 1910 to 1931 he taught at the unive...

Buchan, John, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir

(Encyclopedia)Buchan, John, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir bŭkˈən, twēdzˈmyo͞or [key], 1875–1940, Scottish author and statesman. Included among his works are a history (4 vol., 1921–22) of World War I; biographies ...

Browse by Subject