Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Loren, Sophia

(Encyclopedia)Loren, Sophia sōfēˈə lôrĕnˈ [key], 1934–, Italian film actress, b. as Sophia Scicoloni. She grew up in the slums of Naples. With the help of Italian producer Carlo Ponti (later her husband) s...

Nikolais, Alwin

(Encyclopedia)Nikolais, Alwin nĭkˌəlīˈ [key], 1910–93, American dancer and choreographer, b. Southington, Conn. Nikolais became director of his own dance company in New York City in 1949. He made ingenious u...

potentiometer

(Encyclopedia)potentiometer. 1 Manually adjustable, variable, electrical resistor. It has a resistance element that is attached to the circuit by three contacts, or terminals. The ends of the resistance element are...

Price, Leontyne

(Encyclopedia)Price, Leontyne lāˈəntēn [key], 1927–, American soprano, b. Laurel, Miss., as Mary Violet Leontine Price. She studied voice at Juilliard with Florence Page Kimball. Subsequently she appeared as ...

Campbell, Glen Travis

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, Glen Travis, 1936–2017, American country singer-songwriter, b. Billstown, Ark. A performing musician by age 14, he moved in 1960 to Los Angeles, where he worked in rock and roll bands and ...

Burnett, Leo

(Encyclopedia)Burnett, Leo bərnĕtˈ [key], 1891–1971, American advertising executive, b. St. Johns, Mich., grad. Univ. of Michigan (1914). He was a newspaper reporter and worked in advertising before moving to ...

Willis Tower

(Encyclopedia)Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, Chicago, the second tallest building in the United States. Until the completion of the 1,483-ft (452-m) Petronas Towers (1998) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it was...

Randi, James

(Encyclopedia)Randi, James (Randall James Hamilton Zwinge), 1928–2020, Canadian-American illusionist and psychic investigator, b. Toronto. Performing as “The Amazing Randi,” he was a conjurer and escape artis...

stereophonic sound

(Encyclopedia)stereophonic sound, sound recorded simultaneously through two or more electronic channels. For live recordings, microphones are placed in different positions relative to the sound source. The recorded...

Stern, Robert A. M.

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Robert A. M. (Robert Arthur Morton Stern), 1939–, American architect, b. New York City. He studied architecture at Yale Univ., became a practicing architect in the mid-1960s, and a professor ...