Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kiner, Ralph McPherran

(Encyclopedia)Kiner, Ralph McPherran, 1922–2014, American baseball player and sportscaster, b. Santa Rita, N. Mex. A right-handed slugger and outfielder, he played with the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates (1...

Philidor, François-André Danican

(Encyclopedia)Philidor, François-André Danican, 1726–95, French chess player and composer, b. Dreux. The last in a line of well-known 17th- and 18th-century musicians, he was a celebrated composer, mainly of mo...

Bradman, Sir Donald George

(Encyclopedia)Bradman, Sir Donald George, 1908–2001, Australian cricketeer, widely considered the sport's greatest player and one of the world's most outstanding athletes, b. Cootamundra. His 20-year-long cricket...

Cartwright, Alexander Joy

(Encyclopedia)Cartwright, Alexander Joy, 1820–92, American baseball player, b. New York City. He worked as a bank teller and a bookseller, and was a volunteer firefighter with the Knickerbocker Fire Engine Compan...

Capablanca, José Raúl

(Encyclopedia)Capablanca, José Raúl hōsāˈ räo͞olˈ käpäblängˈkä [key], 1888–1942, Cuban chess player, b. Havana. Champion of Cuba at the age of 12, he won the world's championship from Emanuel Lasker ...

Rattle, Sir Simon

(Encyclopedia)Rattle, Sir Simon, 1955–, British conductor, b. Liverpool, studied Royal Academy of Music, London. Originally a percussionist, he became part of the Merseyside Youth Orchestra at 11 and of the Royal...

Seles, Monica

(Encyclopedia)Seles, Monica sĕlˈĭs [key], 1973–, Yugoslav-American tennis player, b. Serbia, of Hungarian heritage. She won her first major tournament, the French Open, in 1990, at the age of 16 and soon domin...

Stanley, Ralph Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Stanley, Ralph Edmond, 1927–2016, American bluegrass singer and banjo player, b. Dickenson co., Va. He and his brother, Carter Glen Stanley, 1925–66, were sons of a country-singer father and banjo...

Steinbrenner, George Michael, 3d

(Encyclopedia)Steinbrenner, George Michael, 3d, 1930–2010, American businessman, principal owner of the New York Yankees (1973–2010), b. Rocky River, Ohio, grad. Williams College (B.A., 1952). A wealthy shippin...

Riggs, Bobby

(Encyclopedia)Riggs, Bobby (Robert Larimore Riggs), 1918–95, U.S. tennis player, b. Los Angeles. Playing tennis from the age of 11, Riggs won several tournaments in the 1930s and helped the U.S. team win the Davi...

Browse by Subject