Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

331 results found

Handy, W. C.

(Encyclopedia)Handy, W. C. (William Christopher Handy), 1873–1958, American songwriter and band leader, b. Florence, Ala. Largely self-taught, Handy began his career as a cornet player in a minstrel show in 1896,...

Clinton, George

(Encyclopedia) Clinton, George, 1941- , American singer, songwriter, producer, and bandleader, b. Kannapolis, N.C. Although born in North Carolina, Clinton was ...

terrier

(Encyclopedia)terrier, classification used by breeders and kennel clubs to designate dogs originally bred to start small game and vermin from their burrows or, in the case of several breeds in this group, to go to ...

Hillary, Sir Edmund Percival

(Encyclopedia)Hillary, Sir Edmund Percival, 1919–2008, New Zealand mountain climber and explorer. He went on many mountain-climbing expeditions before 1953, when he and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal were the first peop...

Bulgakov, Mikhail Afanasyevich

(Encyclopedia)Bulgakov, Mikhail Afanasyevich mēkhəyēlˈ əfənäˈsyəvĭch bo͝olgäˈkəf [key], 1891–1940, Russian novelist and playwright. He wrote satirical stories (The Deviliad, 1925, tr. 1972) and come...

Iditarod

(Encyclopedia)Iditarod īdĭtˈərŏdˌ [key], abandoned town in SW Alaska, site of a 1908 gold rush, on the Iditarod River. The town site and river lie on the Iditarod National Historic Trail, 2,350 mi (3,781 km) ...

Rae, John

(Encyclopedia)Rae, John, 1813–93, Scottish arctic explorer, b. Orkney Islands. A physician in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company in N Canada, Rae made (1846–47) a journey of exploration from Fort Churchill ...

ash, in botany

(Encyclopedia)ash, in botany, any plant of the genus Fraxinus of the family Oleaceae (olive family), trees and shrubs mainly of north temperate regions. The ashes are characterized by small clusters of greenish flo...

Miró, Joan

(Encyclopedia)Miró, Joan zhōänˈ mērōˈ [key], 1893–1983, Spanish surrealist painter. After studying in Barcelona, Miró went to Paris in 1919. In the 1920s he came into contact with cubism and surrealism. H...

dingo

(Encyclopedia)dingo dĭngˈgō [key], wild dog (Canis lupus dingo) of Australia, believed to have been introduced thousands of years ago from SE Asia by the aboriginal settlers of that continent; currently regarded...