Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Scruggs, Earl Eugene

(Encyclopedia)Scruggs, Earl Eugene, 1924–2012, American banjo player, b. Flint Hill, N.C. He developed a distinctive syncopated, three-finger style on the five-string banjo that changed the way it is played. From...

Burnside, Ambrose Everett

(Encyclopedia)Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824–81, Union general in the U.S. Civil War, b. Liberty, Ind. He saw brief service in the Mexican War and remained in the army until 1853, when he entered business in Rho...

Beth-shittah

(Encyclopedia)Beth-shittah bĕth-shĭtˈə [key], in the Bible, town of ancient Palestine, mentioned in connection with Gideon's battle against the Midianites. ...

Lawrence, Abbott

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence, Abbott, 1792–1855, American manufacturer and statesman, b. Groton, Mass. Apprenticed (1808) to his brother Amos, a Boston merchant, Abbott became (1814) a partner with Amos in the firm kno...

Brattain, Walter Houser

(Encyclopedia)Brattain, Walter Houser, 1902–87, American physicist, b. Xiamen, China, Ph.D. Univ. of Minnesota, 1929. He was a researcher at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J. from 1929 to 1967. He then taugh...

Simkhovitch, Mary Kingsbury

(Encyclopedia)Simkhovitch, Mary Kingsbury sĭmkōˈvĭch [key], 1867–1951, American social worker, b. Chestnut Hill, Mass., grad. Boston Univ., 1890. After further study at Radcliffe, Columbia, and the Univ. of B...

acropolis

(Encyclopedia)acropolis əkrŏpˈəlĭs [key] [Gr.,=high point of the city], elevated, fortified section of various ancient Greek cities. The Acropolis of Athens, a hill c.260 ft (80 m) high, with a flat oval top c...

Togo, Heihachiro

(Encyclopedia)Togo, Heihachiro hāˈhächĭrōˈ tōˈgō [key], 1846–1934, Japanese admiral, Japan's greatest naval hero. He studied naval science in England (1871–78), gained international recognition for his...

Hood, John Bell

(Encyclopedia)Hood, John Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Owingsville, Ky. He resigned from the army (Apr., 1861) and entered the Confederate service 1862. He fought in the Peninsu...

Acton

(Encyclopedia)Acton, town (2020 pop. 24,021), Middlesex co., E Mass., NW of Boston; settled c.1680, inc. 1735. Among its manufactures are electrical machinery, chemicals, prefabricated houses, and preci...