Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sloan, Alfred Pritchard, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Sloan, Alfred Pritchard, Jr., 1875–1966, American businessman and philanthropist, b. New Haven, Conn., grad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1895. He began his career as a draftsman for the H...

Lunt, Alfred, and Lynn Fontanne

(Encyclopedia)Lunt, Alfred, 1893–1977, b. Milwaukee, and Lynn Fontanne fŏntănˈ [key], 1887?–1983, b. Essex, England, American acting couple. Lunt made his debut in Boston (1913), toured in vaudeville, and wo...

Hitchcock, Sir Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Sir Alfred, 1899–1980, English-American film director, writer, and producer, b. London. Hitchcock began his career as a director in 1925 and became prominent with The 39 Steps (1935) and ...

Vigny, Alfred Victor, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Vigny, Alfred Victor, comte de älfrĕdˈ vĕktôrˈ kôNt də vēnyēˈ [key], 1797–1863, French poet, novelist, and dramatist. One of the foremost romantics, Vigny expressed a philosophy of stoica...

Wallace, Alfred Russel

(Encyclopedia)Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823–1913, English naturalist. From his study of comparative biology in Brazil and in the East Indies, he evolved a concept of evolution similar to that of Charles Darwin. Li...

Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, count d'

(Encyclopedia)Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, count d' älfrĕdˈ gēyōmˈ gäbrēĕlˈ, dôrsāˈ [key], 1801–52, French dandy. The son of a Bonapartist general, he went to England in 1821, where he met Margue...

Smith, Alfred Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873–1944, American political leader, b. New York City. Reared in poor surroundings, he had no formal education beyond grade school and took various jobs—including work in t...

Van Allen, James Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Van Allen, James Alfred, 1914–2006, American physicist and space scientist, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. A graduate (Ph.D 1939) of and professor of physics (1951–85) at what is now the Univ. of Iowa, where...

Mond, Alfred Moritz, 1st Baron Melchett

(Encyclopedia)Mond, Alfred Moritz, 1st Baron Melchett mŏnd, mĕlˈchĭt [key], 1868–1930, English industrialist and politician; son of Ludwig Mond. He played a leading part in the centralization of the English c...

Caro, Sir Anthony Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Caro, Sir Anthony Alfred, 1924–2014, British sculptor, one of the most important and influential modernist sculptors of the late 20th cent. Educated as an engineer (grad. Cambridge, 1944), he studie...