Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

438 results found

Peace Corps

(Encyclopedia)Peace Corps, agency of the U.S. government, whose purpose is to assist underdeveloped countries in meeting their needs for trained manpower. The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by executive order ...

McGrory, Mary

(Encyclopedia)McGrory, Mary, 1918–2004, American journalist, b. Boston, grad. Emmanuel College. McGrory wrote with clarity, lyricism, and wit on the events and personalities of the five decades spanned by her gro...

Bundy, McGeorge

(Encyclopedia)Bundy, McGeorge, 1919–96, U.S. educator and government official, b. Boston. An Army intelligence officer during World War II, he was on the Harvard faculty 1949–61, becoming the youngest dean of t...

Sverdrup, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Sverdrup, Otto svĕrˈdro͝op [key], 1855–1930, Norwegian arctic explorer. A companion of Fridtjof Nansen on the voyage across Greenland in 1888 and on Nansen's later (1893–96) polar expedition, ...

Taylor, Maxwell Davenport

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Maxwell Davenport, 1901–87, U.S. general, b. Keytesville, Mo., grad. West Point, 1922. In World War II he served in Europe with the 82d Airborne Division and as commander of the 101st Airbor...

Weaver, Robert Clifton

(Encyclopedia)Weaver, Robert Clifton, 1907–97, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1966–68), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Harvard (B.S., 1929; M.A., 1931; Ph.D., 1934). An African American, he was su...

Saint Lucia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Saint Lucia sānt lo͞oˈshə, –sēə [key], island nation (2015 est. pop. 177,000), 238 sq mi (616 sq km), West Indies, one of the Windward Islands. The capital is Castries. Morne Gimie (3,1...

Warren Commission

(Encyclopedia)Warren Commission, popular name given to the U.S. Commission to Report upon the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, established (Nov. 29, 1963) by executive order of President Lyndon B. Johnso...

Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth

(Encyclopedia)Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth, 1841–1915, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, b. Foster, R.I. He rose in local politics as state assemblyman (1875–76) and U.S. Representative (1879–81) before he served a...

Corea, Chick

(Encyclopedia) Corea, Chick (Armando Anthony), 1941-2021, American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, b. Chelsea, Ma. Corea’s father was a bandleader in Boston...

Browse by Subject