Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Black Hand

(Encyclopedia)Black Hand, symbol and name for a criminal and terroristic secret society, and especially associated with the Mafia and the Camorra. The Black Hand flourished in Sicily in the late 19th cent., and in ...

André, John

(Encyclopedia)André, John ändrāˈ, ănˈdrē [key], 1751–80, British spy in the American Revolution. He was captured (1775) by Gen. Richard Montgomery in the Quebec campaign but was exchanged and became adjuta...

Gaitskell, Hugh Todd Naylor

(Encyclopedia)Gaitskell, Hugh Todd Naylor gātˈskəl [key], 1906–63, British statesman. Educated at Oxford, he taught economics at the Univ. of London. During World War II he was a civil servant in the new minis...

Dennett, Tyler

(Encyclopedia)Dennett, Tyler dĕnˈĭt [key], 1883–1949, American historian and educator, b. Spencer, Wis. Dennett was lecturer in American history at Johns Hopkins (1923–24) and at Columbia (1927–28), chief ...

Alekhine, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Alekhine, Alexander əlyĕkhˈēn [key], 1892–1946, Russian-French chess player, b. Moscow. He became a naturalized French citizen after the Russian Revolution. At the age of 16 he gained the rank o...

Corrigan, Mairead

(Encyclopedia)Corrigan, Mairead (Mairead Corrigan Maguire) moiˈrə kôrˈĭgən [key], 1944–, Northern Irish peace activist, b. Belfast. Corrigan was a secretary and volunteer social worker in the Catholic neigh...

prejudice

(Encyclopedia)prejudice, unsubstantiated prejudgment of an individual or group, favorable or unfavorable in character, tending to action in a consonant direction. The hostility that prejudice can engender and the d...

Yastrzemski, Carl Michael

(Encyclopedia)Yastrzemski, Carl Michael, 1939–, American baseball player, b. Southampton, N.Y. A career-long member of the Boston Red Sox, “Yaz” was signed in 1959, brought up to the majors in 1961 (replacing...

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...

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...

Browse by Subject