Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

305 results found

Westminster, City of

(Encyclopedia)Westminster, City of, inner borough (1991 pop. 181,500) of Greater London, SE England, on the Thames River. Westminster is the location of the principal offices and residences of Great Britain's natio...

Gretzky, Wayne

(Encyclopedia)Gretzky, Wayne (Wayne Douglas Gretzky), 1961–, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Brantford, Ont. He played with the Edmonton Oilers (1978–88), Los Angeles Kings (1988–96), St. Louis Blues (1996), a...

Lee, David Morris

(Encyclopedia)Lee, David Morris, 1931–, American physicist, b. Rye, N.Y., Ph.D. Yale, 1959. Lee joined the faculty at Cornell in 1959, moving to Texas A&M Univ. in 2009. He was a co-recipient, with Douglas Os...

Hess, Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Hess, Rudolf, 1894–1987, German National Socialist leader, b. Alexandria, Egypt; son of a German merchant. In 1920 he became an ardent follower of Adolf Hitler and after the Munich “beer-hall puts...

Forrest, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Forrest, Edwin, 1806–72, American actor, b. Philadelphia. He was the first national idol of the American theater. He appeared at 14 as Young Norval in John Home's Douglas and gained experience suppo...

Shimomura, Osamu

(Encyclopedia)Shimomura, Osamu, 1928–2018, Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist, Ph.D. Nagoya Univ., 1960. Shimomura was a researcher at Princeton (1960–82) and a professor (1982–2001) simultaneously...

Pickford, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Pickford, Mary, 1893–1979, American movie actress, b. Toronto, Ont. In 1909 she began working with D. W. Griffith. Specializing in playing young girls, she was dubbed “America's Sweetheart.” Her...

Darnley, Henry Stuart, Lord

(Encyclopedia)Darnley, Henry Stuart or Stewart, Lord, 1545–67, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots and father of James I of England (James VI of Scotland). His mother was Margaret Douglas, the daughter of Archi...

pine

(Encyclopedia)pine, common name for members of the Pinaceae, a family of resinous woody trees with needlelike, usually evergreen leaves. The Pinaceae reproduce by means of cones (see cone) rather than flowers and m...

Murray, John, 2d marquess and 1st duke of Atholl

(Encyclopedia)Murray, John, 2d marquess and 1st duke of Atholl ăthˈəl [key], 1660–1724, Scottish nobleman; son of the 2d earl and 1st marquess. A supporter of William III, he held high government posts in Scot...