Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tesla, Nikola

(Encyclopedia)Tesla, Nikola tĕsˈlə [key], 1856–1943, American electrician and inventor, b. Croatia (then an Austrian province). An ethnic Serb, he immigrated to the United States in 1884, worked for a short pe...

Cannon, Joseph Gurney

(Encyclopedia)Cannon, Joseph Gurney, 1836–1926, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1903–11), b. Guilford co., N.C. A lawyer in Illinois, Cannon served as a Republican in Congress from 1873 to 1923, e...

York, Cape

(Encyclopedia)York, Cape, NW Greenland, in N Baffin Bay, W of Melville Bay. The Cape York meteorites were discovered by U.S. explorer Robert E. Peary, who brought the largest (c.100 tons) to the American Mus. of Na...

cowboys

(Encyclopedia)cowboys, in American history. 1 Tory marauders, adherents to the British cause in the American Revolution, who fought in the contested area of Westchester co., N.Y. Their opposite numbers, who favored...

Barnard's star

(Encyclopedia)Barnard's star, star with the largest observed proper motion (rate of motion across the sky with respect to other stars); located in the constellation Ophiuchus. The star's large proper motion, 10.28�...

Parker, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Parker, Matthew, 1504–75, English prelate, archbishop of Canterbury. At Cambridge he was influenced by the writings of Martin Luther and other reformers. In 1535 he was appointed chaplain to Anne Bo...

sanitary science

(Encyclopedia)sanitary science, principles of health preservation, embracing hygiene, on an individual level, and public health, on a communal level. Those who specialize in sanitary science are sanitary engineers....

Tubman, William Vacanarat Shadrach

(Encyclopedia)Tubman, William Vacanarat Shadrach, 1895–1971, president of Liberia (1944–71). As a young man he was a lawyer, a collector of internal revenue, a teacher, and an officer of the Liberian militia. H...

Rank, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Rank, Otto ôtˈō rängk [key], 1884–1937, Austrian psychoanalyst; one of Sigmund Freud's first and most valued pupils. He early employed Freudian techniques to clarify the underlying significance ...

Wonder, Stevie

(Encyclopedia)Wonder, Stevie, 1950–, American singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, b. Saginaw, Mich., as Steveland Hardaway Judkins (changed to Steveland Hardaway Morris, 1961). Blind from birth, he played th...