Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ulbricht, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Ulbricht, Walter välˈtər o͝olˈbrĭkht [key], 1893–1973, Communist leader in the German Democratic Republic. A founder of the German Communist party, he fled Germany in 1933 and went to Moscow, ...

Queloz, Didier Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Queloz, Didier Patrick, 1966–, Swiss astronomer, Ph.D. Univ. of Geneva, 1995. He has been a member of the faculty at the Univ. of Geneva since 2003 (professor from 2008) and since 2013 also has been...

Paralympic games

(Encyclopedia)Paralympic games, series of international sports contests for athletes with physical, visual, and intellectual impairments. The games grew out of a gathering of British World War II veterans organized...

Freer, Charles Lang

(Encyclopedia)Freer, Charles Lang frēr [key], 1856–1919, American art collector, b. Kingston, N.Y. He gave to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., his entire collection and the building (designed acc...

Huskisson, William

(Encyclopedia)Huskisson, William hŭsˈkĭsən [key], 1770–1830, British statesman. First elected to Parliament in 1796, he was secretary of the treasury (1804–5, 1807–9) but resigned with his close associate...

Eisenhower, Milton Stover

(Encyclopedia)Eisenhower, Milton Stover, 1899–1985, American educator and public official, b. Abilene, Kans., grad. Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (now Kansas State Univ.), 1924; brother ...

suspension, in vehicles

(Encyclopedia)suspension, in automobiles, system of springs used to suspend the frame, body, engine, and power train above the wheels. Its principal purpose is to lessen the jarring of the automobile that is caused...

basset hound

(Encyclopedia)basset hound, breed of short-legged, long-bodied hound developed centuries ago in France. It stands from 12 to 15 in. (30.1–38.1 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 25 to 50 lb (11.3–22.7 kg)...

Bustamante, Sir Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Bustamante, Sir Alexander bŭsˌtəmănˈtē [key], 1884–1977, prime minister of Jamaica (1962–67). Born William Alexander Clarke, the son of an Irish father and a Jamaican mother, he was adopted...

Pembroke Welsh corgi

(Encyclopedia)Pembroke Welsh corgi, breed of short-legged, hardy working dog thought to have been introduced into South Wales by Flemish immigrants in the early 12th cent. It stands from 10 to 12 in. (25.4–30.5 c...

Browse by Subject