Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hamer, Fannie Lou

(Encyclopedia)Hamer, Fannie Lou, 1917–1977, U.S. voting rights activist and civil rights leader, b. Montgomery County, Miss. Fannie Lou Hamer was the first woman fr...

Pollock, Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Pollock, Jackson, 1912–56, American painter, b. Cody, Wyo. He studied (1929–31) in New York City, mainly under Thomas Hart Benton, but he was more strongly influenced by A. P. Ryder and the Mexica...

Contreras

(Encyclopedia)Contreras kōntrāˈräs [key], village, central Mexico, near Mexico City, site of an important battle (Aug. 19–20, 1847) of the Mexican War. Gen. Winfield Scott, continuing his advance after the ba...

Sherman, William Tecumseh

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, William Tecumseh, 1820–91, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Lancaster, Ohio. Sherman is said by many to be the greatest of the Civil War generals. Sherman was promoted to lie...

Moore, Archie

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Archie, 1913–98, American boxer, b. Benoit, Miss., as Archie Lee Wright. He claimed to have been born in 1916 in Collinsville, Ill. He first boxed professionally as a middleweight in 1935 or ...

Karman, Theodor von

(Encyclopedia)Karman, Theodor von tāˈōdôrˌ fôn kärˈmän [key], 1881–1963, American aeronautical engineer, b. Hungary, grad. Royal Technical Univ., Budapest (1902), and Univ. of Göttingen, Germany (Ph.D.,...

New Milford

(Encyclopedia)New Milford. 1 Town (1990 pop. 23,629), Litchfield co., W Conn., on the Housatonic River; inc. 1712. Situated in a dairy region, its manufactures include paper products and electronic equipment. The t...

Rutledge, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Rutledge, Ann, 1813?–1835, American historical figure, alleged fiancée of Abraham Lincoln. Her father kept the inn at New Salem, Ill., where Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. Ann's sudden death from...

Sanford

(Encyclopedia)Sanford. 1 City (1990 pop. 32,387), seat of Seminole co., central Fla., on Lake Monroe and the St. Johns River; inc. 1877. It is an agricultural center where citrus fruit and vegetables are processed....

Palisades

(Encyclopedia)Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ...