Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

214 results found

Sayers, Dorothy Leigh

(Encyclopedia)Sayers, Dorothy Leigh sāˈərz [key], 1893–1957, English writer, grad. Somerville College, Oxford, 1915. Taking first-class honors in medieval literature, she was one of the first women to receive ...

Goes, Hugo van der

(Encyclopedia)Goes, Hugo van der ho͞oˈgō vän dĕr go͞os [key], d.1482, Flemish painter. Probably born in Ghent, he was a member of the painters' guild there in 1467 and became dean of the guild in 1474, a year...

equine encephalitis

(Encyclopedia)equine encephalitis ēˈkwīn ĕnsĕfˌəlīˈtĭs [key], infectious disease of horses caused by any of several viruses, three of which—the Eastern, Western, and Venezuelan viruses—can also infect...

Bailyn, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Bailyn, Bernard bāˈlĭn [key], 1922–2020, U.S. historian, b. Hartford, Conn. After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard (1953), he taught U.S. colonial history there, becoming a full professor in 1961...

Paley, Grace

(Encyclopedia)Paley, Grace, 1922–2007, American writer and social activist, b. the Bronx, N.Y., as Grace Goodside. In short stories mainly celebrating the lives of women, Paley paints the daily lives of working-c...

echidna, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)echidna ĭkĭdˈnə [key] or spiny anteater, animal of the order Monotremata, the egg-laying mammals. A short-legged, grayish brown animal, the echidna is covered with sharp quills and can protect its...

surfing

(Encyclopedia)surfing, sport of gliding on a breaking wave. Surfers originally used long, cumbersome wooden boards but now ride lightweight synthetic boards that allow a greater degree of maneuverability. Boards ar...

McCormick, Cyrus Hall

(Encyclopedia)McCormick, Cyrus Hall, 1809–84, inventor of the reaper, b. Rockbridge co., Va. His father, Robert McCormick (1780–1846), had worked intermittently for over 20 years at his blacksmith shop on a rea...

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah Ahmad Badawi äbˈdo͞ollä äˈmäd bädäˈwē [key], 1939–, Malaysian government official and politician. A graduate of the Univ. of Malaya (B.A. 1964) and the son of a prominent politic...

Goodhue, Bertram Grosvenor

(Encyclopedia)Goodhue, Bertram Grosvenor grōvˈnər [key], 1869–1924, American architect, b. Pomfret, Conn. He studied under James Renwick in New York City and in 1891 entered the office of Ralph Adams Cram in B...

Browse by Subject