Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Paul, Les

(Encyclopedia)Paul, Les, 1915–2009, American guitarist and inventor, b. Waukesha, Wis., as Lester William Polsfuss (later Polfuss). He began playing country music a...

Temple, Shirley

(Encyclopedia)Temple, Shirley, 1928–2014, American child film star, b. Santa Monica, Calif., as Shirley Jane Temple. She started in movies at three-and-a-half and starred in her first feature (Stand Up and Cheer!...

Temple, William

(Encyclopedia)Temple, William, 1881–1944, archbishop of York (1929–42) and archbishop of Canterbury (1942–44); son of Frederick Temple. At Balliol College, Oxford, he became (1904) president of the Oxford Uni...

Trujillo Molina, Rafael Leonidas

(Encyclopedia)Trujillo Molina, Rafael Leonidas räfäĕlˈ lāōnēˈᵺäs tro͞ohēˈyō mōlēˈnä [key], 1891–1961, president of the Dominican Republic (1930–38, 1942–52). Trained by U.S. marines during ...

Price, Lloyd

(Encyclopedia) Price, Lloyd, 1933-2021, b. Kenner, La. Price began his first band at age 18 while also working in construction. Signed to Specialty Records, his firs...

Pusey, Nathan Marsh

(Encyclopedia)Pusey, Nathan Marsh pyo͞oˈzē [key], 1907–2001, American educator, b. Council Bluffs, Iowa, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1928; M.A., 1932; Ph.D., 1937). A classical scholar, Pusey taught at Lawrence Colle...

Joseph, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Joseph, one of the heroes of the patriarchal narratives of the Book of Genesis. He is presented as the favored son of Jacob and Rachel, sold as a boy into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of ...

Keilson, Hans Alex

(Encyclopedia)Keilson, Hans Alex, 1909–2011, German-Dutch novelist and physician. He attended medical school in Berlin, but Nazi racial laws prevented Keilson, who was Jewish, from practicing. In 1933 he publishe...

Strayhorn, Billy

(Encyclopedia)Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas Strayhorn), 1915–67, African-American jazz composer, arranger, lyricist, and pianist, b. Dayton, Ohio. Classically trained, he was drawn to jazz, and early in his ca...

Bath, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Bath, city (2021 pop. 88,859), Bath and North East Somerset, SW England, in the Avon River valley. Britain's leading winter resort, Bath has the only na...