Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hazzard, Shirley

(Encyclopedia)Hazzard, Shirley, 1931–2016, Australian-American novelist and short-story writer, b. Sydney. Educated in Australia, she lived in Hong Kong, Italy, and New Zealand before settling in the United State...

hadith

(Encyclopedia)hadith hädēthˈ [key], a tradition or the collection of the traditions of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, including his sayings and deeds, and his tacit approval of what was said or done in his pres...

Comstock Lode

(Encyclopedia)Comstock Lode, richest known U.S. silver deposit, W Nevada, on Mt. Davidson in the Virginia Range. It is said to have been discovered in 1857 by Ethan Allen Grosh and Hosea Ballou Grosh, sons of a Pen...

Endo, Shusaku

(Encyclopedia)Endo, Shusaku shəsäˈko͝o ĕnˈdō [key], 1923–1996, one of the finest 20th-century Japanese novelists, b. Tokyo. Baptized a Roman Catholic at 11, he is often compared to Graham Greene for his de...

Sartain, John

(Encyclopedia)Sartain, John särtānˈ [key], 1808–97, American engraver, b. London. Shortly after his arrival in the United States in 1830, he received important commissions for prints after paintings by leading...

Ballard, J. G.

(Encyclopedia)Ballard, J. G. (James Graham Ballard) bălˈərd [key], 1930–2009, English writer, mainly of dystopian science fiction. Born to English parents in Shanghai, he was torn from his affluent surrounding...

Riefenstahl, Leni

(Encyclopedia)Riefenstahl, Leni (Berta Helene Amalie Riefenstahl) lāˈnē rēˈfənshtälˌ, bĕrˈtə hālāˈnə ämälˈyə [key], 1902–2003, German filmmaker, b. Berlin. First a dancer, then an actress, she ...

Noguchi, Isamu

(Encyclopedia)Noguchi, Isamu ēsäˈmo͞o nōgo͞oˈchē [key], 1904–88, American sculptor, b. Los Angeles. The son of a Japanese poet father and an American mother, he was a student of Gutzon Borglum and won Gug...

Middleboro

(Encyclopedia)Middleboro, town (1990 pop. 17,867), Plymouth co., SE Mass.; inc. 1669. Cranberry-processing is a major industry in the town, and fire apparatus, chemicals, and shoes are manufactured. The town was de...

Arthur III

(Encyclopedia)Arthur III, 1394–1458, duke of Brittany (1457–58), known before 1457 as comte de Richemont, constable of France in the Hundred Years War. He led the coalition that overthrew Georges de La Trémoil...