Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tippett, Sir Michael

(Encyclopedia)Tippett, Sir Michael, 1905–98, English composer, b. London. Tippett studied at the Royal College of Music. During World War II he was briefly imprisoned as a conscientious objector. His strongly hel...

rockfish

(Encyclopedia)rockfish, member of the family Sebastidae (rockfishes) according some authorities, but also classified as a member of the family Scorpaenidae (scorpionfishes, lionfishes, and rockfishes) by other auth...

Court, Margaret Smith

(Encyclopedia)Court, Margaret Smith, 1942–, Australian tennis player. Playing tennis from age eight, she rose to prominence in the early 1960s. Ranked first in world standings six times beginning in 1962, she ret...

Częstochowa

(Encyclopedia)Częstochowa chĕNˌstəkôˈvə [key], city, Śląskie prov., S Poland, on the Warta River. It ...

D'Aquino, Iva Toguri

(Encyclopedia)D'Aquino, Iva Toguri, 1916–2006, American citizen of Japanese descent, best-known of some dozen women who, during World War II, made English propaganda broadcasts to American troops on Radio Tokyo; ...

Alfonso IV, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso IV, 1291–1357, king of Portugal (1325–57), son and successor of Diniz. Disgruntled by the favoritism his father showed toward Alfonso's illegitimate half-brothers, Alfonso rose in revolt i...

Ferguson, James Edward

(Encyclopedia)Ferguson, James Edward, 1871–1944, governor of Texas (1915–17), b. Bell co., Tex. After an adventurous youth he rose from poverty to become a lawyer, large landowner, and banker. Although unknown ...

Figueres Ferrer, José

(Encyclopedia)Figueres Ferrer, José ōlˈsān [key], 1954–, was president of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. ...

Tudjman, Franjo

(Encyclopedia)Tudjman, Franjo fränˈyō to͞ojˈmän [key], 1922–99, Croatian nationalist leader, first president of independent Croatia (1991–99). He joined Tito's Partisans in 1941 and after World War II ros...

typhoid fever

(Encyclopedia)typhoid fever acute, generalized infection caused by Salmonella typhi. The main sources of infection are contaminated water or milk and, especially in urban communities, food handlers who are carriers...

Browse by Subject