Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Canadian literature, English

(Encyclopedia)Canadian literature, English, literary works produced in Canada and written in the English language. The essayist Northrop Frye is noted for his systematic classification of literature, presented in...

Monroe, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Monroe, Bill (William Smith Monroe), 1911–96, country singer, musician, and songwriter, often called the “father of bluegrass,” b. Rosine, Ky. A m...

smuggling

(Encyclopedia)smuggling, illegal transport across state or national boundaries of goods or persons liable to customs or to prohibition. Smuggling has been carried on in nearly all nations and has occasionally been ...

performance art

(Encyclopedia)performance art, multimedia art form originating in the 1970s in which performance is the dominant mode of expression. Perfomance art may incorporate such elements as instrumental or electronic music,...

balance of trade

(Encyclopedia)balance of trade, relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theoris...

Triangle Waist Company

(Encyclopedia)Triangle Waist Company, often called the Triangle Shirtwaist Co., manufacturers of women's cotton and linen blouses. Located in lower Manhattan in the early 20th cent., on Mar. 25, 1911 it was the sit...

Rainey, Gertrude "Ma"

(Encyclopedia)Rainey, Gertrude "Ma," 1886–1939, African-American blues singer and songwriter, b. Columbus, Ga., as Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett. Rainey's place and...

Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Josephine, 1763–1814, empress of the French (1804–9) as the consort of Napoleon I. Born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie in Martinique, she was married in 1779 to Alexandre de Beauharnais...

Aldrin, Buzz

(Encyclopedia)Aldrin, Buzz ôlˈdrĭn [key] (Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.), 1930–, American astronaut, b. Montclair, N.J. After graduating from West Point (1951), Aldrin joined the U.S. air force and flew 66 combat m...

Alexander III, pope

(Encyclopedia)Alexander III, d. 1181, pope (1159–81), a Sienese named Rolandus [Bandinelli?], successor of Adrian IV. He was a canonist who had studied law under Gratian and had taught at Bologna. He came to Rome...