Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Athlone

(Encyclopedia)Athlone ăthlōnˈ [key], town, Co. Westmeath, central Republic of Ireland, on the Shannon River. It is an important road and rail junction and a busy inland port, reached...

LaLanne, Jack

(Encyclopedia)LaLanne, Jack ləlānˈ [key], 1914–2011, American fitness advocate and television personality, b. San Francisco as François Henri LaLanne. Widely regarded as the founder of the modern fitness move...

Bakker, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Bakker, Jim bāˈkər [key], 1941–, American preacher and television evangelist, b. Muskegon, Mich. Born James Orson, he took the last name of his wife and partner Tamara Faye (Tammy Faye) Bakker. W...

Nielsen, A. C.

(Encyclopedia)Nielsen, A. C. (Arthur Charles Nielsen) nēlˈsən [key], 1897–1980, American market researcher, b. Chicago, grad. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison (B.S., 1918). He worked as an electrical engineer befor...

Palm Springs

(Encyclopedia)Palm Springs, city (1990 pop. 40,181), Riverside co., S Calif.; founded 1876, inc. 1938. It is a verdant desert oasis and a resort with classic mid-20th cent. architecture (known as Mid-Century Modern...

Sunbury

(Encyclopedia)Sunbury, city (1990 pop. 11,591), seat of Northumberland co., E central Pa., on the Susquehanna River at the confluence of its north and west branches; laid out 1772, inc. 1921. It is in an agricultur...

Plano

(Encyclopedia)Plano plāˈnō [key], city (1990 pop. 128,713), Collin co., N Tex., less than 20 mi (32 km) NE of Dallas; inc. 1873. In a farm and livestock area on the blackland prairie, Plano is a booming financia...

monopoly

(Encyclopedia)monopoly mənōpˈəlē [key], market condition in which there is only one seller of a certain commodity; by virtue of the long-run control over supply, such a seller is able to exert nearly total con...

Cooke, Alistair

(Encyclopedia)Cooke, Alistair, 1908–2004, Anglo-American journalist, b. Salford, England, as Alfred Cooke; grad. Cambridge, 1930, where he officially adopted the name Alistair. Cooke became famous in Britain for ...

Corinth, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Corinth, Gulf of, inlet of the Ionian Sea, c.80 mi (130 km) long and from 3 to 20 mi (4.8–32 km) wide, indenting central Greece and separating the Peloponnesus from the Greek mainland. It is connect...