Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cliburn, Van

(Encyclopedia)Cliburn, Van (Harvey Lavan Cliburn) klīˈbərn [key], 1934–2013, American pianist, b. Shreveport, La. Until 1951, Cliburn studied with his mother, a concert pianist; he later was a pupil of Rosina ...

Erlander, Tage Fritiof

(Encyclopedia)Erlander, Tage Fritiof täˈgə frĭtˈyəf ĕrˈländər [key], 1901–85, Swedish socialist leader, prime minister of Sweden (1946–69). On the editorial staff of the encyclopedia Svensk Upplagsbok...

Freire, Paulo

(Encyclopedia)Freire, Paulo pouˈlō frārˈ [key], 1921–97, Brazilian educator. After his exile from Brazil following the military coup in 1964, Freire taught in Chile and was a consultant to UNESCO. He later ta...

Dobrynin, Anatoly Fyodorovich

(Encyclopedia)Dobrynin, Anatoly Fyodorovich, 1919–2010, Soviet diplomat, b. Krasnaya Gorka. He studied at a Moscow aviation institute, designed aircraft during World War II, and was selected after the war for dip...

Warren, Gouverneur Kemble

(Encyclopedia)Warren, Gouverneur Kemble gəvərnērˈ [key], 1830–82, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Cold Spring, N.Y. An army engineer, he assisted in the survey of the Mississippi delta and also en...

Leonov, Aleksei Arkhipovich

(Encyclopedia)Leonov, Aleksei Arkhipovich ŭlˌyĭksyāˈ ärkhˌyĭpôˈvyĭch [key], 1934–2019, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut and military officer. While serving as copilot of Voskhod 2 (Mar. 18–19, 1964), he beca...

Voice of America

(Encyclopedia)Voice of America, broadcasting service of the United States Information Agency, est. 1942. Originally set up as a means of fighting the cold war, the Voice of America produces and broadcasts radio pro...

nuclear weapons

(Encyclopedia)nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction powered by atomic, rather than chemical, processes. Nuclear weapons produce large explosions and hazardous radioactive byproducts by means of either nuclea...

Kennan, George Frost

(Encyclopedia)Kennan, George Frost, 1904–2005, U.S. diplomat and historian, b. Milwaukee, Wis., grad. Princeton, 1925. A brilliant strategist and among the most influential and intellectual Americans in the 20th-...

Browse by Subject