Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Seelye, Julius Hawley

(Encyclopedia)Seelye, Julius Hawley sēˈlē [key], 1824–95, American clergyman and educator, b. Bethel, Conn., grad. Amherst, 1849, and Auburn Theological Seminary, 1852, and studied in Germany; brother of L. C....

Plaza Lasso, Galo

(Encyclopedia)Plaza Lasso, Galo gäˈlō pläˈ sä läˈsō [key], 1906–87, president of Ecuador (1948–52) and secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS; 1968–75), b. New York City. He se...

quipus

(Encyclopedia)quipus or khipus kēˈpo͞oz [key], groups of strings, knotted for tally, which were used by the Inca for keeping records and sending messages. The quipu, which is believed to have predated the rise o...

Nicklaus, Jack William

(Encyclopedia)Nicklaus, Jack William, 1940–, American golfer, b. Columbus, Ohio. He began playing golf at the age of 10 and before becoming a professional in late 1961 was considered by many the greatest amateur ...

Szewińska, Irena

(Encyclopedia)Szewińska, Irena, 1946–2018, Polish sprinter and long jumper, b. Leningrad (now St. Petersburg, Russia) as Irena Kirszenstein, grad. Univ. of Warsaw, 1970. In her first Olympics (1964), she won sil...

Spalatin, George

(Encyclopedia)Spalatin, George shpäˈlätēn [key], 1484–1545, German Protestant reformer. His original name was Georg Burckhardt; he was called Spalatin after his birthplace, Spalt, near Nuremberg. An early fri...

Cadamosto, Luigi da

(Encyclopedia)Cadamosto, Luigi da lo͞oēˈjē dä kädämôˈstō [key], 1432?–1488, Venetian navigator in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal. He seems to have entered Portuguese service in 14...

Chadwick, Florence May

(Encyclopedia)Chadwick, Florence May, 1918–95, American distance swimmer, b. San Diego, Calif. She began swimming at the age of six, and four years later she swam the San Diego Bay Channel, the first child to do ...

Whipple, Amiel Weeks

(Encyclopedia)Whipple, Amiel Weeks, 1818–63, American soldier and topographical engineer, b. Greenwich, Mass. He became (1841) a topographical engineer in the U.S. army and engaged in surveying the U.S. borders w...

Ma, Yo-Yo

(Encyclopedia)Ma, Yo-Yo mä [key], 1955–, American cellist, b. Paris. The son of musicologist Hiao-Tsun Ma, who left China in the 1930s, he was a musical prodigy, giving a public recital in Paris at the age of si...