Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Scofield, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Scofield, Paul, 1922–2008, English actor, b. Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. Scofield joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1945, and had his first major success in King John. At the Stratford Memorial...

Eve, in genetics

(Encyclopedia)Eve, in genetics, popular term for a theoretical female ancestor of all living people, also known as Mitochondrial Eve. In 1987 biochemist Allan C. Wilson proposed that all living human beings had inh...

Melchior, Lauritz

(Encyclopedia)Melchior, Lauritz mĕlˈkēôr [key], 1890–1973, Danish heroic tenor. He made his debut in Copenhagen in 1913, singing a baritone role in I Pagliacci, and sang regularly at the Bayreuth Festivals f...

Cornell, Katharine

(Encyclopedia)Cornell, Katharine, 1898–1974, American actress, b. Berlin. Cornell made her debut in 1916 with the Washington Square Players. In 1921 she married Guthrie McClintic, a producer-director. From their ...

Colbert, Claudette

(Encyclopedia)Colbert, Claudette klōdĕtˈ kôlbĕrˈ [key], 1903–96, American movie actress, b. Paris as Lily Chauchoin. Known for her rosy cheeks, velvet voice, hearty laugh, and curly bangs, Colbert distingui...

Fosse, Jon

(Encyclopedia)Jon Fosse, 1959– , b. Haugesund, Norway, Norwegian author and playwright, studied at the University of Bergen (B.A.; M.A, 1987). His work is noted for...

Fleming, Renée

(Encyclopedia)Fleming, Renée, 1959–, American soprano, b. Indiana, Pa. In 1986 she made her professional debut in Salzburg, Austria, in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, and has since performed at Covent Gar...

Adam, in genetics

(Encyclopedia)Adam, in genetics, popular term for a theoretical male ancestor of all living people; see Eve, in genetics. ...

reggae

(Encyclopedia)reggae, Jamaican popular music that developed in the 1960s among Kingston's poor blacks, drawing on American “soul” music and traditional African and Jamaican folk music and ska (a Jamaican and Br...

Group of Seventy Seven

(Encyclopedia)Group of Seventy Seven (G77), international organization, established in 1967 to promote economic cooperation and greater influence in world affairs among developing countries. Originally consisting o...

Browse by Subject