Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

bass, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)bass băs [key], common name applied to various fishes of Centrarchidae (black basses and sunfishes), Serranidae (sea basses and groupers), Moronidae (temperate basses), and other families. All basses...

oak

(Encyclopedia)oak, any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus of the family Fagaceae (beech family). This complex genus includes as many as 600, found chiefly in north temperate zones and also in Polynesia. The more so...

Crawford Notch

(Encyclopedia)Crawford Notch, water gap in the White Mts., N central N.H., through which the Saco River flows. It is named for Abel Crawford, an early settler. The area is a state park (est. 1911). ...

Little Richard

(Encyclopedia)Little Richard, 1935–2020, American musician and singer, b. Macon, Ga., as Richard Wayne Penniman. One of the first rock musicians in the 1950s, he recorded such tunes as “Tutti Frutti,” “Long...

LeHand, Missy

(Encyclopedia)LeHand, Missy (Marguerite Alice LeHand), 1896–1944, personal secretary to Franklin Roosevelt, b. Potsdam, N.Y. She worked for Roosevelt's unsuccessful vice presidential campaign (1920) before she be...

Jerome, William Travers

(Encyclopedia)Jerome, William Travers, 1859–1934, American lawyer, b. New York City. Prominent in the cause of reform, he served (1894–95) on the Lexow commission to investigate political corruption and managed...

Johnson, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Jack (John Arthur Johnson), 1878–1946, American boxer, b. Galveston, Tex., the son of two ex-slaves. Emerging from the battle royals (dehumanizing fights between blacks for the amusement of...

Kavanaugh, Brett Michael

(Encyclopedia)Kavanaugh, Brett Michael, 1965–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2018–), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Yale (B.A. 1987, J.D. 1990). He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy a...

French bulldog

(Encyclopedia)French bulldog, breed of small, alert nonsporting dog with batlike ears, developed in France in the second half of the 19th cent. It stands about 12 in. (30.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from ...

Fontana, Lucio

(Encyclopedia)Fontana, Lucio, 1899–1968, Italian artist, b. Argentina. He lived (1905–22) in Milan, then several times moved from Italy to Argentina and back, remaining in Italy after 1947. Much of his early wo...

Browse by Subject