Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802–87, American social reformer, pioneer in the movement for humane treatment of the insane, b. Hampden, Maine. For many years she ran a school in Boston. In 1841 she visited ...

(Encyclopedia) kite, in aviation, aircraft restrained by a towline and deriving its lift from the aerodynamic action of the wind flowing across it. Commonly the kite consists of a light framework upon which paper, s...

(Encyclopedia) Glass, Carter, 1858–1946, American politician, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1918–20), U.S. Senator from Virginia (1920–46), b. Lynchburg, Va. He learned the printer's trade and became owner o...

(Encyclopedia) bean beetle, common name for a destructive beetle, Epilachna varivestis, of the ladybird beetle family. Although nearly all other members of this family are beneficial carnivores, the bean beetle atta...

(Encyclopedia) Spener, Philipp Jakob fēˈlĭp yäˈkôp shpāˈnər [key], 1635–1705, German theologian, founder of Pietism. He was pastor of the Lutheran church at Frankfurt in 1670 when, to counteract the barre...

(Encyclopedia) McReynolds, James Clark məkrĕnˈəldz [key], 1862–1946, U.S. Attorney General (1913–14) and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1914–41), b. Elkton, Ky. He received his law degree fro...

(Encyclopedia) Merchant Adventurers, name given originally to all merchants in England who engaged in export trade, but later applied to loosely organized groups of merchants in the major ports concerned with export...

(Encyclopedia) Stanwyck, Barbara, 1907–90, American stage, film, and television actress, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Ruby Stevens. She started as a chorus girl, was in the Ziegfeld Follies (1923–24) and performed on B...

(Encyclopedia) Baker, Newton Diehl, 1871–1937, U.S. Secretary of War (1916–21), b. Martinsburg, W.Va. He practiced law and politics in Cleveland as a protégé of Tom L. Johnson. As city solicitor (1902–12) he...

(Encyclopedia) colorization, motion picture, electronic process that uses computers to add color to black-and-white movies, creating new colored videotape versions. Invented by Canadians Wilson Markle and Brian Hunt...