Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) dole, distribution to the poor, usually of food or money. In medieval times doles were usually from bequests of money or land, and the income was given to charity or distributed to the local poor at f...

(Encyclopedia) Vaughan, Sarah (Sarah Lois Vaughan), 1924–90, American jazz singer, b. Newark, N.J. Nicknamed “Sassie” and “the divine one,” she studied piano and organ, began singing in her church choir, a...

(Encyclopedia) Morgan, Joe (Joe Leonard Morgan), 1943–2020, American baseball player, b. Bonham, Tex. An outstanding second baseman, he signed with the Houston Colt .45s (now the Astros) in 1962, becoming their re...

(Encyclopedia) Chadwick, Henry, 1824–1908, Anglo-American journalist who helped popularize baseball in the United States, b. Exeter, England. Moving to Brooklyn, N.Y., with his family in 1837, he was a cricket rep...

(Encyclopedia) Fleming, Ian Lancaster, 1908–64, English spy novelist, b. London. Son of a Conservative member of Parliament, Fleming was educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and Munich and Geneva universities and worked a...

(Encyclopedia) Geiger, Abraham gīˈgər [key], 1810–74, German rabbi, Semitic scholar and Orientalist, theologian, and foremost exponent of the Reform movement in Judaism. When he received his doctorate (1833) fr...

(Encyclopedia) Lemmon, Jack (John Uhler Lemmon 3d), 1925–2001, American actor, b. Newton, Mass., grad. Harvard (1947). He became famous in roles ranging from sardonic comedy to compelling drama, ultimately achievi...

(Encyclopedia) Calisher, Hortense kălˈĭshər [key], 1911–2009, American author, b. New York City, grad. Barnard College, 1932. Her novels are difficult to categorize, blending deft character analysis with compl...

(Encyclopedia) Holy Week, week before Easter. Its chief days are named Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. In Christian life it is a week of devout observance, commemorating the Passion and...