Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Narayan, R. K. (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan) nərīˈyän [key], 1906–2001, Indian novelist, b. Madras (now Chennai). Narayan, who wrote in English, published his first novel, Swami and Friends, ...

(Encyclopedia) blizzard, winter storm characterized by high winds, low temperatures, and driving snow; according to the official definition given in 1958 by the U.S. Weather Bureau, the winds must exceed 35 mi (56 k...

(Encyclopedia) Collins, Wilkie (William Wilkie Collins), 1824–89, English novelist. Although trained as a lawyer, he spent most of his life writing. He produced some 30 novels, the best known of which are two myst...

(Encyclopedia) Garrick, David, 1717–79, English actor, manager, and dramatist. He was indisputably the greatest English actor of the 18th cent., and his friendships with Diderot, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, ...

(Encyclopedia) Wilbur, Ray Lyman, 1875–1949, American public official and educator, b. Boonesboro, Iowa, grad. Stanford (B.A., 1896; M.A., 1897) and Cooper Medical College, San Francisco, 1899. After studying medi...

(Encyclopedia) Matthiessen, Peter măthˈəsən [key], American writer, naturalist, and adventurer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1950). A founder (1951) of the literary Paris Review, he published his first novel, R...

(Encyclopedia) Pavlof Volcano, active volcano, 8,177 ft (2,493 m) high, W Alaska Peninsula, SW Alaska, on the W shore of Pavlof Bay. It and its neighboring twin volcano, Pavlof Sister, 7,028 ft (2,142 m) high, are l...

(Encyclopedia) Elbrus, Mount ĕlbro͝osˈ, ālbro͞osˈ [key], highest mountain of the Caucasus, SE European Russia, in Georgia, formed by two extinct volcanic cones, respectively 18,481 ft (5,633 m) and 18,356 ft (...

(Encyclopedia) Freshfield, Douglas William, 1845–1934, English explorer and mountaineer. A prominent member of the Royal Geographical Society, he did pioneer climbing in the Caucasus, the Himalayas, and the mounta...

(Encyclopedia) Davis, city (2020 pop. 66,850), Yolo co., central Calif.; settled in the 1850s, inc. 1917. It is an education center with light industry; machinery, pro...