Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Henson, Jim (James Maury Henson), 1936–90, American puppeteer, creator of the Muppets, b. Greenville, Miss., grad. Univ. of Maryland (A.B., 1960). In 1954 he got his first job as a local television ...

(Encyclopedia) kookaburra ko͝okˈəbûrˌə [key], common name for a squat, long-tailed Australian kingfisher, Dacelo novaeguineae. It is one of the largest birds of the family Alcedinidae (kingfisher family). Beca...

(Encyclopedia) wryneck, common name for a primitive, unspecialized bird of the genus Jynx. The name is said to derive from their habit of twisting their necks when disturbed. Unlike other members of the family Picid...

(Encyclopedia) Prairie Pothole Region, large geographic area of central North America consisting of grass-covered wetlands. Stretching northwest from N Iowa through SW Minnesota, E South Dakota, E and N North Dakota...

(Encyclopedia) Tristan da Cunha trĭsˈtăn də ko͞oˈnə [key], group of volcanic islands in the S Atlantic, about midway between S Africa and S America, part of the British Saint Helena overseas territory. The on...

(Encyclopedia) turkey, common name for a large game and poultry bird related to the grouse and the pheasant. Its name derives from its “turk-turk” call. Turkeys are indigenous to the New World; American fossils ...

(Encyclopedia) paleontology pāˌlēəntŏlˈəjē [key] [Gr.,= study of early beings], science of the life of past geologic periods based on fossil remains. Knowledge of the existence of fossils dates back at least...

(Encyclopedia) Douglas, Kirk, 1916–2020, American film actor, b. Amsterdam, N.Y., as Issur Danielovitch, later Isadore Demsky. A leading man with a muscular physique and handsome cleft-chin face that made him a na...

(Encyclopedia) Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan Forster), 1879–1970, English author, one of the most important British novelists of the 20th cent. After graduating from Cambridge, Forster lived in Italy and Greece. D...

(Encyclopedia) Presley, Elvis (Elvis Aaron Presley), 1935–77, American popular singer, b. Tupelo, Miss. Exposed to gospel music from childhoo...