Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Robbins, Jerome, 1918–98, American choreographer and dancer, b. New York City as Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz. Robbins began his career dancing in musicals (1937). In 1940 he joined the Ballet Theatre a...

(Encyclopedia) Rush, Benjamin, 1745?–1813, American physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Byberry (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton, 1760), M.D. Univ. o...

(Encyclopedia) Holocaust hŏlˈəkôstˌ, hōˈlə– [key], name given to the period of persecution and extermination of European Jews by Nazi Germany. Romani (Gypsies), homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, the disabl...

(Encyclopedia) Eisenhower, Dwight David īˈzənhouˌər [key], 1890–1969, American general and 34th President of the United States, b. Denison, Tex.; his nickname was “Ike.” In his farewell address as pr...

(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) Babylonia băbĭlōˈnēə [key], ancient empire of Mesopotamia. The name is sometimes given to the whole civilization of S Mesopotamia, including the states established by the city rulers of Lagash, ...

(Encyclopedia) Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867–1959, American architect, b. Richland Center, Wis., as Frank Lincoln Wright; he changed his name to honor his mother's family (the Lloyd Joneses). Wright is widely consider...

(Encyclopedia) Gauguin, Paul pôl gōgăNˈ [key], 1848–1903, French painter and woodcut artist, b. Paris; son of a journalist and a French-Peruvian mother. Today Gauguin is recognized as a highly influential fo...

(Encyclopedia) Berenice bĕrənīˈsē [key], b. c.340 b.c., d. 281 or 271 b.c., consort and half-sister of Ptolemy I, king of ancient Egypt. A Macedonian, she was the widow of Philip, one of the officers of Alexand...

(Encyclopedia) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space e...