Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Central Park, 840 acres (340 hectares), the largest park in Manhattan, New York City; bordered by 59th St. on the south, Fifth Ave. on the east, 110th St. on the north, and Central Park West on the we...

(Encyclopedia) day nursery, day-care center, or crèche krĕsh [key], institution for the care of the children of working parents. Originating in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th cent., day nurseries were est...

(Encyclopedia) Meyer, Adolf äˈdôlf mīˈər [key], 1866–1950, American neurologist and psychiatrist, b. Switzerland, M.D. Zürich, 1892. He emigrated to the United States in 1892 and was professor of psychiatry...

(Encyclopedia) Arlington National Cemetery, 420 acres (170 hectares), N Va., across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.; est. 1864. More than 60,000 American war dead, as well as notables including Presidents Wi...

(Encyclopedia) Keaton, Buster (Joseph Francis Keaton), 1895–1966, American movie actor, b. Piqua, Kans. Considered one of the greatest comic actors in film history, Keaton used his considerable acrobatic skills, w...

(Encyclopedia) Nimitz, Chester William nĭmˈĭts [key], 1885–1966, American admiral, b. Fredericksburg, Tex. A graduate of Annapolis, he was chief of staff to the commander of the submarine force of the Atlantic ...

(Encyclopedia) Caldwell, Erskine kôldˈwəl [key], 1903–87, American author, b. White Oak, Ga. His realistic and earthy novels of the rural South include Tobacco Road (1933), God's Little Acre (1933), This Very E...

(Encyclopedia) Clarke, James Freeman, 1810–88, American Unitarian clergyman and author, b. Hanover, N.H. While in charge of the Unitarian church in Louisville, Ky. (1833–40), he was for three years editor of the...

(Encyclopedia) Weber, Wilhelm Eduard vĭlˈhĕlm āˈdo͞oärt vāˈbər [key], 1804–91, German physicist. He was professor (1831–37, 1849–91) at the Univ. of Göttingen, where he worked with C. F. Gauss on te...

(Encyclopedia) Timrod, Henry, 1828–67, American poet, b. Charleston, S.C., studied at the Univ. of Georgia. He was known as “the laureate of the Confederacy.” Timrod became editor of the Columbia South Carolin...