Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Paul, Les, 1915–2009, American guitarist and inventor, b. Waukesha, Wis., as Lester William Polsfuss (later Polfuss). He began playing country music a...

(Encyclopedia) O'Neill, Paul Henry, 1935–2020, American business executive and government official, b. St. Louis, Mo., grad. Fresno State College (B.A.) and Indiana Univ. (M.P.A.). A Republican, O'Neill began his ...

(Encyclopedia) Coventry kŏvˈəntrē, kŭvˈ– [key], city and metropolitan borough (2021 est. met...

(Encyclopedia) Toland, Gregg Wesley, 1904–48, American cinematographer, b. Charleston, Ill. One of Hollywood's most accomplished and influential cinematographers, Toland worked for Samuel Goldwyn from 1929, first ...

(Encyclopedia) Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster Fuller), 1895–1983, American architect and engineer, b. Milton, Mass. Fuller devoted his life to the invention of revolutionary technological designs aime...

(Encyclopedia) Clare or Clara, Saint, 1193?–1253, Italian nun of Assisi, devoted from her youth to St. Francis, to whom she took a vow of poverty. She led a life of great austerity. She organized her companions in...

(Encyclopedia) Cooke, Terence James, 1921–83, American Roman Catholic clergyman, b. New York City. He was ordained in 1945 after earning a B.A. from St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y. In 1957, Cooke was named ...

(Encyclopedia) Lowell, John, 1743–1802, American jurist, b. Newburyport, Mass. He became (1762) a lawyer and later served in the provincial assembly (1776, 1778), in the state constitutional convention (1779–80)...

(Encyclopedia) nocturne nŏkˈtûrn [key] [Fr.,=night piece], in music, romantic instrumental piece, free in form and usually reflective or languid in character. John Field wrote the first nocturnes, influencing Cho...

(Encyclopedia) Bacon, Nathaniel, 1647–76, leader of Bacon's Rebellion in colonial Virginia. An aristocrat (he was kin to Francis Bacon, had been educated at Cambridge and Gray's Inn, and was a member of the govern...