Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Franzen, Jonathan, 1959–, American novelist, b. Western Springs, Ill., B.A. Swarthmore College, 1981. His first two novels, The Twenty-Seventh City (1988) and Strong Motion (1992), were well receive...

(Encyclopedia) Miami Beach, city (1990 pop. 92,639), Dade co., SE Fla., on an island between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; inc. 1915. It is connected to Miami by four causeways. Miami Beach is a popular year-...

(Encyclopedia) Palin, Sarah Heath pāˈlĭn [key], 1964–, U.S. politician, b. Sandpoint, Idaho, as Sarah Louise Heath, grad. Univ. of Idaho (B.S. 1987). Her family moved to Alaska not long after she was born. In 1...

(Encyclopedia) Mars, family of American food manufacturers. Franklin Clarence Mars, 1882–1934, b. Hancock, Minn., was a chocolate manufacturer who produced candy at home before opening a candy factory (1911) in Ta...

(Encyclopedia) Undset, Sigrid sĭˈgrĭd o͝onˈsĕt [key], 1882–1949, Norwegian novelist. Poverty forced Undset to do secretarial work for a time (1898–1908). Her early novels of contemporary life, among them J...

(Encyclopedia) Western Federation of Miners (WFM), a radical labor union that organized the miners and smelter workers of the Rocky Mountain states. Created in 1893 by the merger of several local miners' unions, the...

(Encyclopedia) Borah, William Edgar bôrˈə [key], 1865–1940, U.S. Senator (1907–40), b. near Fairfield, Ill. Admitted to the bar in Kansas in 1887, after 1890 he became prominent in law and politics at Boise, ...

(Encyclopedia) Corregidor kərĕˈgĭdôrˌ [key], historic fortified island (c.2 sq mi/5 sq km), at the entrance to Manila Bay, just off Bataan peninsula of Luzon island, the Philippines. From the days of the Spani...

(Encyclopedia) Koch, Kenneth (Kenneth Jay Koch) kōk [key], 1925–2002, American poet, novelist, and playwright, b. Cincinnati. After studying at Harvard and Columbia he was associated with the Artist's Theatre, Lo...

(Encyclopedia) Tacna-Arica Controversy täkˈnə-ərēˈkə [key], 1883–1929, dispute between Chile and Peru. It arose from provisions of the Treaty of Ancón (1883), which ended the War of the Pacific (see Pacifi...