Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rittenhouse, David, 1732–96, American astronomer and instrument maker, b. near Germantown, Pa., self-educated. A clockmaker by trade, he developed great skill in the making of mathematical instrumen...

(Encyclopedia) Schneiderman, Rose shnīˈdərmən [key], 1884–1972, American labor leader, b. Poland. She emigrated to the United States in 1890. After working as a lining stitcher in a cap factory, she was instru...

(Encyclopedia) Tehran Conference, Nov. 28–Dec. 1, 1943, meeting of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin at Tehran, Iran. The conference was held to stren...

(Encyclopedia) Sparks, Jared, 1789–1866, American historian and educator, b. Willington, Conn. He studied theology, mathematics, and natural philosophy at Harvard (1817–19). He was pastor of a Unitarian church i...

(Encyclopedia) Glass, Carter, 1858–1946, American politician, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1918–20), U.S. Senator from Virginia (1920–46), b. Lynchburg, Va. He learned the printer's trade and became owner o...

(Encyclopedia) Farley, James Aloysius ălˌəwĭshˈəs [key], 1888–1976, American political leader, U.S. Postmaster General (1933–40), b. Rockland co., N.Y. He rose steadily in Democratic party politics in New ...

(Encyclopedia) reed instrument, in music, an instrument whose sound-producing agent is a thin strip of cane, wood, plastic, or metal that vibrates as air is passed over it. The predecessor of these instruments is th...

(Encyclopedia) Lynch, John Roy, 1847–1939, African-American politician, b. near Vidala, La. Born a slave, he became active in the Republican party after the Civil War in Natchez, Miss., and served (1869–73) in t...

(Encyclopedia) Pasco păsˈkō [key], city (1990 pop. 20,337), seat of Franklin co., SE Wash., on the Columbia River near its confluence with the Snake and Yakima rivers. It is a trade and shipping center for the Co...

(Encyclopedia) McReynolds, James Clark məkrĕnˈəldz [key], 1862–1946, U.S. Attorney General (1913–14) and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1914–41), b. Elkton, Ky. He received his law degree fro...