Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cradle of Humankind, extensive archaeological site, c.180 sq mi (470 sq km), encompassing dolomitic limestone caves containing numerous hominin fossils, Gauteng and North West prov., South Africa, c.3...

(Encyclopedia) Johnston, Samuel, 1733–1816, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Dundee, Scotland. He emigrated as a child to North Carolina, where his uncle, Gabriel Johnston, was royal governor. After...

(Encyclopedia) Kikuyu kĭko͞oˈyo͞o [key], Bantu-speaking people, numbering about 6 million, forming the largest tribal group in Kenya. The Kikuyu live in the highlands NE of Nairobi. Before the British conquest t...

(Encyclopedia) kwashiorkor kwăshˌēôrˈkôr [key], protein deficiency disorder of children. It is prevalent in overpopulated parts of the world where the diet consists mainly of starchy vegetables, particularly i...

(Encyclopedia) Woffington, Peg (Margaret Woffington), 1714?–1760, English actress, b. Dublin. Her charm and beauty as a child attracted attention, and at the age of 10 she acted in the role of Polly Peachum in a L...

(Encyclopedia) Walsh, Thomas James wôlsh [key], 1859–1933, American political leader, b. Two Rivers, Wis. A lawyer, he was Democratic Senator from Montana from 1913 until his death. Walsh helped write the Eightee...

(Encyclopedia) Watson, John Broadus, 1878–1958, American psychologist, b. Greenville, S.C. He taught (1903–8) at the Univ. of Chicago and was professor and director (1908–20) of the psychological laboratory at...

(Encyclopedia) Balladur, Édouard ādwärˈ bälädürˈ [key], 1929–, French political leader, b. Turkey. He moved to France as a child and grew up in Marseille. A Gaullist and member of the Rally for the Republi...

(Encyclopedia) Baron, Salo Wittmayer säˈlō vĭtˈmīər bärônˈ [key], 1895–1989, Jewish historian and educator, b. Galicia. He was taken as a child to Vienna, where he later studied at the university, earnin...

(Encyclopedia) Brown, William Wells, 1814–84, African-American abolitionist, writer, and doctor, b. near Lexington, Ky. Born into slavery, the child of a black slave mother and a white slaveholding father, Brown f...