Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  DeGeneres, Ellen Lee, 1958- , American actor and talk-show host, b. Metairie, La. DeGeneres’s parents split in 1974, and she subsequently ...

(Encyclopedia)  Hopper, Dennis Lee, 1936-2010, American filmmaker and actor, b. Dodge City, Ks. Hopper’s family relocated several times during his childhood, settli...

(Encyclopedia) Oswy or Oswiu both: ŏzˈwē [key], d. 670, king of Northumbria. He succeeded (641) his brother Oswald in Bernicia only, Deira (the other part of Northumbria) having become a dependency of Mercia. How...

(Encyclopedia) Murray, Albert Lee, 1916–2013, American essayist, novelist, and critic, b. Nokomis, Ala., grad. Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee Univ.; B.S., 1939) and New York Univ. (M.A., 1948). Murray enlisted i...

(Encyclopedia) Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917–63, 35th President of the United States (1961–63), b. Brookline, Mass.; son of Joseph P. Kennedy. On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed while ...

(Encyclopedia) Oswestry ŏzˈwĕstrē, –wəs– [key], town (1991 pop. 12,448), Shropshire, W central England. The market town has plastics, clothing, and printing industries. The area is named for St. Oswald, a N...

(Encyclopedia) Zoffany, Johann yōˈhän zŏfˈənē [key], 1735–1810, English painter. After 12 years of study in Italy, Zoffany settled in England. He frequently painted conversation pieces, domestic tableaux fi...

(Encyclopedia) Stratford, home of the Lee family, overlooking the Potomac River, E Va., SE of Fredericksburg. A national shrine dedicated in 1935, the site was purchased in 1716 by Thomas Lee, who built the mansion ...

(Encyclopedia) Cushing's disease: see Cushing, Harvey Williams. ...

(Encyclopedia) minnesinger mĭnˈĭsĭngˌər [key], a medieval German knight, poet, and singer of Minne, or courtly love. Originally imitators of Provençal troubadours, minnesingers developed their own style in th...