Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Curtis, Edward Sheriff, 1868–1952, American photographer and pioneer ethnographer known for his documentation of Native Americans, b. near Whitewater, Wis. Curtis was obsessed with photography from ...

(Encyclopedia) yellow fever, acute infectious disease endemic in tropical Africa and many areas of South and Central America. Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mos...

(Encyclopedia) performance art, multimedia art form originating in the 1970s in which performance is the dominant mode of expression. Perfomance art may incorporate such elements as instrumental or electronic music,...

(Encyclopedia) Kruger, Paul (Stephanas Johannes Paulus) kro͞oˈgər, Afrikaans stāfäˈnəs yōhäˈnəs pouˈləs krüˈgər [key], 1825–1904, South African Transvaal statesman, known as Oom Paul. As a child he...

(Encyclopedia) von Braun, Wernher vôn broun [key], 1912–77, German-American rocket scientist and astronautics engineer, b. Germany, grad. Berlin Technological Institute (B.S., 1932), Univ. of Berlin (Ph.D., 1934)...

(Encyclopedia) Liberty Bell, historic relic in Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia. First hung in Independence Hall in 1753, it bore the inscription, “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land unto ...

(Encyclopedia) Irving, Edward, 1792–1834, Scottish preacher, under whose influence the Catholic Apostolic Church was founded; its members have sometimes been called Irvingites. He was tutor to Jane Welsh, later th...

(Encyclopedia) McGuffey, William Holmes məgŭfˈē [key], 1800–1873, American educator, b. near Claysville, Pa. He was graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1826, having meanwhile taught in rural sch...

(Encyclopedia) Duveen, Joseph, 1st Baron Duveen of Millbank dyo͝ovēnˈ, do͞o– [key], 1869–1939, English art dealer, b. Hull. Beginning his career (1886) in his father's antiques firm, Duveen Brothers, he soon...

(Encyclopedia) Bowen, Elizabeth bōˈĭn [key], 1899–1973, Anglo-Irish novelist, b. Dublin. In impeccable prose she treated love and frustration through studies of complex psychological relationships. Her novels i...