Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Ravalomanana, Marc märk rävälōmänänˈ [key], 1949–, Malagasy political leader. He made a fortune manufacturing dairy products and began his political career in 1999 when he was elected mayor o...

(Encyclopedia) Bunau-Varilla, Philippe Jean fēlēpˈ zhäN bünōˈ-värēyäˈ [key], 1859–1940, French engineer, prominent in the Panama Canal controversy. An engineer after 1884 in the original French company ...

(Encyclopedia) Elmira ĕlmīˈrə [key], city (2020 pop. 26,523), seat of Chemung co., extreme S central N.Y...

(Encyclopedia) essay, relatively short literary composition in prose, in which a writer discusses a topic, usually restricted in scope, or tries to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view. Although ...

(Encyclopedia) Johns Hopkins University, mainly at Baltimore. Johns Hopkins in 1867 had a group of his associates incorporated as the trustees of a university and a hospital, endowing each with $3.5 million. Daniel ...

(Encyclopedia) Thompson, David, 1770–1857, Canadian geographer, fur trader, and explorer, b. London, England. In 1784 he came to Fort Churchill, Canada, as an apprentice of the Hudson's Bay Company, and until 1797...

(Encyclopedia) Greenfield <1> City (2020 pop. 18,937), Monterey co., SW Calif.; inc. 1947. Thirty-three miles SE of Salinas, the town was originally founded in 1...

(Encyclopedia) Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922–93, American painter, b. Portland, Oreg. Raised in California, he studied at Stanford and at a collector's home encountered (1943) the work of Matisse, whose bold use of co...

(Encyclopedia) cane, walking stick. Probably used first as a weapon, it gradually took on the symbolism of strength and power and eventually authority and social prestige. Ancient Egyptian rulers carried the symboli...

(Encyclopedia) Udall, Stewart Lee yo͞oˈdôl [key], 1920–2010, U.S. cabinet member and environmentalist, b. St. Johns, Ariz. After serving in World War II, Udall practiced law in Tucson until elected to the U.S. ...