Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Gordy, Berry, Jr., 1929–, African-American music-industry executive, b. Detroit. After stints in the army and as a professional boxer, Gordy opened a ...

(Encyclopedia) Peasants' War, 1524–26, rising of the German peasants and the poorer classes of the towns, particularly in Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia. It was the climax of a series of local revolts that dated...

(Encyclopedia) Faraday, Michael fârˈədē, –dāˌ [key], 1791–1867, English scientist. The son of a blacksmith, he was apprenticed to a bookbinder at the age of 14. He had little formal education, but acquired...

(Encyclopedia) Parks, Rosa Louise, 1913–2005, American civil-rights activist, b. Tuskegee, Ala., as Rosa Louise McCauley. A seamstress and long-time activist-member of the Montgomery, Ala., chapter of the National...

(Encyclopedia) Mendoza, city (1991 pop. 773,559), capital of Mendoza prov., W Argentina. With a backdrop of snowcapped mountains, Mendoza is surrounded by a fertile oasis, known as the “Garden of the Andes,” irr...

(Encyclopedia) Kent, Rockwell, 1882–1971, American painter, muralist, wood engraver, lithographer, book and magazine illustrator, and writer, b. Tarrytown, N.Y. Kent studied with William Merritt Chase and Robert H...

(Encyclopedia) Oecolampadius, Johannes yōhänˈəs ökōlämpäˈdēo͝os, ĕkˌəlămpāˈdēəs [key], 1482–1531, German Protestant reformer, associate of Huldreich Zwingli in the Reformation in Switzerland. He...

(Encyclopedia) Pablos, Juan hwän päˈblōs [key], d. 1561?, printer in Spanish America. Pablos printed in Mexico City the first book known to have been printed in the Western Hemisphere. It was a religious manual,...

(Encyclopedia) Maximus, Saint, c.580–662, Greek theologian. He was secretary to Emperor Heraclius and subsequently abbot at the monastery of Chrysopolis. To curb Monotheletism he went to Rome and persuaded Pope St...

(Encyclopedia) Penobscot pənŏbˈskŏt [key], river, 350 mi (563 km) long, rising in numerous lakes in central Maine and flowing generally east in four branches, uniting, then flowing S into Penobscot Bay; longest ...