Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Donleavy, J. P. (James Patrick Donleavy), 1926–2017, Irish-American novelist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied Trinity College, Dublin. The son of Irish expatriates, he lived most of his life in Ireland a...

(Encyclopedia) Christy, Edwin P., 1815–62, American showman, b. Philadelphia. He established c.1846 in Buffalo, N.Y., a company of minstrels that came to be known as Christy's Minstrels. The company, although not ...

(Encyclopedia) Ryder, Donald P., , 1926-2021, African-American architect, b. Springfield, Oh., Univ. of Illinois (BA, 1951). Ryder was raised in Dayton, Ohio. He serve...

(Encyclopedia) Giannini, A. P. (Amadeo Peter Giannini) ämädĕˈō, jänēˈnē [key], 1870–1949, American banker and financier, b. San Jose, Calif. The son of Italian immigrants, he joined his stepfather in the ...

(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) Lowry, Malcolm (Clarence Malcolm Lowry) louˈrē [key], 1909–57, English novelist, b. New Brighton, Wirral. Lowry is widely recognized as an important writer who effectively articulated the spiritua...

(Encyclopedia) Miller, Glenn (Alton Glenn Miller), 1904–44, American jazz trombonist, bandleader, and composer, b. Clarinda, Iowa. Playing in Ben Pollack's band by 1927, he was a freelance musician in New York Cit...

(Encyclopedia) Wheeler, Joseph, 1836–1906, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Augusta, Ga. He resigned from the U.S. army in Apr., 1861, to fight for the Confederacy. He commanded a regiment at Shil...

(Encyclopedia) Rickover, Hyman George, 1900–1986, American admiral, b. Russia. In World War II he served as head of the electrical section of the navy's Bureau of Ships. After the war he was assigned (1946) to the...

(Encyclopedia) Gibson, John Bannister, 1780–1853, American jurist, b. Westover Mills, Pa.; nephew of the American frontiersman John Gibson. He studied law, was unsuccessful in practice, and served (1810–12) with...