Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Long, John Luther, 1861–1927, American playwright, b. Hanover, Pa. In 1900, in collaboration with David Belasco, he dramatized his short story “Madame Butterfly” (1897), which Puccini later made...

(Encyclopedia) Greene, Robert, 1558?–1592, English author. His short romances, written in the manner of Lyly's Euphues, include Pandosto (1588), from which Shakespeare drew the plot for A Winter's Tale, and Menaph...

(Encyclopedia) Abi āˈbī [key] [short for Abijah], in the Bible, King Hezekiah's mother. ...

(Encyclopedia) Joiakim joiˈəkĭm [key] [short for Jehoiakim], in the Bible, high priest. ...

(Encyclopedia) tuning fork, steel instrument in the shape of a U with a short handle. When struck it produces an almost pure tone, retaining its pitch over a long period of time; thus it is a valuable aid in tuning ...

(Encyclopedia) soiling, agricultural practice of feeding green fodder to livestock in the barn or dry lot. It is followed in the United States mostly in the dairy industry in seasons when pastures are short, but in ...

(Encyclopedia) wombat, shy marsupial of Australia and Tasmania, related to the koala. The wombat is a thick-set animal with a large head, short legs (giving it a shuffling gait), and a very short tail. It is about 3...

(Encyclopedia) Salinger, J. D. (Jerome David Salinger) sălˈĭnjər [key], 1919–2010, American novelist and short-story writer, b. New York City. His considerable literary stature rests on a small but extremely i...

(Encyclopedia) Brandão, Raul, 1867–1930, Portuguese novelist. His major theme was the tragic lives of poor people, and he often depicted a nightmare world of suffering ruled by inexplicable forces. His major work...

(Encyclopedia) O'Brien, Fitz-James, 1828?–1862, Irish-American author and journalist, b. Ireland. He settled in New York in 1852. He is remembered for two of his short stories, “The Diamond Lens” and “The Wo...