Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Elgin, James Bruce, 8th earl of ĕlˈgĭn [key], 1811–63, British statesman, son of the 7th earl. He served as governor of Jamaica (1842–46) and in 1847 was appointed governor-general of Canada. T...

(Encyclopedia) Eschenbach, Christoph, 1940–, German conductor and pianist, b. Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), as Christoph Ringmann. Orphaned during World War II, he was adopted by Wallydore Eschenbach, h...

(Encyclopedia) Glazer, Nathan, 1923–2019, American sociologist, b. New York City, grad. City College, 1944. He became an editor at The Contemporary Jewish Record, later Commentary, and contributed to The Lonely Cr...

(Encyclopedia) poet laureate lôˈrēĭt [key], title conferred in Britain by the monarch on a poet whose duty it is to write commemorative odes and verse. It is an outgrowth of the medieval English custom of having...

(Encyclopedia) Abbott, George, 1887–1995, American theatrical producer, director, and playwright, b. Forestville, N.Y. He began (1913) in the theater as an actor and, during a career that spanned eight decades, wa...

(Encyclopedia) Goldberg, Arthur, 1908–90, American labor lawyer and jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1962–65), b. Chicago. He received his law degree from Northwestern Univ. in 1929. A corpor...

(Encyclopedia) McCarthy, Eugene Joseph, 1916–2005, U.S. political leader, b. Watkins, Minn. He served (1942–46) as a technical assistant for military intelligence during World War II and then taught (1946–49) ...

(Encyclopedia) Alliance for Progress, Span. Alianza para el Progreso, U.S. assistance program for Latin America begun in 1961 during the presidency of John F. Kennedy. It was created principally to counter the appea...

(Encyclopedia) Columbia, U.S. space shuttle. On its 28th flight, on Feb. 1, 2003, after completing a 16-day scientific mission, the spacecraft disintegrated during reentry, killing its seven-person crew. About 16 mi...

(Encyclopedia) Fisher, M. F. K. (Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher), 1908–92, American culinary writer, b. Albion, Mich. Raised in California, Fisher lived in France for three years, where she was inspired by Brillat-Sa...