Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Piltdown man, name given to human remains found during excavations (1908–15) at Piltdown, Sussex, England, by Charles Dawson. The find led to much speculation and argument. Since they were found wit...

(Encyclopedia) Reyes, Alfonso älfônˈsō rāˈyĕs [key], 1889–1959, Mexican writer, diplomat, and educator. Reyes is generally recognized as one of the greatest Spanish-American writers of his time. After spend...

(Encyclopedia) brasses, monumental, or sepulchral brasses, memorials to the dead, in use in churches on the Continent and in England in the 13th cent. and for several centuries following. They are usually set in the...

(Encyclopedia) Cagliostro, Alessandro, Conte di älĕs-sänˈdrō kōnˈtā dē kälyōˈstrō [key], 1743–95, Italian adventurer, magician, and alchemist, whose real name was Giuseppe Balsamo. After early misadve...

(Encyclopedia) Choctaw chŏkˈtô [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They formerly occupied central and...

(Encyclopedia) Wood, Grant, 1891–1942, American painter, b. Anamosa, Iowa, studied Art Institute of Chicago and in Paris. He experimented with an impressionist style in Paris, but in Munich in 1928 he was decisive...

(Encyclopedia) Toynbee, Arnold Joseph, 1889–1975, English historian; nephew of Arnold Toynbee. Educated at Oxford, he served in the British foreign office during World Wars I and II and was a delegate (1919) to th...

(Encyclopedia) Porter, Cole, 1891–1964, American composer and lyricist, b. Peru, Ind., grad. Yale, 1913. Porter's witty, sophisticated lyrics and his affecting melodies place him high in the ranks of American comp...

(Encyclopedia) Randolph, John, 1773–1833, American legislator, known as John Randolph of Roanoke, b. Prince George co., Va. He briefly studied law under his cousin Edmund Randolph. He served in the U.S. House of R...

(Encyclopedia) Grandin, Temple, 1947–, American animal scientist and industrial designer, b. Boston, grad. Franklin Pierce College (B.A., 1970), Arizona State Univ. (M.S., 1975), Univ. of Illinois (Ph.D., 1989). D...