Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  Reiner, Carl, 1922-2020, American comedian, television producer, actor, and film director, b. Bronx, N.Y. The son of a watchmaker, Reiner initially wo...

(Encyclopedia) Hamlisch, Marvin, 1944–2012, American composer, conductor, and pianist, b. New York City, grad. Queens College (B.S., 1967). A versatile and prolific composer of melodies ranging from the soulfully ...

(Encyclopedia) parody, mocking imitation in verse or prose of a literary work. The following poem by Robert Southey was parodied by Lewis Carroll: “You are old, Father William,” the young man cried; “The few l...

(Encyclopedia) lignin lĭgˈnĭn [key], a highly polymerized and complex chemical compound especially common in woody plants. The cellulose walls of the wood become impregnated with lignin, a process called lignific...

(Encyclopedia) sapwood, relatively thin, youngest, outer part of the woody stem of a tree, the part that conducts water and dissolved materials. In the cross section of a tree, the sapwood is recognizable by its tex...

(Encyclopedia) stem, supporting structure of a plant, serving also to conduct and to store food materials. The stems of herbaceous and of woody plants differ: those of herbaceous plants are usually green and pliant ...

(Encyclopedia) Chittenden, Thomas chĭtˈəndən [key], 1730–97, governor of Vermont, b. East Guilford, Conn. After moving to Vermont in 1774, he was active in the Windsor Convention, which declared (1777) Vermont...

(Encyclopedia) Green Mountain Boys, popular name of armed bands formed (c.1770) under the auspices of Ethan Allen in the Green Mountains of what is today Vermont. Their purpose was to prevent the New Hampshire Grant...

(Encyclopedia) Guthrie, Arlo: see under Guthrie, Woody. ...

(Encyclopedia) African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist denomination (see Methodism). It was established in 1816 in Philadelphia with Richard Allen as its first bishop. In 1991 there were about 3.5 million memb...