Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) DMX,1970-2021, b. Mount Vernon, N.Y., as Earl Simmons. DMX grew up in Yonkers, NY, in the 1980s, in a highly dysfunctional family; abandoned by his fath...

(Encyclopedia) chocolate, general term for the products of the seeds of the cacao or chocolate tree, used for making beverages or confectionery. The flavor of chocolate depends not only on the quality of the cocoa n...

(Encyclopedia) hornbill, common name for members of the family Bucerotidae, Old World birds of tropical and subtropical forests, named for their enormous down-curved bills surmounted by grotesque horny casques. From...

(Encyclopedia) Iapetus īăpˈĭtəs [key], in astronomy, one of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn VIII (or S8), Iapetus is 907 mi (1460 km) in diameter, orbits Saturn at a mean...

(Encyclopedia) Hart, Moss, 1904–61, American dramatist, b. New York City, studied at Columbia. His first important play, Once in a Lifetime (1930), marked the beginning of a long collaboration with George S. Kaufm...

(Encyclopedia) rhythm, biological, or biorhythm, cyclic pattern of physiological changes or changes in activity in living organisms, most often synchronized with daily, monthly, or annual cyclical changes in the env...

(Encyclopedia) buffalo, name commonly applied to the American bison but correctly restricted to certain related African and Asian mammals of the cattle family. The water buffalo, or Indian buffalo, Bubalus bubalis, ...

(Encyclopedia) Anderson, Sherwood, 1876–1941, American novelist and short-story writer, b. Camden, Ohio. After serving briefly in the Spanish-American War, he became a successful advertising man and later a manage...

(Encyclopedia) facsimile făksĭmˈəlē [key] or fax, in communications, system for transmitting pictures or other graphic matter by wire or radio. Facsimile is used to transmit such materials as documents, telegra...

(Encyclopedia) Lafayette läˌfēĕtˈ, lăfˌēĕtˈ [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 23,501), Contra Costa co., NW Calif., a residential suburb in the San Francisco–Oakland area; settled 1848, inc. 1968. The city is a h...