Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Niort nyôr [key], city (1990 pop. 58,660), capital of Deux-Sèvres dept., W France, in Poitou. An old agricultural marketplace, it now has plywood, chemical, metallurgy, clothing, tobacco, and printi...

(Encyclopedia) Vassar College văsˈər [key], at Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; coeducational; chartered 1861 by Matthew Vassar, opened 1865 as Vassar Female College, renamed 1867. A leading institution of higher education fo...

(Encyclopedia) Cassatt, Mary kəsătˈ [key], 1844–1926, American figure painter and etcher, b. Pittsburgh. Most of her life was spent in France, where she was greatly influenced by her great French contemporaries...

(Encyclopedia) Islington ĭzˈlĭngtən [key], inner borough of Greater London, SE England. Islington, in the ...

(Encyclopedia) Callahan, Harry Morey, 1912–99, American photographer, b. Detroit. Self-taught, he began taking pictures (1938) as a hobby and, inspired by the work of Ansel Adams, began to produce professional-qua...

(Encyclopedia) Goes, Hugo van der ho͞oˈgō vän dĕr go͞os [key], d.1482, Flemish painter. Probably born in Ghent, he was a member of the painters' guild there in 1467 and became dean of the guild in 1474, a year...

(Encyclopedia) Sparks, city (1990 pop. 53,367), Washoe co., W Nev., just E of Reno; inc. 1905. The Southern Pacific RR was the major employer until the dieselization of railroad engines forced the closing (1957) of ...

(Encyclopedia) Dyck, Christopher van vän dīkˈ [key], 1601–c.1672, German designer and maker of printing type, who worked in Amsterdam. Types that he designed were used by the Elzevir firm. His roman typeface wa...

(Encyclopedia) Dana, John Cotton, 1856–1929, American librarian and museum director, b. Woodstock, Vt. He was a lawyer and a civil engineer before joining the staff of the Denver (Colo.) Public Library in 1889, wh...

(Encyclopedia) Hoorn, city, North Holland prov., N central Netherlands, on an inlet of the Markermeer. It is a commercial and processing center for a vegetable-growing...