Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Gorgas, William Crawford, 1854–1920, American disease and sanitation expert, surgeon general of the United States, b. Mobile, Ala., grad. Bellevue Hospital Medical College, 1879. He served with the ...

(Encyclopedia) Davidson, Donald Herbert, 1917–2003, American philosopher, b. Springfield, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1939; Ph.D., 1949). A student of W. V. Quine, Davidson emerged as one of the major figures in p...

(Encyclopedia) Al Karak äl käräkˈ [key], town (1997 est. pop. 19,000), W central Jordan. It is also known as Krak. It is a road junction and an agricultural trade center. The ancient Kir Moab (also mentioned in ...

(Encyclopedia) Mother Goose, name associated with nursery rhymes. Most English nursery rhymes have been ascribed to Mother Goose. The origin of the name is still a matter of dispute. Some trace it to a French collec...

(Encyclopedia) McGrory, Mary, 1918–2004, American journalist, b. Boston, grad. Emmanuel College. McGrory wrote with clarity, lyricism, and wit on the events and personalities of the five decades spanned by her gro...

(Encyclopedia) archery, sport of shooting with bow and arrow, an important military and hunting skill before the introduction of gunpowder. England's Charles II fostered archery as sport, establishing in 1673 the wo...

(Encyclopedia) Lane, James Henry, 1814–66, American politician, called the “liberator of Kansas.” He was probably born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., where he practiced law. Lane commanded an Indiana regiment in the M...

(Encyclopedia) Finn mac Cumhail, Fionn mac Cumhail, or Finn MacCool all: fĭn məko͞olˈ [key], semimythical Irish hero. His exploits are recorded in long narrative poems by Ossian and in many ballads, called Feni...

(Encyclopedia) Newport Jazz Festival, annual summer music festival, probably the best known of all such festivals, held at Newport, R.I. Originally sponsored by Newport socialites Mr. and Mrs. Louis Lorillard and ja...

(Encyclopedia) astrology, form of divination based on the theory that the movements of the celestial bodies—the stars, the planets, the sun, and the moon—influence human affairs and determine the course of event...