Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pun

(Encyclopedia)pun, use of words, usually humorous, based on (a) the several meanings of one word, (b) a similarity of meaning between words that are pronounced the same, or (c) the difference in meanings between tw...

Laue, Max von

(Encyclopedia)Laue, Max von mäks fən louˈə [key], 1879–1960, German physicist, studied under Max Planck. From 1919 he was professor of theoretical physics at the Univ. of Berlin. He worked out a method for me...

grave

(Encyclopedia)grave, space excavated in the earth or rock for the burial of a corpse. When a grave is marked by a protective or memorial structure it is often referred to as a tomb. See burial; funeral customs. ...

Burlington, town, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Burlington, town, SE Ont., Canada, on Lake Ontario. First settled (1798) by Mohawk Loyalist Joseph Brandt, Burlington's economy was built on the shipmen...

Wenatchee

(Encyclopedia)Wenatchee wĭnăchˈē [key], city (1990 pop. 21,756), seat of Chelan co., central Wash., on the Columbia River in the foothills of the Cascade Range; inc. 1892. It is a resort and a commercial center...

Whetstone, George

(Encyclopedia)Whetstone, George, 1551?–1587, English dramatist and poet. His chief work, the play Promos and Cassandra (1578), is important in the development of English domestic drama and was a source for Shakes...

Clapton, Eric Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Clapton, Eric Patrick, 1945–, British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, b. Ripley, Surrey, England. A seminal figure in rock music, he is noted especially for his virtuoso guitar playing, whose sty...

Clark, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Clark, Dick,, 1929-2012, American radio and TV broadcaster and producer, b. Bronxville, N.Y., as Richard Wagstaff Clark; Syracuse Univ. (B.A., 1951). Be...

Branson, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Branson, Sir Richard (Richard Charles Nicholas Branson), 1950–, British business mogul and adventurer. He left school at 16 to start his first business, the magazine Student. In 1970 he began a mail...

Cash, Johnny

(Encyclopedia)Cash, Johnny, 1932–2003, American singer and songwriter, b. Kingsland, Ark. Born to a farm family, he went to Memphis in 1955 and recorded such hits as “I Walk the Line” (1956) and “Ring of Fi...

Browse by Subject