Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

McNamara, Robert Strange

(Encyclopedia)McNamara, Robert Strange măkˈnəmârˌə [key], 1916–2009, U.S. secretary of defense (1961–68), b. San Francisco, grad Univ. of California, Berkeley (B.A., 1937), Harvard (M.B.A., 1939). He taug...

Catherine of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Catherine of Valois vălˈwä, Fr. välwäˈ [key], 1401–37, queen consort of Henry V of England, daughter of Charles VI of France. Married in 1420, she bore Henry the son who was to become Henry VI...

Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d' zhäN lwē də nōgärāˈ dük dāpĕrnôNˈ [key], 1554–1642, French nobleman. He distinguished himself during the civil wars at the beginning of the reign ...

John I, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)John I, 1358–90, Spanish king of Castile and León (1379–90), son and successor of Henry II. He tried unsuccessfully to unite the Portuguese and Castilian crowns but was twice defeated by the Port...

Henry VII, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry VII, c.1275–1313, Holy Roman emperor (1312–13) and German king (1308–13). A minor count of the house of Luxembourg, Henry was elected German king on the death of King Albert I after the el...

Coleman, William Thaddeus, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Coleman, William Thaddeus, Jr., 1920–2017, African-American lawyer and U.S. cabinet official, b. Philadelphia, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1941, Harvard Law School, 1946. He clerked for Justice Fra...

Coleridge, Hartley

(Encyclopedia)Coleridge, Hartley kōlˈrĭj, kōˈlə– [key], 1796–1849, English author; eldest son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Reared in the household of the poet Southey after the estrangement of his parents,...

Hutchins, Robert Maynard

(Encyclopedia)Hutchins, Robert Maynard, 1899–1977, American educator, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied at Oberlin College, grad. Yale, 1921, taught in the Yale law school (1925–27), and served as dean (1927–29). He...

Holm, Jeanne Marjorie

(Encyclopedia)Holm, Jeanne Marjorie, 1921–2010, U.S. military officer, the first female general in the U.S. air force, b. Portland, Oreg. Enlisting in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942, she soon joined (19...

Maris, Roger Eugene

(Encyclopedia)Maris, Roger Eugene mărˈĭs [key], 1934–85, American baseball player, b. Hibbing, Minn. He played (1957–59) for Cleveland and the Kansas City Athletics before joining (1960) the New York Yankees...

Browse by Subject