Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Carver, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Carver, Jonathan, 1710–80, American explorer, b. Weymouth, Mass. He served in the French and Indian War and in 1766 was hired by Robert Rogers to undertake a journey to some of the Western tribes. H...

Post, Wiley

(Encyclopedia)Post, Wiley, 1899–1935, American aviator, b. Grand Plain, Tex. He won fame in 1931 when he and Harold Gatty flew around the northern part of the earth in 8 days 15 hr 51 min. In 1933 he made a secon...

Ripon, Frederick John Robinson, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Ripon, Frederick John Robinson, 1st earl of rĭpˈən [key], 1782–1859, British statesman, better known as Viscount Goderich. Entering Parliament as a Tory in 1806, he sponsored the unpopular corn l...

Charlottesville

(Encyclopedia)Charlottesville shärˈlətsvĭl [key], city (2020 pop. 46,553), seat of Albemarle co., central Va., on the ...

Pontiac, Ottawa chief

(Encyclopedia)Pontiac, fl. 1760–66, Ottawa chief. He may have been the chief met by Robert Rogers in 1760 when Rogers was on his way to take possession of the Western forts for the English. Although the Native Am...

Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Edmond, city (2020 pop. 94,428), Oklahoma co., central Okla.; settled 1889. It is a trading center with a huge oil field and small industries that manuf...

Blake, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Blake, Edward, 1833–1912, Canadian Liberal party leader, b. Upper Canada (Ontario). A prominent constitutional lawyer, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1867. In 1871 he became premier of On...

St. John, John Pierce

(Encyclopedia)St. John, John Pierce, 1833–1916, American political reformer, b. Brookville, Ind. He traveled in the West and in South America, fought in the Union army in the Civil War, and after 1869 practiced l...

Spalding, Gilbert R.

(Encyclopedia)Spalding, Gilbert R., 1811?–1880, American showman, b. Albany co., N.Y. Known as “Doc” because he owned a drug and paint store in the early 1840s, he acquired a circus in the mid-1840s and in 18...

Browse by Subject