Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

179 results found

Nelson, Willie

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Willie, 1933–, American country singer, guitarist, and songwriter, b. Abbott, Tex. Nelson began playing professionally at 10 and joined a western swing band as a teenager. In the 1960s he mo...

Nelson, Wolfred

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Wolfred, 1792–1863, Canadian rebel, b. Montreal. A brother of Robert Nelson, Wolfred served as a surgeon in the War of 1812. In 1827 he entered the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada as a ...

Miles, Nelson Appleton

(Encyclopedia)Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839–1925, American army officer, b. near Westminster, Mass. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he left his job in a Boston store and organized a company of volunteer...

Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla

(Encyclopedia)Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla khōl-ēhläˈhlä mändāˈlä [key], 1918–2013, South African statesman. He earned a degree (B.A., 1943) after being expelled from the University College of Fort Hare (f...

Darby, John Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Darby, John Nelson, 1800–1882, one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren, b. England. In 1827 he left a curate's post in Wicklow, Ireland, and joined with others in Dublin to found the Brethren. ...

Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth

(Encyclopedia)Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth, 1841–1915, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, b. Foster, R.I. He rose in local politics as state assemblyman (1875–76) and U.S. Representative (1879–81) before he served a...

Barker, James Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Barker, James Nelson, 1784–1858, American playwright, b. Philadelphia. In 1838, Van Buren appointed him comptroller of the Treasury, and with slight interruptions he worked in the Treasury Dept. unt...

Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich

(Encyclopedia)Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich, 1908–79, U.S. public official, governor of New York (1959–73), Vice President of the United States (1974–77), b. Bar Harbor, Maine; grandson of John D. Rockefeller. ...

Page, Thomas Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Page, Thomas Nelson, 1853–1922, American author and diplomat, b. Hanover co., Va. His novels and stories are sentimental idealizations of the Old South. Among his novels are On Newfound River (1891)...

Nelson, city, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, city (1991 pop. 8,760), SE British Columbia, on the Kootenay River. It is a transportation and administrative center for a lumbering and farming region. ...