Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hall, James

(Encyclopedia)Hall, James, 1811–98, American geologist and paleontologist, b. Hingham, Mass., grad. Rensselaer School (later Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), 1832. An authority on stratigraphy and invertebrate ...

Scotland Yard

(Encyclopedia)Scotland Yard, headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police. The term is often used, popularly, to refer to one branch, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Named after a short street in Lon...

Provoost, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Provoost, Samuel prōˈvōst [key], 1742–1815, first Episcopal bishop of New York, b. New York City, grad. King's College (now Columbia Univ.), 1758. He studied at Cambridge and in 1766 was ordained...

Bellomont, Richard Coote, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Bellomont, Richard Coote, earl of bĕlˈəmŏntˌ [key], 1636–1701, colonial governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, b. Ireland. He arrived (1698) in New York at a time when a more u...

Koch, Edward Irving

(Encyclopedia)Koch, Edward Irving kŏch [key], 1924–2013, U.S. politician, mayor of New York City (1977–89), b. New York City. After receiving his law degree (New York Univ., 1948), he practiced as a lawyer, be...

Dutch West India Company

(Encyclopedia)Dutch West India Company, trading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded. The phenom...

Wagner, Robert Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Wagner, Robert Ferdinand wăgˈnər [key], 1877–1953, American legislator, b. Germany. He arrived with his family in the United States in 1885 and grew up in poor surroundings in New York City. Afte...

Green, Andrew Haswell

(Encyclopedia)Green, Andrew Haswell, 1820–1903, American civic leader, b. Worcester, Mass. He read law under Samuel J. Tilden and became his partner. Prominent in civic affairs of New York City, he held a number ...

Howe, Irving

(Encyclopedia)Howe, Irving, 1920–93, American literary and social critic, b. New York City. From his early days as a Trotskyist to his later (and lifelong) position as a democratic socialist, Howe criticized Stal...

Seabury, Samuel, American jurist

(Encyclopedia)Seabury, Samuel, 1873–1958, American jurist, b. New York City; great-great-grandson of Samuel Seabury (1729–96). He served on the supreme court (1907–14) and on the court of appeals (1914–16) ...

Browse by Subject