Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Barrett, Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Barrett, Lawrence bârˈət [key], 1838–91, American actor, b. Paterson, N.J. An excellent romantic actor, he is best remembered for his portrayal of Cassius to the Brutus of Edwin Booth. Barrett ma...

Isaacs, Sir Isaac Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Isaacs, Sir Isaac Alfred īˈzəks [key], 1855–1948, Australian jurist and political leader. He sat in the colonial legislature (1892–1901), became solicitor general (1893), and served as attorney...

Cowper, William Cowper, 1st Earl

(Encyclopedia)Cowper, William Cowper, 1st Earl, 1664?–1723, English jurist. He became lord keeper of the great seal in 1705 and in 1706 took a leading part in negotiating the union of England with Scotland. He wa...

Richardson, William Adams

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, William Adams, 1821–96, American jurist and U.S. secretary of the Treasury, b. Tyngsboro, Mass. Admitted to the bar in 1846, he helped to codify the statute law of Massachusetts in 1855....

Force, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Force, Peter, 1790–1868, American journalist and historian, b. near Paterson, N.J. He served in the War of 1812 and afterward established himself in Washington, D.C., as a printer. Entering local po...

Colt, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Colt, Samuel, 1814–62, American inventor, b. Hartford, Conn. In 1835–36, he patented a revolving-breech pistol and founded at Paterson, N.J., the Patent Arms Company, which failed in 1842. An orde...

Husein, Muslim leader

(Encyclopedia)Husein –sānˈ [key], c.626–680, Muslim leader, second son of Ali and Fatima (daughter of Muhammad). With the assassination of his father in 661 and the acquiescence of his brother Hasan, the cali...

Widukind, Saxon leader

(Encyclopedia)Widukind wĭtˈə– [key], d. 807?, leader of the Saxons against the Frankish king Charlemagne (later emperor of the West). In 782, when Charlemagne organized Saxony as a Frankish province and ordere...

Browse by Subject