Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ford, John, American film director

(Encyclopedia)Ford, John, 1895–1973, American film director, b. Cape Elizabeth, Maine, as John Martin Feeney. Ford began directing in 1917 after an apprenticeship with his brother Francis. Over the next 50 years,...

Morris, Robert, 1734–1806, American merchant

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Robert, 1734–1806, American merchant, known as the “financier of the American Revolution,” and signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Liverpool, England. Morris emigrated to Ameri...

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation: see National Museum of the American Indian. ...

Winthrop, John, 1714–79, American scientist

(Encyclopedia)Winthrop, John, 1714–79, American scientist, b. Boston, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1732. Because of his study of earthquakes, he is sometimes called the founder of seismology. He made scientific observat...

House Un-American Activities Committee

(Encyclopedia)House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a committee (1938–75) of the U.S. House of Representatives, created to investigate disloyalty and subversive organizations. Its first chairman, Martin ...

Boston African American National Historic Site

(Encyclopedia)Boston African American National Historic Site: see National Parks and Monuments (table)national parks and monuments (table). ...

Bingham, Hiram, 1789–1869, American Congregationalist missionary

(Encyclopedia)Bingham, Hiram, 1789–1869, American Congregationalist missionary, b. Bennington, Vt. In 1819 the American Board of Missions sent him, with others, to found the first Protestant mission in the Hawaii...

North American Free Trade Agreement

(Encyclopedia)North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), accord establishing a free-trade zone in North America; it was signed in 1992 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and took effect on Jan. 1, 1994. NAF...

lyceum, 19th-century American educational association

(Encyclopedia)lyceum līsēˈəm, līˈ– [key], 19th-century American association for popular instruction of adults by lectures, concerts, and other methods. Lyceum groups were concerned with the dissemination of...

Astor, John Jacob, 1864–1912, American financier

(Encyclopedia)Astor, John Jacob, 1864–1912, American financier, b. Rhinebeck, N.Y.; son of William Backhouse Astor (1829–92). He served in the Spanish-American War. Drowned in the Titanic disaster, he left two ...