Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pareja, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Pareja, Juan de hwän dā pärāˈhä [key], c.1610–70, Spanish religious and portrait painter, of Moorish origin. Pareja was the lifelong assistant of Velázquez, who painted his portrait (Metropol...

Carson, Johnny

(Encyclopedia)Carson, Johnny, 1925–2005, American television entertainer, b. Corning, Iowa. Carson, who grew up in Nebraska, began his career as a magician, then wrote comedy sketches for radio and hosted daytime...

draft riots

(Encyclopedia)draft riots, in the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 w...

Roddenberry, Gene

(Encyclopedia)Roddenberry, Gene (Eugene Wesley Roddenberry), 1921–91, American television writer and producer, b. El Paso, Tex. After being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for flying 89 m...

Damocles

(Encyclopedia)Damocles dămˈəklēz [key], in classical mythology, courtier at the court of Dionysius I. He so persistently praised the power and happiness of Dionysius that the tyrant, in order to show the precar...

Ogata Korin

(Encyclopedia)Ogata Korin ōgäˈtä kōˈrēn [key], 1658–1716, Japanese decorator and painter. He is renowned for his lacquer work and paintings on screens, decorated with bold designs and striking color contra...

Hemmer, Jarl Robert

(Encyclopedia)Hemmer, Jarl Robert yärl rōˈbərt hĕmˈər [key], 1893–1944, Finnish author who wrote in Swedish. Inwardly troubled, he experienced several religious crises and finally committed suicide. His po...

Edgeworth, Richard Lovell

(Encyclopedia)Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, 1744–1817, Anglo-Irish educational theorist, b. Bath, England, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at Oxford; father of Maria Edgeworth. A member of the literary cote...

Brown, Henry Kirke

(Encyclopedia)Brown, Henry Kirke, 1814–86, American sculptor, b. Leyden, Mass. He studied portrait painting with Chester Harding and later turned to sculpture, which he studied in Italy. Returning to America in 1...

Benjamin, Asher

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin, Asher, 1773–1845, American architect, b. Greenfield, Mass. His Country Builder's Assistant was published in 1797 and The American Builder's Companion, with Daniel Reynard, in 1806. Benjami...