Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Wood, Robert Williams

(Encyclopedia)Wood, Robert Williams, 1868–1955, American physicist, b. Concord, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1891). After studying abroad he became associated with Johns Hopkins as professor of experimental physic...

Bennett, Richard Bedford

(Encyclopedia)Bennett, Richard Bedford, 1870–1947, Canadian prime minister, b. Hopewell, N.B. In 1927 he succeeded Arthur Meighen as leader of the Conservative party; upon the defeat of the Liberals in 1930, he b...

Cape May

(Encyclopedia)Cape May, city (2020 pop. 3,374), Cape May co., S N.J., on Cape May peninsula and the Atlantic Ocean; settled in the 1600s, inc. 1857. One of the nation...

Cary, Joyce

(Encyclopedia)Cary, Joyce (Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary), 1888–1957, English author. From 1910 to 1920 he served as an administrator and soldier in Nigeria. Several of his early works, including Mister Johnson (1939),...

Harold

(Encyclopedia)Harold, 1022?–1066, king of England (1066). The son of Godwin, earl of Wessex, he belonged to the most powerful noble family of England in the reign of Edward the Confessor. Through Godwin's influen...

Geddes, Sir Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Geddes, Sir Patrick gĕdˈĭs [key], 1854–1932, Scottish biologist and sociologist, distinguished especially in town planning. He received his biological training in T. H. Huxley's laboratory; from ...

Howlin' Wolf

(Encyclopedia)Howlin' Wolf, 1910–76, African-American blues singer and composer, b. White Station, Miss., as Chester Arthur Burnett. Exposed to blues performers from childhood, he sang locally and organized his f...

dragon

(Encyclopedia)dragon, mythical beast usually represented as a huge, winged, fire-breathing reptile. For centuries the dragon has been prominent in the folklore of many peoples; thus, its physical characteristics va...

elegy

(Encyclopedia)elegy, in Greek and Roman poetry, a poem written in elegiac verse (i.e., couplets consisting of a hexameter line followed by a pentameter line). The form dates back to 7th cent. b.c. in Greece and poe...

Browse by Subject