Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Abbe, Cleveland

(Encyclopedia)Abbe, Cleveland ăbˈē [key], 1838–1916, American meteorologist, b. New York City; brother of Robert Abbe. He was the first official daily weather forecaster in the United States. Abbe studied astr...

Firishta

(Encyclopedia)Firishta or Ferishta both: fĭrĭshtăˈ [key], c.1560–c.1620, Indian Muslim historian. His given name was Muhammad Kasim Hindu Shah. Under the patronage of the shah of Bijapur, he wrote a history o...

Kabir

(Encyclopedia)Kabir kəbērˈ [key], 1440–1518, Indian mystic and poet. A Muslim by birth, he was a weaver in Benares (Varanasi) and early in life may have become the disciple of the famous Hindu saint Ramananda....

Halonen, Tarja Kaarina

(Encyclopedia)Halonen, Tarja Kaarina tärˈyä käˈrēnä häˈlōnĕn [key], 1943–, Finnish political leader, president of Finland (2000–), b. Helsinki, grad. Univ. of Helsinki (LL.M., 1968). Halonen became a...

George II, king of Great Britain and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)George II (George Augustus), 1683–1760, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1727–60), son and successor of George I. Though devoted to Hanover, of which he was elector, George was more active in th...

Jeffords, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jeffords, Thomas, 1832–1914, American pioneer, b. Chautauqua co., N.Y. He went to Arizona in 1862 as a U.S. army scout and messenger and later became a stage driver. In 1866–67, he controlled mail...

Eaton, John

(Encyclopedia)Eaton, John, 1829–1906, American educator, b. Sutton, N.H., grad. Dartmouth, 1854. After serving as a school principal in Cleveland, Ohio, and as superintendent of schools in Toledo, he enrolled at ...

Naidu, Sarojini

(Encyclopedia)Naidu, Sarojini sərōˈjĭnē nīˈdo͞o [key], 1879–1949, Indian poet and political leader. Born Sarojini Chattopadhyay, she was educated in Madras (now Chennai) and at King's College, London, and...

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

(Encyclopedia)Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, 1793–1864, American ethnologist, b. near Albany, N.Y. He gave enormous impetus to the study of Native American culture and may be regarded as the foremost pioneer in Native ...

Mitsotakis, Constantine

(Encyclopedia)Mitsotakis, Constantine, 1918–2017, Greek political leader. Active in the Cretan resistance against the Nazi occupation, he became a member of parliament (1946–67, 1977–2004). He was arrested (1...