Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

263 results found

Nelson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Robert, 1794–1873, Canadian rebel, b. Montreal; brother of Wolfred Nelson. Like his brother, he was a surgeon in the War of 1812, and with him he entered the Legislative Assembly of Lower Ca...

Nelson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Thomas, 1738–89, American Revolutionary general, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Yorktown, Va. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress (1775–77, 1779), commander (1777�...

Nelson, Willie

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Willie, 1933–, American country singer, guitarist, and songwriter, b. Abbott, Tex. Nelson began playing professionally at 10 and joined a western swing band as a teenager. In the 1960s he mo...

Nelson, Wolfred

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Wolfred, 1792–1863, Canadian rebel, b. Montreal. A brother of Robert Nelson, Wolfred served as a surgeon in the War of 1812. In 1827 he entered the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada as a ...

Byron, George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Byron, George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron bīˈrən [key], 1788–1824, English poet and satirist. Ranked with Shelley and Keats as one of the great Romantic poets, Byron became famous throughout E...

Hogan, Ben

(Encyclopedia)Hogan, Ben hōˈgən [key], 1912–97, American golfer, b. Dublin, Tex. A former caddie, Hogan began his professional playing career in 1937. One of the game's great money winners, he won the Professi...

Miles, Nelson Appleton

(Encyclopedia)Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839–1925, American army officer, b. near Westminster, Mass. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he left his job in a Boston store and organized a company of volunteer...

Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla

(Encyclopedia)Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla khōl-ēhläˈhlä mändāˈlä [key], 1918–2013, South African statesman. He earned a degree (B.A., 1943) after being expelled from the University College of Fort Hare (f...

Darby, John Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Darby, John Nelson, 1800–1882, one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren, b. England. In 1827 he left a curate's post in Wicklow, Ireland, and joined with others in Dublin to found the Brethren. ...

Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth

(Encyclopedia)Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth, 1841–1915, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, b. Foster, R.I. He rose in local politics as state assemblyman (1875–76) and U.S. Representative (1879–81) before he served a...