Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

O'Neill, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)O'Neill, Margaret (Peggy O'Neill), c.1796–1879, wife of John Henry Eaton, U.S. secretary of war under President Andrew Jackson. She was the daughter of a Washington tavern keeper and married John Ti...

Bowles, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Bowles, Samuel, 1797–1851, American newspaper editor, b. Hartford, Conn. He founded (1824) the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, a weekly. In 1844 it became a daily under the influence of his son, Sam...

Basque language

(Encyclopedia)Basque language, tongue of uncertain relationship spoken by close to a million people, most of whom live in NE Spain and some of whom reside in SW France. The language has eight dialects. Speakers of ...

taste

(Encyclopedia)taste, response to chemical stimulation that enables an organism to detect flavors. In humans and most vertebrate animals, taste is produced by the stimulation by various substances of the taste buds ...

switch

(Encyclopedia)switch, electrical device having two states: on, or closed; and off, or open. Ideally a switch offers a zero impedance to a current when it is closed, and it offers infinite impedance when open. Mecha...

Sun Tzu

(Encyclopedia)Sun Tzu so͞on dzo͞o [key], fl. c.500–320. b.c., name used by the unknown Chinese authors of the sophisticated treatise on philosophy, logistics, espionage, and strategy and tactics known as The Ar...

Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius

(Encyclopedia)Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius əgrĭpˈə [key], c.63 b.c.–12 b.c., Roman general. A close friend of Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), he won a name in the wars in Gaul before becoming consul in 37 b....

Yorktown

(Encyclopedia)Yorktown, historic town (1990 pop. 270), seat of York co., SE Va., on the York River 10 mi (16 km) from its mouth on Chesapeake Bay; settled 1631, laid out 1691. It is included in the Colonial Nationa...

Bevin, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Bevin, Ernest bĕvˈən [key], 1881–1951, British labor leader and statesman. An orphan who earned his own living from childhood, he began a long career as a trade union official when he became secr...

Brownell, Herbert, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Brownell, Herbert, Jr. brounĕlˈ [key], 1904–96, U.S. attorney general (1953–57), b. Peru, Nebr. A lawyer in private practice in New York City (1927–53, 1957–89), he became active in the Repu...