Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

249 results found

Nurmi, Paavo

(Encyclopedia)Nurmi, Paavo päˈvō no͝orˈmē [key], 1897–1973, Finnish track star. Between 1920 and 1932 he set 20 world running records and won nine Olympic gold medals. His Olympic victories included the 10,...

Melfi

(Encyclopedia)Melfi mĕlˈfē [key], town (1991 pop. 15,757), in Basilicata, S Italy. It is an agricultural and tourist center noted for its wine. In 1041 it was made the first capital of the Norman county of Apuli...

Drake, Francis Marion

(Encyclopedia)Drake, Francis Marion, 1830–1903, Union army officer in the Civil War, railroad president, and governor of Iowa (1896–98), b. Rushville, Ill. He helped defend St. Joseph, Mo., against Confederate ...

Smith, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Michael, 1932–2000, British-born Canadian biochemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Manchester, 1956. Smith was a researcher at the Univ. of British Columbia from 1961 until his death in 2000. He shared the...

Poindexter, George

(Encyclopedia)Poindexter, George poinˈdĕkˌstər [key], 1779–1853, American political leader, b. Louisa co., Va. After practicing law in Virginia, he moved (1802) to Mississippi. As attorney general of Mississi...

Clark, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Clark, Walter, 1846–1924, American jurist, b. Halifax co., N.C., grad. Univ. of North Carolina (A.B., 1864; A.M., 1867). He entered the Confederate army at 15 and was commended for gallantry in acti...

Clymer, George

(Encyclopedia)Clymer, George klīˈ mər [key], 1739–1813, American political leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Philadelphia. A prosperous merchant, he ardently supported the colonial cause be...

Handsome Lake

(Encyclopedia)Handsome Lake, 1735?–1815, Seneca religious prophet; half-brother of Cornplanter. After a long illness he had a vision (c.1800) and began to preach new religious beliefs. His moral teachings showed ...

Twelve Tables

(Encyclopedia)Twelve Tables, early code of Roman law. Most modern authorities accept the traditional date of 450 b.c., but several place the work later. The tables were supposedly written in response to the plebeia...

Bello, Andrés

(Encyclopedia)Bello, Andrés ändrāsˈ bāˈyō [key], 1781–1865, South American intellectual leader, b. Venezuela. In 1810 he was sent with Bolívar on a mission to London, where he remained for 19 years as a d...