Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

43 results found

Ireland, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Ireland, William Henry, 1777–1835, English forger of Shakespearean documents and manuscripts. Besides forging deeds and signatures relating to Shakespeare, Ireland fabricated two plays, Vortigern an...

Fry, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Fry, Christopher, 1907–2005, English dramatist, b. Bristol as Christopher Fry Harris. Like his friend and mentor, T. S. Eliot, he was one of the few 20th-century dramatists to write successfully in ...

Carrière, Eugène

(Encyclopedia)Carrière, Eugène özhĕnˈ käryĕrˈ [key], 1849–1906, French painter and lithographer. He is best known for his spiritual interpretations of maternity and family life. Characteristic are his Cru...

Krebs, Edwin Gerhard

(Encyclopedia)Krebs, Edwin Gerhard, 1918–2009, American biochemist, b. Lansing, Iowa. He and fellow Univ. of Washington professor Edmond Fischer discovered a biological regulatory mechanism, reversible protein ph...

Safra

(Encyclopedia)Safra, family of Brazilian bankers with Sephardic Jewish roots. They began as merchant bankers in Syria and Lebanon, financing caravans throughout the Middle East. The Safras are also noted philanthro...

Bernhardt, Sarah

(Encyclopedia)Bernhardt, Sarah bûrnˈhärt, Fr. bĕrnärˈ [key], 1844–1923, stage name of Rosine Bernard, French actress, b. Paris. At age 13 she entered the Paris Conservatory, and later attracted attention du...

Netanya

(Encyclopedia)Netanya nətänˈyə [key], city (1994 pop. 144,900), W central Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea; also spelled Nathania. It is a beach resort and the trade center for agricultural settlements in the r...

Provincetown Players

(Encyclopedia)Provincetown Players, American theatrical company that first introduced the plays of Eugene O'Neill. The company opened with his Bound East for Cardiff at the Wharf Theatre, Provincetown, on Cape Cod ...

Halley's comet

(Encyclopedia)Halley's comet or Comet Halley hălˈē, hāˈlē [key], periodic comet named for Edmond Halley, who observed it in 1682 and identified it as the one observed in 1531 and 1607. Halley did not live to ...

Royal Greenwich Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Royal Greenwich Observatory, astronomical observatory established in 1675 by Charles II of England at Greenwich and known as the Royal Observatory. It moved during 1948–57 to Herstmonceux Castle, Su...

Browse by Subject