Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Morley, John, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn

(Encyclopedia)Morley, John, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, 1838–1923, English statesman and man of letters. Educated at Oxford, he made his reputation as a journalist in London and served (1867–82) as editor...

O'Brien, Conor Cruise

(Encyclopedia)O'Brien, Conor Cruise (Donal Conor Cruise O'Brien), 1917–2008, Irish author, diplomat, and politician. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he entered the department of external affairs of Ireland i...

Richard, earl of Cornwall

(Encyclopedia)Richard, earl of Cornwall, 1209–72, second son of King John of England and brother of Henry III. In 1227, following an expedition to Gascony and Poitou, Richard forced Henry to grant him the land an...

Industrial Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Industrial Revolution, term usually applied to the social and economic changes that mark the transition from a stable agricultural and commercial society to a modern industrial society relying on comp...

Donovan, William Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Donovan, William Joseph dŏnˈəvən [key], 1883–1959, U.S. lawyer and government official, b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Columbia law school. Distinguished service in World War I won him medals and the n...

Anouilh, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Anouilh, Jean zhäN änwēˈyə [key], 1910–87, French dramatist. Anouilh's many popular plays range from tragedy to sophisticated comedy. His first play, L'hermine, was published in 1932. During th...

Grappelli, Stéphane

(Encyclopedia)Grappelli, Stéphane, 1908–97, French jazz violinist, b. Paris. Trained at the Paris Conservatory as a classical violinist, he became enamored of American jazz and devoted himself to the idiom, succ...

Micah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Micah mīˈkə [key], 6th of the books of the Minor Prophets of the Bible, containing the oracles of the prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah whose career spanned the period c.750–c.700 b.c. The ...

Mutis, José Celestino

(Encyclopedia)Mutis, José Celestino hōsāˈ thālĕstēˈnō mo͞oˈtēs [key], 1732–1808, Spanish naturalist and plant explorer. One of Linnaeus' first disciples in Spain, he went to South America and settled ...

Mullis, Kary Banks

(Encyclopedia)Mullis, Kary Banks, 1944–2019, American biochemist, b. Lenoir, N.C., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1972. Mullis was a researcher with Cetus Corp., Emeryville, Calif., from 1979 to 1986 and wi...

Browse by Subject