Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea kärˈlō ändrĕˈä pôtˈtsō dē bôrˈgō [key], 1764–1842. Corsican politician and diplomat in Russian service, b. Corsica. In the French Revolution, he allied wit...

Reeve, Clara

(Encyclopedia)Reeve, Clara rēv [key], 1729–1807, English novelist. Her most famous work, The Champion of Virtue: A Gothic Story (1777), was written in imitation of Walpole's Castle of Otranto. After the first ed...

Liniers, Jacques de

(Encyclopedia)Liniers, Jacques de, Span. Santiago de Liniers y de Bremond säntēäˈgō ᵺā lēnēārsˈ ē ᵺā brāmōndˈ [key], 1753–1810, French officer in Spanish service, viceroy of Río de la Plata. A...

Young, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Young, Thomas, 1773–1829, English physicist, physician, and Egyptologist. He established (1799) a medical practice in London and was elected (1811) to the staff of St. George's Hospital there. His l...

Biko, Steve

(Encyclopedia)Biko, Steve (Steven Biko) bēˈkō [key], 1946–77, South African political leader. A medical student, ...

Opie, John

(Encyclopedia)Opie, John, 1761–1807, English portrait and historical painter. Opie showed a remarkable talent as a young man. He became the protégé of the poet John Wolcot, and enjoyed a brief popularity as a f...

Forsyth, Alexander John

(Encyclopedia)Forsyth, Alexander John fôrsīthˈ [key], 1769–1843, Scottish inventor. He invented in 1807 the first workable percussion cap for the ignition of gunpowder in firearms. Forsyth refused an offer fro...

Hogg, James

(Encyclopedia)Hogg, James, 1770–1835, Scottish poet, called the Ettrick Shepherd. Sir Walter Scott established Hogg's literary reputation by including some of his poems in Border Minstrelsy. Hogg's verse, notable...

Gass, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Gass, Patrick, 1771–1870, American explorer, member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, b. Perry co., Pa. His journal of the trip across the continent first appeared in 1807 and was widely read. Gass...

Browse by Subject