Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

king snake

(Encyclopedia)king snake, name for a number of species of the genus Lampropeltis, nonvenomous, egg-laying, constricting snakes of North America which show much variation in color and markings. The common king snake...

King, Rufus

(Encyclopedia)King, Rufus, 1755–1827, American political leader, b. Scarboro, Maine (then a district of Massachusetts). He served briefly in the American Revolution and practiced law in Massachusetts before servi...

Gillray, James

(Encyclopedia)Gillray, James gĭlˈrā [key], 1757–1815, English caricaturist and illustrator. He was essentially self-trained although he studied at the Royal Academy and on the Continent. His caricatures of the...

Innes, James

(Encyclopedia)Innes, James ĭnˈĭs [key], 1754–98, American lawyer, b. Caroline co., Va. As commander of a Virginia regiment, he took part in many battles of the American Revolution. He was president of the boar...

Clinton, James

(Encyclopedia)Clinton, James, 1733–1812, American Revolutionary general, b. Orange co., N.Y.; brother of George Clinton and father of De Witt Clinton. He served in the French and Indian Wars and early in the Revo...

King, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)King, Stephen, 1947–, American writer, b. Portland, Maine. Influenced by the 19th-century Gothic tradition, especially the works of Poe, King's fiction reveals the macabre and horrific potential of ...

James, Saint (St. James the Greater)

(Encyclopedia)James, Saint, d. c.a.d. 43, in the Bible, one of the Twelve Apostles, called St. James the Greater. He was the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John; these brothers were the Boanerges, or Sons of...

Naismith, James

(Encyclopedia)Naismith, James nāˈsmĭth [key], 1861–1939, American athletic director, inventor (1891) of basketball, b. Almonte, Ontario. While an instructor of physical education at the International YMCA Trai...

Leopold I, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leopold I, 1640–1705, Holy Roman emperor (1658–1705), king of Bohemia (1656–1705) and of Hungary (1655–1705), second son and successor of Ferdinand III. Upon his elder brother's death (1654), ...

Browse by Subject