Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Comstock Lode

(Encyclopedia)Comstock Lode, richest known U.S. silver deposit, W Nevada, on Mt. Davidson in the Virginia Range. It is said to have been discovered in 1857 by Ethan Allen Grosh and Hosea Ballou Grosh, sons of a Pen...

Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Jacob jāˈkəb [key], in the Bible, ancestor of the Hebrews, the younger of Isaac and Rebecca's twin sons; the older was Esau. In exchange for a bowl of lentil soup, Jacob obtained Esau's birthright ...

Pinckney, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Pinckney, Charles, 1757–1824, American statesman, governor of South Carolina (1789–92, 1796–98, 1806–8), b. Charleston, S.C.; cousin of Charles C. Pinckney and Thomas Pinckney. He fought in th...

International Labor Organization

(Encyclopedia)International Labor Organization (ILO), specialized agency of the United Nations, with headquarters in Geneva. It was created in 1919 by the Versailles Treaty and affiliated with the League of Nations...

Mitford, Nancy

(Encyclopedia)Mitford, Nancy, 1904–73, English novelist and biographer, b. London. She managed a London bookshop during World War II and moved to Paris in 1945. Mitford and her five celebrated and politically div...

Robinson, Edwin Arlington

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Edwin Arlington, 1869–1935, American poet, b. Head Tide, Maine, attended Harvard (1891–93). At his death, many critics considered Robinson the greatest poet in the United States. He is n...

Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount klăvˈərəs, dŭndēˈ [key], 1649?–1689, Scottish soldier, known as Bonnie Dundee. After service abroad under William of Orange (later William III...

Nahmanides

(Encyclopedia)Nahmanides nähmänˈĭdēz [key], 1194–c.1270, Jewish scholar, exegete, and kabbalist, b. Spain. He wrote commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. A mystic, he rejected part of Maimonides' ...

Raglan, Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Raglan, Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron, 1788–1855, British general. He entered the army in 1804 and was made (1814) a lieutenant colonel for his services on the duke of Wellington's staff i...

Li Shang-yin

(Encyclopedia)Li Shang-yin lēˈ shăngˌ-yĭnˈ [key], 813?–858, Chinese poet. Of his 598 extant works, the best known are untitled love poems that describe in rich, sensuous detail scenes of beautiful courtesan...