Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Warton, Thomas, 1728–90, English poet and literary historian

(Encyclopedia)Warton, Thomas, 1728–90, English poet and literary historian, grad. Trinity College, Oxford (1747), brother of Joseph Warton. He was ordained and eventually served as professor of poetry at Oxford f...

Romanus II

(Encyclopedia)Romanus II, 939–63, Byzantine emperor (959–63), son and successor of Constantine VII. A profligate, he came under the domination of his second wife, Theophano. She, along with the eunuch Joseph Br...

Peter III, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Peter III, 1717–86, king of Portugal (1777–86), younger brother of Joseph. He married his niece Maria I and was joint ruler with her, though she generally was the dominant figure. ...

monitorial system

(Encyclopedia)monitorial system, method of elementary education devised by British educators Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell during the 19th cent. to furnish schooling to the underprivileged even under conditions ...

Cooper, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cooper, Thomas, 1759–1839, American scientist, educator, and political philosopher, b. London, educated at Oxford. His important works include Political Essays (1799); the appendixes to the Memoirs ...

Charles Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Charles Augustus, 1757–1828, duke and, after 1815, grand duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach; friend and patron of Goethe, Schiller, and Herder. Though his duchy was small, he was important in German polit...

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...

Temple, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Temple, Sir William, 1628–99, English diplomat and author. He was married in 1655 to Dorothy Osborne. They settled in Ireland, and in 1661 Temple entered the Irish parliament. He moved (1663) to Eng...

Corregidor

(Encyclopedia)Corregidor kərĕˈgĭdôrˌ [key], historic fortified island (c.2 sq mi/5 sq km), at the entrance to Manila Bay, just off Bataan peninsula of Luzon island, the Philippines. From the days of the Spani...

Ghent, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Ghent, Treaty of, 1814, agreement ending the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. It was signed at Ghent, Belgium, on Dec. 24, 1814, and ratified by the U.S. Senate in Feb., 1815. ...