Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Brooke, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Brooke, Sir James, 1803–68, rajah of Sarawak on Borneo, b. India, of English parents. After active service in Burma (1825–26), he retired (1830) from the army of the East India Company. He sailed ...

Bundy, McGeorge

(Encyclopedia)Bundy, McGeorge, 1919–96, U.S. educator and government official, b. Boston. An Army intelligence officer during World War II, he was on the Harvard faculty 1949–61, becoming the youngest dean of t...

Weah, George

(Encyclopedia)Weah, George (George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah), 1966–, Liberian soccer player and political leader. An outstanding striker, Weah was soccer's African, European, and World player of the year in 1995...

Weaver, Robert Clifton

(Encyclopedia)Weaver, Robert Clifton, 1907–97, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1966–68), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Harvard (B.S., 1929; M.A., 1931; Ph.D., 1934). An African American, he was su...

Austen, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Austen, Jane ôˈstən [key], 1775–1817, English novelist. The daughter of a clergyman, she spent the first 25 years of her life at “Steventon,” her father's Hampshire vicarage. Here her first n...

Stevens, Thaddeus

(Encyclopedia)Stevens, Thaddeus, 1792–1868, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania (1849–53, 1859–68), b. Danville, Vt. He taught in an academy at York, Pa., studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Marylan...

Fuentes, Carlos

(Encyclopedia)Fuentes, Carlos kärˈlōs fwānˈtās [key], 1928–2012, Mexican writer, editor, and diplomat. He was head of the department of cultural relations in Mexico's ministry of foreign affairs (1956–59)...

Wyeth, Andrew Newell

(Encyclopedia)Wyeth, Andrew Newell wīˈəth [key], 1917–2009, American painter, b. Chadds Ford, Pa. Wyeth's work has been enormously popular, critically acclaimed, and sometimes severely criticized since his fir...

Maddux, Greg

(Encyclopedia)Maddux, Greg (Gregory Alan Maddux), 1966–, American baseball player, b. San Angelo, Tex. Playing in the National League with the Chicago Cubs (1986–92, 2004–6), Atlanta Braves (1993–2003), Los...

Schofield, John McAllister

(Encyclopedia)Schofield, John McAllister skōˈfēld [key], 1831–1906, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Gerry, N.Y. He taught at West Point (1855–60) and on the outbreak of the Civil War became chief...

Browse by Subject