Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Davis, Henry Winter

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Henry Winter, 1817–65, American political leader, b. Annapolis, Md. He was elected (1854) to the House of Representatives on the Know-Nothing ticket and was twice reelected (1856, 1858) with ...

pagoda

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Pagoda pagoda pəgōˈdə [key], name given in the East to a variety of buildings of tower form that are usually part of a temple or monastery group and serve as shrines. Those of India (see s...

Curtin, John

(Encyclopedia)Curtin, John, 1885–1945, Australian political leader. A labor union secretary, he edited (1917–28) a labor weekly and was later a member of the lower house—from 1928 to 1941, except for three ye...

Vetch, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Vetch, Samuel, 1668–1732, British soldier and colonial administrator, b. Scotland. He settled in Albany, N.Y., in 1699 and became a trader with the Native Americans. Author of a plan to capture Fren...

Hippodamus

(Encyclopedia)Hippodamus hĭpŏdˈəməs [key], fl. 5th cent. b.c., Greek architect, b. Miletus. He was the first to plan cities according to geometric layouts. For Pericles he remodeled Piraeus (the port of Athens...

Duncan, Robert Kennedy

(Encyclopedia)Duncan, Robert Kennedy, 1868–1914, American industrial chemist and educator b. Brantford, Ont., grad. Univ. of Toronto (B.A., 1892). He was professor at the Univ. of Kansas (1906–10) and at the Un...

Smythson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smythson, Robert, 1536?–1614, English architect of the Elizabethan era. From 1568, Smythson was freemason to John Thynne in finishing (1567–75) the country house Longleat, Wiltshire. Striking in i...

Winnetka

(Encyclopedia)Winnetka wĭnĕtˈkə [key], village (1990 pop. 12,174), Cook co., NE Ill., a residential suburb of Chicago, on Lake Michigan; inc. 1869. It is renowned for its public school system, various education...

Spa

(Encyclopedia)Spa, commune (1991 pop. 10,140), Liège prov., E Belgium, in the Ardennes. Its therapeutic mineral springs and baths, frequented since the 16th cent., made it an internationally fashionable watering p...

Libeskind, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Libeskind, Daniel, 1946–, American architect, b. Łódź, Poland. He moved to the United States in 1959, becoming a citizen in 1965. He has held a number of teaching posts, notably at the Cranbrook ...