Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Brühl, Heinrich, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Brühl, Heinrich, Graf von hīnˈrĭkh gräfˈ fən brül [key], 1700–1763, Saxon statesman. He was adviser to Augustus II, king of Poland and elector of Saxony, and gained control of both governmen...

Munro, H. H.

(Encyclopedia)Munro, H. H. (Hector Hugh Munro), pseud. Saki säˈkē [key], 1870–1916, English author, b. Burma (now Myanmar). He began his career writing political satires for the Westminster Gazette, and from 1...

Croker, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Croker, Richard, 1841–1922, American politician, head of Tammany Hall from 1886 to 1902, b. Co. Cork, Ireland. He became prominent as Democratic leader of New York City's East Side and as an aide of...

Chancellor, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Chancellor, Richard, d. 1556, English navigator. When, largely under the inspiration of Sebastian Cabot, a group of men in England undertook to finance a search for the Northeast Passage to Asia, Chan...

Aymer of Valence

(Encyclopedia)Aymer of Valence āˈmər, vəlĕnsˈ, väläNsˈ [key], d. 1260, bishop of Winchester; son of Isabella (widow of King John of England) and Hugh X, count of La Marche. He was thus half-brother of King...

Broglie

(Encyclopedia)Broglie brôˈyə, brôglēˈ [key], French noble family of Piedmontese origin, who settled in France in the 17th cent. Victor Maurice, comte de Broglie, 1647–1727, was marshal of France and fought ...

Hochkirch

(Encyclopedia)Hochkirch hōkhˈkĭrkh [key], village, Dresden dist., E central Germany. At Hochkirch in 1758 the Austrians under Daun defeated Frederick II of Prussia. In 1813, Napoleon I defeated a Prussian-Russia...

Altamura

(Encyclopedia)Altamura älˌtämo͞oˈrä [key], city, Apulia, S Italy. It is a commercial and agricultural center. The imposing Romanesque cathedral, with twin campaniles, was begun by...

Griffenfeld, Peder Schumacher, Count

(Encyclopedia)Griffenfeld, Peder Schumacher, Count pāˈᵺər sho͞oˈmäkhər, grĭfˈənfĕlt [key], 1635–99, Danish politician. The son of a merchant, he became (1665) secretary to Frederick III. In 1665 Grif...

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel bäkh [key], 1714–88, German composer; second son of J. S. Bach, his only teacher. While harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great, where his chief duty for 28 y...