Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

307 results found

Harrison, Rex

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Rex, 1908–90, English actor. Born Reginald Carey, he entered repertory theater at 16 as an apprentice. Harrison, noted for his suave, insouciant style, has appeared in many plays, includin...

Howard, Bronson

(Encyclopedia)Howard, Bronson, 1842–1908, American dramatist, b. Detroit. His plays are important in the development of American drama. He was a newspaper reporter in New York until the success of his first play,...

Wright, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Joseph, 1756–93, American portrait painter, b. Bordentown, N.J., son of Patience Lovell Wright. He studied under Benjamin West in London, where he painted the prince of Wales (later George I...

Vanderlyn, Pieter

(Encyclopedia)Vanderlyn, Pieter vănˈdərlĭn [key], c.1687–1778, American colonial painter, b. Holland. He reached New York c.1718 and became a portrait painter and land speculator and practiced other trades, ...

Lance, Bert

(Encyclopedia)Lance, Bert (Thomas Bertram Lance), 1931–2013, American banker and public official, b. Gainesville, Ga. He was one of Jimmy Carter's closest advisers during the 1976 presidential campaign. After the...

Brown University

(Encyclopedia)Brown University, Providence, R.I.; coeducational chartered 1764 as Rhode Island College at Warren, opened 1765. It moved to Providence in 1770 and was renamed for Nicholas Brown in 1804. Pembroke Col...

Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th earl of kärnärˈvən [key], 1866–1923, English Egyptologist. With Howard Carter he excavated in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, fro...

Jemison, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Jemison, Mary, 1743–1833, American frontierswoman. She was born at sea while her parents were en route from Ireland to America. In W Pennsylvania she was captured (1758) by a French and Indian War p...

Della-Cruscans

(Encyclopedia)Della-Cruscans dĕlˈə-krŭsˈkənz [key] [from the Accademia della Crusca, founded for linguistic purity, Florence, 16th cent.], a group of English poets living in Italy at the end of the 18th cent....

Hale, Sarah Josepha (Buell)

(Encyclopedia)Hale, Sarah Josepha (Buell), 1788–1879, American author, editor, and feminist, b. near Newport, N.H. In 1828 she became editor of the Ladies' Magazine, Boston, and in 1837 of Godey's Lady's Book, Ph...