Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kurusu, Saburo

(Encyclopedia)Kurusu, Saburo säˌbo͞orōˈ ko͞oro͞oˈso͞o [key], 1886–1954, Japanese career diplomat. As ambassador to Germany from 1939 to 1941, he signed the Berlin Pact (Sept., 1940). A special envoy to W...

Barnabas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Barnabas, Saint bärˈnəbəs [key], Christian apostle. He was a Cypriot and a relative of St. Mark; his forename was Joseph. Several passages in the New Testament relate that Barnabas was a teacher a...

Currie, Sir Arthur William

(Encyclopedia)Currie, Sir Arthur William, 1875–1933, Canadian commander in World War I. He made a distinguished record for himself in World War I as a brigade and division commander, particularly at Ypres (1915) ...

Home Owners' Loan Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), former U.S. government agency established in 1933 to help stabilize real estate that had depreciated during the depression and to refinance the urban mortgage deb...

Donati, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Donati, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä dōnäˈtē [key], 1826–73, Italian astronomer, b. Pisa. Serving as director of the Florence Observatory from 1864, he was a pioneer in the spec...

Camphausen, Ludolf

(Encyclopedia)Camphausen, Ludolf lo͞oˈdôlf kämpˈhouzən [key], 1803–90, Prussian statesman and businessman. A leading merchant in Cologne, he headed the liberal ministry appointed by King Frederick William I...

Casimir-Perier, Jean Paul Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Casimir-Perier, Jean Paul Pierre zhäN pōl pyĕr käzēmērˈ-pĕryāˈ [key], 1847–1907, French president (June, 1894–Jan., 1895). He held several cabinet posts before serving as premier in 1893...

Vitus, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Vitus, Saint vīˈtəs [key], 4th cent.?, Sicilian martyr. Vitus is invoked against diseases including epilipsy, nervous disorders, and St. Vitus' Dance (Sydenham's chorea). He is one of the Fourteen ...

Milazzo

(Encyclopedia)Milazzo mēlätˈtsō [key], town (1991 pop. 31,541), NE Sicily, Italy, on a peninsula in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the ancient Mylae. The town is a wine-trade and tuna-fishing center and is the gatew...

Shafter, William Rufus

(Encyclopedia)Shafter, William Rufus, 1835–1906, American general, b. Galesburg, Mich. He served in the Union army during the Civil War and in 1867 joined the regular army, rising to become brigadier general (189...