Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Siloam

(Encyclopedia)Siloam sīlōˈəm [key], pool, SW corner of Jerusalem in the Kidron valley, mentioned in the Bible. A nearby 1,700-foot-long (518 m) tunnel, dating from the time of Hezekiah, diverted water underneat...

Poole, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Poole, Ernest po͞ol [key], 1880–1950, American writer, b. Chicago, grad. Princeton, 1902. He was a magazine correspondent in Russia, France, and Germany before and during World War I. His best-know...

Posidonius

(Encyclopedia)Posidonius pōsēdōˈnēəs [key], c.135–c.51 b.c., Greek Stoic philosopher, b. Apamea, Syria. He settled in Rhodes after extensive travels. Noted for his learning, Posidonius gave new life to Stoi...

Bannister, Sir Roger Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Bannister, Sir Roger Gilbert, 1929–2018, British athlete and neurologist. On May 6, 1954, at Oxford's Iffley Road track, Bannister, a medical student, became the first man to run the mile in less th...

Behrman, S. N.

(Encyclopedia)Behrman, S. N. (Samuel Nathaniel Behrman) bârˈmən [key], 1893–1973, American dramatist, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Harvard 1916. His sophisticated comedies often attempt to probe the consciences ...

Thomson, Sir John Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Sir John Arthur, 1861–1933, Scottish naturalist and writer. From 1899 to 1930 he was Regius professor of natural history at the Univ. of Aberdeen. In 1924 he lectured at Union Theological S...

Pullman, George Mortimer

(Encyclopedia)Pullman, George Mortimer, 1831–97, American industrialist and developer of the railroad sleeping car, b. Brocton, N.Y. As a young man he became a cabinetmaker, and after he moved (1858) to Chicago h...

Novikov, Nikolai Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Novikov, Nikolai Ivanovich nyĭkəlīˈ ēväˈnəvĭch nôˈvēkəf [key], 1744–1818, Russian journalist and publisher. In 1769, with the Drone, he started the vogue of the satirical magazine model...

North, George

(Encyclopedia)North, George, fl. 1561–81, English gentleman, man of letters, and diplomat. A minor figure in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, he served as an ambassador to Sweden in 1564 and translated or adapted ...

Auriga

(Encyclopedia)Auriga ôrīˈgə [key] [Lat.,=the charioteer or wagoner], northern constellation traditionally represented as a man, possibly Vulcan, carrying a goat on his shoulder while driving a chariot. It lies ...

Browse by Subject