Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Linton, William James

(Encyclopedia)Linton, William James, 1812–97, Anglo-American wood engraver, author, and political reformer. In 1842 he began working as a wood engraver with John Orrin Smith and produced illustrations for the new...

Kurile Lake

(Encyclopedia)Kurile Lake, crater lake, 29 sq mi (76 sq km), 130 mi (209 km) SSW of Petropavlovsk, Russia, near the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Located in a rugged volcanic region and lying some 330 ft (100 m) ...

Vieira, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Vieira, Antonio əntôˈnyo͝o vyāˈērə [key], 1608–97, Portuguese Jesuit orator and missionary. Born in Lisbon, he grew up in Brazil. He was sent by the Jesuits to Portugal to salute the new kin...

Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen

(Encyclopedia)Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen kēˈlēän văn rĕnˈsələr, rĕnˈsəlērˌ [key], c.1580–1644, Dutch merchant and patroon, b. Amsterdam. He was a wealthy diamond and pearl merchant and helped found (16...

Tung Ch'i-ch'ang

(Encyclopedia)Tung Ch'i-ch'ang do͞ong chē-chäng [key], 1555–1636, leading painter, calligrapher, connoisseur, and critic of the Ming dynasty. A high official in various public offices, was also regarded as the...

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna

(Encyclopedia)Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna blətvătˈskē [key], 1831–91, Russian theosophist and occultist. She was the daughter of a German named Hahn who had settled in Russia and who was distantly connected wi...

Manning, Peyton Williams

(Encyclopedia)Manning, Peyton Williams, 1976–, American football player, b. New Orleans. Part of a National Football League quarterback dynasty (his father, Archie, led the New Orleans Saints; his brother Eli pla...

Ludlow, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Ludlow, Roger, b. 1590, d. after 1664, one of the founders of Connecticut, b. England. Educated at Oxford and admitted to the Inner Temple to study law, he was elected (1630) an assistant of the Massa...

diary

(Encyclopedia)diary [Lat.,=day], a daily record of events and observations. As distinguished from memoir (an account of events placed in perspective by the author long after they have occurred), the diary derives i...

Russell, John Russell, 1st Earl

(Encyclopedia)Russell, John Russell, 1st Earl, 1792–1878, British statesman; younger son of the 6th duke of Bedford, known most of his life as Lord John Russell. He became a Whig member of Parliament in 1813 and ...