Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Barron, James

(Encyclopedia)Barron, James, 1768–1851, U.S. naval officer, b. Hampton, Va. Of a seafaring family, he served in the Virginia navy in the Revolution, entered the U.S. navy as a lieutenant in 1798, and held command...

Christopher, Warren Minor

(Encyclopedia)Christopher, Warren Minor, 1925–2011, U.S. government official, b. Scranton, N.Dak. He studied law at Stanford (1946–49) and was a clerk to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (1949–50). A ...

Ennius, Quintus

(Encyclopedia)Ennius, Quintus kwĭnˈtəs ĕnˈēəs [key], 239–169? b.c., Latin poet, regarded by the Romans as the father of Latin poetry, b. Calabria. His birthplace was the meeting point of three civilization...

Huntington, Collis Potter

(Encyclopedia)Huntington, Collis Potter, 1821–1900, American railroad builder, b. near Torrington, Conn. A storekeeper of Oneonta, N.Y., before he went West in the gold rush of 1849, he became a storekeeper in Ca...

Dunlap, William

(Encyclopedia)Dunlap, William dŭnˈlăp [key], 1766–1839, American dramatist and theatrical manager, b. Perth Amboy, N.J. Inspired by the success of The Contrast by Royall Tyler, he began to write plays for the ...

Bennett, James Gordon, 1795–1872, American newspaper publisher

(Encyclopedia)Bennett, James Gordon, 1795–1872, American newspaper proprietor, b. Keith, Scotland. He came to America in 1819 and won a reputation as Washington correspondent of the New York Enquirer and later (1...

Aidoo, Ama Ata

(Encyclopedia)Aidoo, Ama Ata ämˈä ätäˈä īˈdo͞o [key] (Christina Ama Ata Aidoo), 1942–, Ghanaian author, poet, and playwright, grad. Univ. of Ghana (B.A., 1964). Combining traditional African storytellin...

Edwards, Jonathan, 1703–58, American theologian and metaphysician

(Encyclopedia)Edwards, Jonathan, 1703–58, American theologian and metaphysician, b. East Windsor (then in Windsor), Conn. He was a precocious child, early interested in things scientific, intellectual, and spirit...

Mirabeau, Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Mirabeau, Honoré Gabriel Riquetti or Riqueti, comte de ōnôrāˈ gäbrēĕlˈ rēkĕtēˈ kôNt də mēräbōˈ [key], 1749–91, French revolutionary and political leader; son of Victor de Mirabeau...

Vikings

(Encyclopedia)Vikings, Scandinavian warriors who raided the coasts of Europe and the British Isles from the 9th cent. to the 11th cent. In their language, the word “viking” originally meant a journey, as for tr...