Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ross, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Robert, 1766–1814, British general. He served against the French in the Netherlands, in Egypt, and in the Peninsular War. In the War of 1812 he defeated a U.S. force at Bladensburg, and on the...

Barclay, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Barclay, Robert, 1648–90, Scottish apologist for the Society of Friends (Quakers). He wrote many controversial works but is best known for his great treatise An Apology for the True Christian Divini...

Sanderson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Sanderson, Robert, 1587–1663, English clergyman. Gaining William Laud's favor, he was appointed a royal chaplain in 1631 and regius professor of divinity at Oxford in 1642. Imprisoned during the civ...

Treat, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Treat, Robert, 1622?–1710, American colonial governor of Connecticut, b. England. He was taken to America when a child; his father was an early settler of Wethersfield, Conn., and a patentee of the ...

Toombs, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Toombs, Robert, 1810–85, American statesman, Confederate leader, b. Wilkes co., Ga. A successful lawyer in Georgia, he entered politics as a Whig, serving in the state legislature and in Congress (1...

Redfield, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Redfield, Robert, 1897–1958, American anthropologist and sociologist, b. Chicago, grad. Univ. of Chicago (B.A., 1920; Ph.D., 1928). He began teaching at the Univ. of Chicago in 1928, later becoming ...

Redford, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Redford, Robert, 1937–, American actor and director, b. Santa Monica, Calif., as Charles Robert Redford, Jr. One of Hollywood's superstars, he began his acting career in 1959, scoring his first big ...

Raikes, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Raikes, Robert rāks [key], 1735–1811, English philanthropist. In 1780 he organized a Sunday school, primarily for poor children, who were taught to read and to spell to enable them to read the Bibl...

Baldwin, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Baldwin, Robert, 1804–58, Canadian statesman, leader of the movement for representative government in Canada, b. York (now Toronto), Ont. His father, William Warren Baldwin (1775–1844), was a lead...

Robert, Hubert

(Encyclopedia)Robert, Hubert übârˈ rôbĕrˈ [key], 1733–1808, French painter and landscape architect. A follower of Piranesi and Pannini, Robert was known as a painter of idealized landscapes, fantastic ruins...