Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

472 results found

Hawkesworth, John

(Encyclopedia)Hawkesworth, John, 1715?–1773, English author. He succeeded his friend Samuel Johnson in 1744 as reporter of parliamentary debates in the Gentleman's Magazine. With Johnson and Joseph Warton he wrot...

Stanton, Edwin McMasters

(Encyclopedia)Stanton, Edwin McMasters, 1814–69, American statesman, b. Steubenville, Ohio. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1836 and began to practice law in Cadiz. As his reputation grew, he moved first to St...

Amsterdam, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Amsterdam, city (2020 pop. 18,219), Montgomery co., E central N.Y., on the Mohawk River; inc. 1885. Historically famous for the manufacture of carpets, its manufactures now include machine...

Carter, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Elizabeth, 1717–1806, English poet and translator. Under the pen name Eliza she contributed for years to the Gentleman's Magazine. One of the group of 18th-century women known as the bluesto...

Great Society

(Encyclopedia)Great Society, in U.S. history, term for the domestic policies of President Lyndon Johnson. In his first State of the Union message, he called for a war on poverty and the creation of a “Great Socie...

Tonkin Gulf resolution

(Encyclopedia)Tonkin Gulf resolution, in U.S. history, Congressional resolution passed in 1964 that authorized military action in Southeast Asia. On Aug. 4, 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonki...

Wade, Benjamin Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Wade, Benjamin Franklin, 1800–1878, U.S. senator from Ohio (1851–69), b. near Springfield, Mass. He moved (1821) to Ohio and studied law. He was successively prosecuting attorney of Ashtabula co.,...

Brant, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Brant, Joseph, 1742–1807, chief of the Mohawk. His Mohawk name is usually rendered as Thayendanegea. He served under Sir William Johnson in the French and Indian War, and Johnson sent him (1761) to ...

Croghan, George, d. 1782, American Indian agent

(Encyclopedia)Croghan, George krōˈgən [key], d. 1782, American Indian agent, b. Ireland. He migrated to North America in 1741 and became (1756) deputy superintendent of Indian affairs under Sir William Johnson. ...

Texas, University of

(Encyclopedia)Texas, University of, main campus at Austin; coeducational; state supported; chartered 1881, opened 1883. Medical facilities include health science centers with medical schools at Houston and San Anto...

Browse by Subject