Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Markiewicz, Constance Georgine, Countess

(Encyclopedia)Markiewicz, Constance Georgine, Countess märkyāˈvĭts [key], 1868–1927, Irish politician and patriot. A member of Sinn Féin, she was sentenced to death for her militant part in the Easter Rebell...

Roger I

(Encyclopedia)Roger I (Roger Guiscard), c.1031–1101, Norman conqueror of Sicily; son of Tancred de Hauteville (see Normans). He went to Italy in 1058 to join his brother, Robert Guiscard, in conquering Apulia and...

Schadow, Johann Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Schadow, Johann Gottfried yōˈhän gôtˈfrēt shäˈdôf [key], 1764–1850, German sculptor of the neoclassical school. He studied in Rome. In 1788 he returned to Berlin, where he became court scul...

Charles II, king of Navarre

(Encyclopedia)Charles II (Charles the Bad), 1332–87, king of Navarre (1349–87), count of Évreux; grandson of King Louis X of France. He carried on a long feud with his father-in-law, John II, king of France, p...

Dempsey, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Dempsey, Jack (William Harrison Dempsey), 1895–1983, American boxer, b. Manassa, Colo. Dempsey, called the “Manassa Mauler,” emerged from fights on saloon floors near mining camps to become (191...

odometer

(Encyclopedia)odometer ōdŏmˈĭtər [key], instrument provided in an automotive vehicle to indicate the total number of miles that have been traveled. The odometer generally shares a housing with the vehicle's sp...

Osler, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Osler, Sir William ōˈslər [key], 1849–1919, Canadian physician, M.D. McGill Univ., 1872. Renowned as a physician and as a medical historian, he was also the most brilliant and influential teacher...

Breitenfeld

(Encyclopedia)Breitenfeld brīˈtənfĕltˌ [key], village, Saxony, S central E Germany. It gave its name to two battles of the Thirty Years War. Gustavus Adolphus (Gustavus II) of Sweden there defeated the imperia...

Philidor, François-André Danican

(Encyclopedia)Philidor, François-André Danican, 1726–95, French chess player and composer, b. Dreux. The last in a line of well-known 17th- and 18th-century musicians, he was a celebrated composer, mainly of mo...

Wrangel, Karl Gustaf

(Encyclopedia)Wrangel, Karl Gustaf kärl go͞oˈstäf vränˈgĕl [key], 1613–76, Swedish general and admiral. After distinguishing himself in land campaigns in the Thirty Years War, he succeeded to command of th...

Browse by Subject