Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Argall, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Argall, Sir Samuel ärˈgəl [key], d. 1626?, English ship captain, prominent in the early settlement of Virginia. He commanded a ship sent to Jamestown in 1609 and had charge of one of the ships Baro...

Romilly, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Romilly, Sir Samuel rŏmˈĭlē [key], 1757–1818, English law reformer. Admitted to the bar in 1783, he soon developed a wide practice in the court of chancery. He was in sympathy with Rousseau's vi...

Prescott, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Prescott, Samuel prĕsˈkət [key], 1751–c.1777, American Revolutionary figure, b. Concord, Mass. On the night of Apr. 18, 1775, he, Paul Revere, and William Dawes set out to warn the countryside of...

Medary, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Medary, Samuel mĕdˈərē [key], 1801–64, American journalist, b. Montgomery co., Pa. In Ohio after 1825, he edited the Ohio Sun at Bethel and later the Ohio Statesman at Columbus and was superinte...

Davies, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Davies, Samuel dāˈvēz [key], 1723–61, American Presbyterian clergyman, b. New Castle co., Del. Ordained as an evangelist, he went in 1747 to Hanover co., Va., where he was soon the center of a re...

Phillips, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Phillips, Samuel, 1752–1802, American educator and politician, b. North Andover, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1771. A member of the Massachusetts provincial congress (1775–80) and a delegate to the state...

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

(Encyclopedia)Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772–1834, English poet and man of letters, b. Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire; one of the most brilliant, versatile, and influential figures in the English romantic movement. ...

Taylor, John, English writer

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, John, 1578?–1653, English writer. He was a boatman on the Thames and hence is often called the Water Poet. A traveler throughout England and the Continent, he recorded his observations in bo...

Insull, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Insull, Samuel ĭnˈsəl [key], 1859–1938, American public utilities financier, b. London. He arrived in the United States in 1881 and was employed by Thomas A. Edison as a private secretary. He lat...

satire

(Encyclopedia)satire, term applied to any work of literature or art whose objective is ridicule. It is more easily recognized than defined. From ancient times satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishne...