Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Patti, Adelina

(Encyclopedia)Patti, Adelina ădəlēˈnə pătˈē [key], 1843–1919, coloratura soprano, b. Madrid, of Italian parents. She was trained in New York City, where she made her debut in 1859, thereafter singing with...

Hoel, Sigurd

(Encyclopedia)Hoel, Sigurd sēˈgo͝or hōˈəl [key], 1890–1960, Norwegian novelist. Hoel's sophisticated novels of urban life include the witty satire Sinners in Summertime (1927, tr. 1930) and the more serious...

Hume, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hume, Joseph, 1777–1855, English politician and reformer. Although a Tory in early life, he sat in Parliament from 1818 to 1855 (with only one interruption) as an indefatigable Radical. Hume was a l...

Eichholtz, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Eichholtz, Jacob īkhˈhôlts [key], 1776–1842, American portrait painter, b. Lancaster, Pa.; pupil of Gilbert Stuart in Boston but mainly self-taught. He painted portraits of some of the most promi...

Elphinstone, William

(Encyclopedia)Elphinstone, William ĕlˈfĭnstən, –stōnˌ [key], 1431–1514, Scottish prelate, founder of the Univ. of Aberdeen. He was trained in the law and was employed on many political missions before bec...

Takoma Park

(Encyclopedia)Takoma Park təkōˈmə [key], city (1990 pop. 16,700), Montgomery and Prince Georges counties, W central Md., a residential suburb of Washington, D.C.; inc. 1890. It is the international headquarters...

Snow, Lorenzo

(Encyclopedia)Snow, Lorenzo, 1814–1901, American Mormon leader, b. Mantua, Ohio, studied at Oberlin College. Entering the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1836), Snow became an apostle in 1849. Upon h...

Soli

(Encyclopedia)Soli sōˈlī [key], ancient city of Cilicia, SW of Tarsus, in present-day Turkey. It was founded c.700 b.c. by colonists from Rhodes. An important port at the time of Alexander the Great, Soli was de...

Soufrière, volcano, St. Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Soufrière, volcano, 4,048 ft (1,234 m) high, on St. Vincent island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. On May 7, 1902, the day before the great eruption of Pelée on Martinique island, Soufrière erupte...

Peter II, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Peter II, 1715–30, czar of Russia (1727–30). A grandson of Peter I and the son of the czarevich Alexis, he succeeded on the death of Catherine I. He was too young to rule, but he willingly lent hi...

Browse by Subject