Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

482 results found

Poindexter, George

(Encyclopedia)Poindexter, George poinˈdĕkˌstər [key], 1779–1853, American political leader, b. Louisa co., Va. After practicing law in Virginia, he moved (1802) to Mississippi. As attorney general of Mississi...

warrant

(Encyclopedia)warrant, in law, written order by an official of a court directed to an officer. The search warrant and the warrant of arrest are the most frequently used types. Warrants of attachment order the seizu...

Welser

(Encyclopedia)Welser vĕlˈzər [key], German family of wealthy merchants and bankers at Augsburg. It reached the height of its prosperity under Bartholomäus Welser, 1488–1561, who had advanced large sums to Hol...

Whitewater, in U.S. history

(Encyclopedia)Whitewater, popular name for a failed 1970s Arkansas real estate venture by the Whitewater Development Corp., in which Gov. (later President) Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, were pa...

Kilham, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Kilham, Alexander kĭlˈəm [key], 1762–98, English Methodist minister, founder of the Methodist New Connection. He took a leading part in Methodist affairs after the death of John Wesley, advocatin...

Hale, Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Hale, Nathan, 1755–76, American soldier, hero of the American Revolution, b. Coventry, Conn. A young schoolteacher when the Revolution broke out, he was commissioned an officer in the Connecticut mi...

Garat, Dominique Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Garat, Dominique Joseph dōmēnēkˈ zhôzĕfˈ gäräˈ [key], 1749–1833, French revolutionary. He was minister of justice (1792–93) during the trial of King Louis XVI and notified the king of th...

apology

(Encyclopedia)apology [Gr.,=defense], literary work that defends, justifies, or clarifies an author's ideas or point of view. Unlike the ordinary use of the word, the literary use neither implies that wrong has bee...

Cockburn, Sir Alexander James Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Cockburn, Sir Alexander James Edmund, 1802–80, British jurist. He was called to the bar in 1829, and a volume of reports on election cases (1832) brought him into national prominence as a trial lawy...

Balmaceda, José

(Encyclopedia)Balmaceda, José hōsāˈ bälmäsāˈᵺä [key], 1840–91, president of Chile (1886–91). A leader of a liberal, anticlerical group, he was sent as minister (1878) to Argentina, where he successfu...