Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pittacus

(Encyclopedia)Pittacus pĭtˈəkəs [key], c.650–c.570 b.c., Greek statesman and military leader; one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. He helped to overthrow the tyrant of Mytilene in Lesbos and became the lawgiv...

Bentham, George

(Encyclopedia)Bentham, George bĕnˈthəm [key], 1800–1884, one of the greatest of English systematic botanists; nephew of Jeremy Bentham. He wrote Handbook of British Flora (1858) and, with W. J. Hooker, Genera ...

Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of, 1693–1768, English politician, brother of Henry Pelham. He inherited (1711) the estates of his uncle, John Holles, duke of Newcastle, adopted his name, and ...

Hope, Bob

(Encyclopedia)Hope, Bob, 1903–2003, American comedian, b. London as Leslie Townes Hope; he came to the United States at the age of five. Famous for his “ski-jump” nose, topical humor, superb timing, brashly i...

Zia ur-Rahman, Khaleda

(Encyclopedia)Zia ur-Rahman, Khaleda, or Khaleda Zia käˈlĕdä zēˈä o͞or-rämänˈ [key], 1945–, Bangladesh political leader. In 1960 she married Zia ur-Rahman, an army officer who founded the Bangladesh Na...

Mohawk, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Mohawk, river, c.140 mi (230 km) long, rising in central New York and flowing S then SE past Utica and Schenectady to enter the Hudson River at Cohoes. The Mohawk is canalized from Rome to its mouth (...

Mons

(Encyclopedia)Mons môNs [key], Du. Bergen, commune (1991 pop. 91,726), capital of Hainaut prov., SW Belgium, near the French border. Located at the junction of the Canal du Centre and the Condé-Mons Canal, it is ...

Lautaro

(Encyclopedia)Lautaro loutäˈrō [key], c.1533–57, leader of the Araucanians in their nearly successful attempt to reconquer S central Chile from the Spanish. He was captured by the Spanish conquistador, Pedro d...

Marion, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Marion, Francis mârˈēən [key], c.1732–1795, American Revolutionary soldier, known as the Swamp Fox, b. near Georgetown, S.C. He was a planter and Indian fighter before joining (1775) William Mou...

Sea Peoples

(Encyclopedia)Sea Peoples, modern term for any of the groups of people who attacked Egypt and the E Mediterranean by sea and sometimes by land c.1200 b.c. They are recorded as having fought in battles with Egypt du...

Browse by Subject