Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sewell, Anna

(Encyclopedia)Sewell, Anna so͞oˈəl [key], 1820–78, English author. Her only work, Black Beauty (1877), the story of a horse, became a children's classic and has gone into many reprints. Her mother, Mary Wright...

Prime Ministers of Great Britain (table)

(Encyclopedia)Prime Ministers of Great Britain 1 The modern party system did not evolve until the end of the 18th cent. ...

Richard of Saint Victor

(Encyclopedia)Richard of Saint Victor, d. 1173, Scottish monk and mystic, prior of the Abbey of St. Victor, Paris. His principal importance is in the history of mystical theology, in which he is a successor to Hugh...

Benbridge, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Benbridge, Henry, 1744–1812, American portrait painter and miniaturist, b. Philadelphia, studied in Italy and with Benjamin West in London. His portraits are characterized by technical skill and hav...

Landon, Alfred Mossman

(Encyclopedia)Landon, Alfred Mossman, 1887–1987, U.S. politician, b. West Middlesex, Pa. He was a banker and oil operator before he ran for public office. Landon served (1933–37) as governor of Kansas and gaine...

Bickerdyke, Mary Ann

(Encyclopedia)Bickerdyke, Mary Ann, 1817–1901, Union nurse in the American Civil War, b. Mary Ann Ball in Knox co., Ohio. Generally called Mother Bickerdyke, she served throughout the war in the West and was belo...

Harrison, Benjamin, political leader in the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Benjamin, 1726?–1791, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Charles City co., Va. As a member (1749–75) of the house of burgesses, he...

Boston Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Boston Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1881 by Henry Lee Higginson, who was its director and financial backer until 1918. The orchestra performed at the Old Boston Music Hall for nearly 20 years until ...

Williams, William, American painter

(Encyclopedia)Williams, William, c.1710–c.1790, American painter, b. England. He probably led a seafaring life before settling (c.1747) in Philadelphia, where he was Benjamin West's first instructor in painting. ...

Lynn

(Encyclopedia)Lynn, city (1990 pop. 81,245), Essex co., E Mass.; inc. as a town 1631, as a city 1850. Lynn is an old industrial center. The first ironworks (1643) and the first fire engine (1654) in the country wer...