Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fisher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, John (Saint John Fisher), c.1469–1535, English prelate, cardinal, bishop of Rochester (1504–34). Known for his scholarship at Cambridge, he was chosen confessor to Margaret Beaufort, mothe...

Hampden, John

(Encyclopedia)Hampden, John hămpˈdən, hămˈ– [key], 1594–1643, English parliamentary leader; cousin of Oliver Cromwell. He entered Parliament in 1621, became closely associated with Sir John Eliot, and was ...

McDonald, Arthur Bruce

(Encyclopedia)McDonald, Arthur Bruce, 1943–, Canadian astrophysicist, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 1969. McDonald was a researcher at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories in Ottawa, Canada, from 1970...

Ashe, Arthur Robert

(Encyclopedia)Ashe, Arthur Robert, 1943–93, American tennis player, b. Richmond, Va. Ashe rose from his hometown's public courts to become the first African-American male to reach prominence in tennis. He won the...

Vandenberg, Arthur Hendrick

(Encyclopedia)Vandenberg, Arthur Hendrick, 1884–1951, American politician, b. Grand Rapids, Mich. He was editor and publisher of the Grand Rapids Herald from 1906 to 1928, when he was appointed to fill a U.S. Sen...

Hodgkin, Sir Alan Lloyd

(Encyclopedia)Hodgkin, Sir Alan Lloyd, 1914–98, English biophysicist. For their work in analyzing the electrical and chemical events in nerve-cell discharge, he and Andrew Huxley shared with Sir John Eccles the 1...

Ross, Sir James Clark

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Sir James Clark, 1800–1862, British polar explorer and rear admiral. In 1818 he accompanied his uncle, Sir John Ross, in search of the Northwest Passage and commanded the Erebus. He later stud...

Guinness, Sir Alec

(Encyclopedia)Guinness, Sir Alec gĭnˈəs [key], 1914–2000, English actor, b. London. After his stage debut in 1934, Guinness performed with John Gielgud's company and at the Old Vic. An actor of enormous versat...

Gobineau, Joseph Arthur, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Gobineau, Joseph Arthur, comte de zhôzĕfˈ ärtürˈ kôNt də gōbēnōˈ [key], 1816–82, French diplomat and man of letters. The chief early French proponent of the theory of Nordic supremacy, h...

Browse by Subject