Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Throckmorton or Throgmorton, Sir Nicholas, 1515–71, English diplomat. A relative of Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, he became a staunch Protestant and gained the favor of the young Edwa...

Pears, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Pears, Sir Peter, 1910–86, English tenor. Pears studied at the Royal College of Music and became a member of the Sadler's Wells Opera and the English Opera Group. In 1948 he made his Covent Garden d...

Coke, Sir Edward

(Encyclopedia)Coke, Sir Edward ko͝ok [key], 1552–1634, English jurist, one of the most eminent in the history of English law. He entered Parliament in 1589 and rose rapidly, becoming solicitor general and speake...

Wriothesley, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Wriothesley, Thomas: see Southampton, Thomas Wriothesley, 1st earl of; Southampton, Thomas Wriothesley, 4th earl of. ...

Hoyle, Sir Fred

(Encyclopedia)Hoyle, Sir Fred hoil [key], 1915–2001, British astrophysicist and mathematician, b. Bingley, Yorkshire. During the years of World War II, Hoyle primarily worked on technical problems related to rada...

Tyrwhitt, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tyrwhitt, Thomas tĭrˈĭt [key], 1730–86, English scholar. He was noted for his studies of Shakespeare (1766) and for his edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (5 vol., 1775–78). Tyrwhitt reveale...

Guy, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Guy, Thomas gī [key], 1645?–1724, English philanthropist, founder of Guy's Hospital, London (1721). As a printer and bookseller, Guy amassed a fortune, which he devoted to private and institutional...

Newcomen, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Newcomen, Thomas nyo͞oˈkəmən, nyo͞okŭmˈən [key], 1663–1729, English inventor of an early atmospheric steam engine (c.1711). It was an improvement over an earlier engine patented (1698) by Th...

Thomas, Ambroise

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Ambroise äNbrwäzˈ tōmäˈ [key], 1811–96, French operatic composer, studied at the Paris Conservatory, receiving the Prix de Rome in 1832. He later taught composition there and became it...

Thomas, Dylan

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Dylan dĭlˈən [key], 1914–53, Welsh poet, b. Swansea. An extraordinarily individualistic writer, Thomas is ranked among the great 20th-century poets. He grew up in Swansea, the son of a te...