Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ivan VI

(Encyclopedia)Ivan VI, 1740–64, czar of Russia (1740–41), great-grandson of Ivan V. He was the son of Prince Anthony Ulric of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and of Anna Leopoldovna. An infant, he succeeded his great-a...

Williams, Betty

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Betty, 1943–2020, Northern Irish peace activist, b. Belfast as Elizabeth Smyth. In Aug., 1976, Williams, a receptionist, witnessed the death of three children when a car driven by an Irish...

Worth, Charles Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Worth, Charles Frederick, 1825–95, French and British fashion designer. He was the founder of the Maison Worth in Paris and London, the longest running fashion dynasty, and the arbiter of women's fa...

Camden, William

(Encyclopedia)Camden, William kămˈdən [key], 1551–1623, English scholar, chief historian and antiquary of Elizabethan times. His two chief works are Britannia (1586) and Annales rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicaru...

Lennox, Matthew Stuart, 4th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Lennox, Matthew Stuart or Stewart, 4th earl of lĕnˈəks [key], 1516–71, Scottish nobleman. Related to the royal family, being next in the line of succession to the throne after James Hamilton, 2d ...

Boleyn, Anne

(Encyclopedia)Boleyn, Anne bo͝olˈĭn, bo͝olĭnˈ [key], 1507?–1536, second queen consort of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, later earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde,...

Mary Queen of Scots

(Encyclopedia)Mary Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart), 1542–87, only child of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Through her grandmother Margaret Tudor, Mary had the strongest claim to the throne of England after t...

Newgate

(Encyclopedia)Newgate nyo͞oˈgĭt [key], former prison in the City of London, England, originally in the gatehouse of the principal west gate of London. Dating from the 12th cent. and burned by Wat Tyler's followe...

Northumberland, Thomas Percy, 7th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Northumberland, Thomas Percy, 7th earl of, 1528–72, English nobleman. He was the nephew and heir of the childless 6th earl but did not succeed on the latter's death (1537) because his father had bee...

Nottingham, Charles Howard, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Nottingham, Charles Howard, 1st earl of nŏtˈĭngəm [key], 1536–1624, English nobleman. A member of one of the branches of the Howard family, he succeeded his father as Baron Howard of Effingham i...

Browse by Subject