Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Stone, Melville Elijah

(Encyclopedia)Stone, Melville Elijah, 1848–1929, American journalist, b. Hudson, Ill. With others he founded in 1876 the first Chicago penny paper, the Daily News, and in 1881 the Morning News (later the Record)....

Backhuysen, Ludolf

(Encyclopedia)Backhuysen or Bakhuyzen, Ludolf lo͞oˈdôlf bäkˈhīzən [key], 1631–1708, Dutch marine painter. He is best known for his scenes of stormy seas. In later years Backhuysen also did some etching and...

period, in geologic time

(Encyclopedia)period, unit of time on the geologic timescale. Periods are shorter than an era and longer than an epoch. Periods are of variable length, generally lasting tens of millions of years, with characterist...

Young, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Young, Arthur, 1741–1820, English agriculturist. His writings hastened the progress of scientific farming. He traveled widely, always observing techniques of farming. In 1784, Young founded the peri...

Wheeler, Benjamin Ide

(Encyclopedia)Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, 1854–1927, American educator and classical scholar, b. Randolph, Mass. Wheeler was a professor of Greek and comparative philology at Cornell before serving as president of the...

Campobello

(Encyclopedia)Campobello kămˌpōbĕlˈō [key], island, 9 mi (14.5 km) long and 3 mi (4.8 km) wide, in Passamaquoddy Bay, N.B., Canada, just off the coast of Maine. The island passed to Canada by the Convention o...

Botsford, George Willis

(Encyclopedia)Botsford, George Willis, 1862–1917, American historian, b. West Union, Iowa. After some years (1895–1901) at Harvard, he taught (1901–17) ancient history at Columbia. An outstanding authority on...

illiteracy

(Encyclopedia)illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Throughout most of history most people have been illiterate. In feudal society, for example, the ability to re...

Aquitaine

(Encyclopedia)Aquitaine ăkˈwĭtān, äkētĕnˈ [key], Lat. Aquitania, former duchy and kingdom in SW France. Julius Caesar conquered the Aquitani, an Iberian people of SW Gaul, in 56 b.c. The province that he cr...

Northumberland, Hugh Percy, 2d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Northumberland, Hugh Percy, 2d duke of, 1742–1817, British general. He fought on the Continent in the Seven Years War and, although he disapproved of the war against the colonists in America, served...