Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Powell, Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Powell, Anthony pōˈəl [key], 1905–2000, English novelist, grad. Eton and Baillol College, Oxford. A distinguished writer of social comedy, he is best known for his 12-volume novel sequence collec...

Frankfurter, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Frankfurter, Felix, 1882–1965, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1939–62), b. Vienna, Austria. He emigrated to the United States as a boy and later received (1906) his ...

Gates, Robert Michael

(Encyclopedia)Gates, Robert Michael, 1943–, American government official, U.S. secretary of defense (2006–11), b. Wichita, Kans. A circumspect and pragmatic career intelligence officer, he joined (1966) the Cen...

Hopkins, Gerard Manley

(Encyclopedia)Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 1844–89, English poet, educated at Oxford. Entering the Roman Catholic Church in 1866 and the Jesuit novitiate in 1868, he was ordained in 1877. Upon becoming a Jesuit he bur...

Humphrey, Hubert Horatio

(Encyclopedia)Humphrey, Hubert Horatio, 1911–78, U.S. Vice President (1965–69), b. Wallace, S.Dak. After practicing pharmacy for several years, Humphrey taught political science and became involved in state pol...

Jackson, Phil

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Phil (Philip Douglas Jackson), 1945–, American basketball player and coach, b. Deer Lodge, Mont. Jackson was an All-American at the Univ. of North Dakota. Drafted by the New York Knicks in ...

Jenghiz Khan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Empire of Jenghiz Khan (1227) Jenghiz Khan jĕngˈgĭs, gĕngˈgĭs kän [key], Mongolian Chinggis Khaan, 1167?–1227, Mongol conqueror, originally named Temujin. He succeeded his father, Yek...

Hampton, Wade, Confederate general

(Encyclopedia)Hampton, Wade, 1818–1902, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Charleston, S.C.; grandson of Wade Hampton (c.1752–1835). Hampton, a wealthy planter, served (1852–61) in the South Ca...

Hamsun, Knut

(Encyclopedia)Hamsun, Knut kəno͞otˈ hämˈso͝on [key], 1859–1952, Norwegian author, a pioneer in the development of the modern novel. Virtually without formal education, in his youth he led a wandering life, ...

Kerouac, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Kerouac, Jack (John Kerouac) kĕrˈəwăkˌ [key], 1922–69, American novelist, b. Lowell, Mass., studied at Columbia. One of the leaders of the beat generation, a term he is said to have coined, he ...