Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Binns, John Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Binns, John Alexander, c.1761–1813, American agriculturist, b. Loudoun co., Va. He was one of the first to experiment with gypsum as a fertilizer and to convince others of its efficacy. Partly throu...

Loomis, Mahlon

(Encyclopedia)Loomis, Mahlon, 1826–86, American inventor, b. Oppenheim, N.Y. He was a dentist by profession but spent much of his time pioneering in wireless communication. Using aerials borne by kites, he succes...

Johnston, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Johnston, Mary, 1870–1936, American novelist, b. Buchanan, Va. Her books combine romance with history. She is chiefly remembered for To Have and to Hold (1900), a story of colonial Virginia, and its...

Saint Albans, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Saint Albans sānt ôlˈbənz [key], city (1990 pop. 11,194), Kanawha co., W W.Va., at the junction of the Coal and Kanawha rivers; settled c.1790, inc. 1868. It is chiefly residential, with diverse l...

Powell, Lewis Franklin, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Powell, Lewis Franklin, Jr., 1907–98, American lawyer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1971–87), b. Suffolk, Va. He studied law at Washington and Lee Univ. and was admitted to the Vir...

Warner, John William III

(Encyclopedia) Warner, John William III, 1927-2021, U.S. politician, b. Washington, D.C., Washington and Lee Univ. (B.A., 1949), Univ. of Va. School of Law (J.D., 19...

stock, in botany

(Encyclopedia)stock, in botany, common name for any species of the genus Matthiola, for Malcomia maritima (Virginia stock), and for the wallflower, all belonging to the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard f...

McMillan, Edwin Mattison

(Encyclopedia)McMillan, Edwin Mattison, 1907–91, American physicist, b. Redondo Beach, Calif., grad. California Institute of Technology, 1928, Ph.D. Princeton, 1932. On the faculty of the Univ. of California from...

Hamilton, Lee Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Lee Herbert, 1931–, U.S. politician, b. Daytona Beach, Fla. A lawyer (J.D. Indiana Univ., 1956), he left private practice after winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1964,...

Rogers, Adrian Pierce

(Encyclopedia)Rogers, Adrian Pierce, 1931–2005, American Southern Baptist clergyman, b. West Palm Beach, Fla. After deciding to enter the ministry while in college, he attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological...