Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

262 results found

Namath, Joe

(Encyclopedia)Namath, Joe (Joseph William Namath) nāˈməth [key], 1943–, American football player, b. Beaver Falls, Pa. Namath's brilliance as a quarterback at the Univ. of Alabama earned him a three-year no-cu...

Dunant, Jean Henri

(Encyclopedia)Dunant, Jean Henri zhäN äNrēˈ dünäNˈ [key], 1828–1910, Swiss philanthropist and founder of the International Red Cross, b. Geneva. In 1862 appeared his Un souvenir de Solférino (tr. The Orig...

Bellows, Henry Whitney

(Encyclopedia)Bellows, Henry Whitney, 1814–82, American clergyman, b. Boston. From 1839 until his death he was pastor of the First Congregational Society, Unitarian (later Church of All Souls) in New York City. B...

Brennus, d. 279 b.c., Gallic leader

(Encyclopedia)Brennus, d. 279 b.c., Gallic leader. He was in command of the band of Gauls (or Galatians) who invaded Greece in 279 b.c. At first halted at Thermopylae, he later turned and took the pass into Doris. ...

Lützen

(Encyclopedia)Lützen lütˈsən [key], town, Saxony, S central Germany. There, in the Thirty Years War, Gustavus II of Sweden defeated (1632) General Albrecht Wallenstein, but was killed in the battle; Marshal Got...

Chiron

(Encyclopedia)Chiron kīˈrŏn [key], in Greek mythology, centaur, son of Kronos. He was a renowned sage, physician, and prophet. Among his pupils were Hercules, Achilles, Jason, and Asclepius. When Hercules accide...

Rohmer, Eric

(Encyclopedia)Rohmer, Eric, 1920–2010, French film director and writer, b. Jean-Marie Maurice Schérer. He was a founder (1950) of La Gazette du cinéma, cowrote (1957) a study of Alfred Hitchcock, and edited (19...

Oenone

(Encyclopedia)Oenone ēnōˈnē [key], in Greek mythology, nymph skilled in the art of healing. Paris loved her but later deserted her for Helen. Oenone, in revenge, sent their son, Corythus, to guide the Greeks to...

Wistar, Isaac Jones

(Encyclopedia)Wistar, Isaac Jones, 1827–1905, American financier, b. Philadelphia; great-nephew of Caspar Wistar. His early manhood was spent adventurously in the West as a muleteer, trapper, and gold miner. In t...

Avalon

(Encyclopedia)Avalon ăvˈəlŏn [key], in Celtic mythology, the blissful otherworld of the dead. In medieval romance it was the island to which the mortally wounded King Arthur was taken, and from which it was exp...

Browse by Subject