Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Billy the Kid

(Encyclopedia)Billy the Kid, 1859–81, American outlaw, b. New York City. His real name was probably Henry McCarty; he was known as William H. Bonney. His family moved to Kansas and then to New Mexico when he was ...

Canute the Saint

(Encyclopedia)Canute the Saint, d. 1086, king (1080–86) and patron saint of Denmark. He built churches and cathedrals and raised the bishops to the rank of prince. In 1085 he made an unsuccessful attempt to invad...

Carlos the Jackal

(Encyclopedia)Carlos the Jackal, pseud. of the revolutionary and international terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, 1949–, b. Caracas, Venezuela. Son of an affluent Marxist lawyer, he joined the Communist party at ...

Willing, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Willing, Thomas, 1731–1821, American merchant and financier, b. Philadelphia. He studied law in London. Returning to Philadelphia in 1749, he entered his father's business and later established with...

Rogers, James Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Rogers, James Harvey, 1886–1939, American economist, b. South Carolina, grad. Univ. of South Carolina (B.A., 1906) and Yale (B.A., 1909; Ph.D., 1916). He was professor of economics at the Univ. of M...

Bank for International Settlements

(Encyclopedia)Bank for International Settlements (BIS), international financial institution est. (1930) in Basel, Switzerland, by bankers and diplomats from Europe, the United States, and Japan. It was originally s...

Adam, the first man, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Adam ădˈəm [key], [Heb.,=man], in the Bible, the first man. In the Book of Genesis, God creates humankind in his image as a species of male and female, giving them dominion over other life. Elsewhe...

Charles II, emperor of the West and king of the West Franks

(Encyclopedia)Charles II or Charles the Bald, 823–77, emperor of the West (875–77) and king of the West Franks (843–77); son of Emperor Louis I by a second marriage. The efforts of Louis to create a kingdom f...

Court of Justice of the European Union

(Encyclopedia)Court of Justice of the European Union, judicial institution of the European Union (EU). Located in Luxembourg, it was founded in 1958 as the joint court for the three treaty organizations that were c...

New York, University of the State of

(Encyclopedia)New York, University of the State of, chartered 1784. It consists of all secondary and higher educational institutions incorporated in the state and other institutions, organizations, and agencies for...