Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

472 results found

Black Friday

(Encyclopedia)Black Friday, Sept. 24, 1869, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. In 1869 a small group of American financial speculators, including Jay Gould and James Fisk, sought the support of federal offici...

Sherman, William Tecumseh

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, William Tecumseh, 1820–91, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Lancaster, Ohio. Sherman is said by many to be the greatest of the Civil War generals. Sherman was promoted to lie...

Charles River Bridge Case

(Encyclopedia)Charles River Bridge Case, decided in 1837 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Charles River Bridge Company had been granted (1785) a charter by the state of Massachusetts to operate a toll bridge. The sta...

Eisenman, Nicole

(Encyclopedia)Eisenman, Nicole, 1965–, American artist, b. Verdun, France (where her father was stationed), M.F.A, Rhode Island School of Design, 1987. Eisenman became widely known after her work appeared in the ...

Báez, Buenaventura

(Encyclopedia)Báez, Buenaventura bwāˌnävānto͞oˈrä bäˈās [key], c.1810–1884, president of the Dominican Republic (1849–53; 1856–58; 1865–66; 1868–73). Like his rival, Santana, Báez was unscrupu...

Paducah

(Encyclopedia)Paducah pədyo͞oˈkə, –do͞oˈ– [key], city (1990 pop. 27,256), seat of McCracken co., SW Ky., on the Ohio River at the mouth of the Tennessee River; inc. as a city 1856. It is a tobacco market,...

William II, king of the Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)William II, 1792–1849, king of the Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg (1840–49), son and successor of William I. He served with Wellington in the Peninsular War, was wounded at Waterloo, and...

Wise, Henry Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Wise, Henry Alexander, 1806–76, American political leader and Confederate general in the Civil War, b. Accomac, Va. A lawyer, he was successively a Jackson Democrat, a Whig, and a Tyler Democrat in ...

Morris, Gouverneur

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Gouverneur gəvərnērˈ, –no͝orˈ [key], 1752–1816, American political leader and diplomat, b. Morrisania, N.Y. (now part of the Bronx); a grandson of Lewis Morris (1671–1746), he was ...
 

Browse by Subject