Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Monmouth, James Scott, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Monmouth, James Scott, duke of mŏnˈməth [key], 1649–85, pretender to the English throne; illegitimate son of Charles II of England by Lucy Walter. After his mother's death, he was cared for by Lo...

Scot, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Scot, Michael, c.1175–c.1234, medieval scholar, b. Scotland. He served as astrologer and physician at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, where with other scholars he translated Aristotle ...

Dryburgh Abbey

(Encyclopedia)Dryburgh Abbey drīˈbərə [key], Premonstratensian abbey, Scottish Borders, SE Scotland, on the Tweed below Melrose. Founded in 1150, it was several times destroyed (1322 and 1545) and rebuilt and i...

Schley, Winfield Scott

(Encyclopedia)Schley, Winfield Scott slī [key], 1839–1911, American naval officer, b. Frederick co., Md. After serving with Union naval forces in the Civil War, he held various naval posts. In 1884 he commanded ...

Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount klăvˈərəs, dŭndēˈ [key], 1649?–1689, Scottish soldier, known as Bonnie Dundee. After service abroad under William of Orange (later William III...

Caroline Affair

(Encyclopedia)Caroline Affair. In 1837 a group of men led by William Lyon Mackenzie rebelled in Upper Canada (now Ontario), demanding a more democratic government. There was much sympathy for their cause in the Uni...

Blair, Montgomery

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Montgomery, 1813–83, U.S. Postmaster General (1861–64), b. Franklin co., Ky., son of Francis P. Blair (1791–1876). He resigned from the army in 1836 after serving against the Seminole and...

Cosgrave, Liam

(Encyclopedia)Cosgrave, Liam kŏzˈgrāv [key], 1920–2017, Irish statesman; son of William Cosgrave. After studying law, he entered the Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael member in 1943 and served as minister of comme...

Beth-shan

(Encyclopedia)Beth-shan bĕth-shēˈən [key], ancient town, at the meeting of the Vale of Jezreel with the Jordan valley. It was the most strategic point of E ancient Palestine, with the crossing of four roads. Re...

Seward, Anna

(Encyclopedia)Seward, Anna sēˈwərd [key], 1742–1809, English poet, called the Swan of Lichfield. A member of the Lichfield literary group, which included Thomas Day and Erasmus Darwin, she was acquainted also ...
 

Browse by Subject