Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Shipton, Mother

(Encyclopedia)Shipton, Mother, legendary English prophetess. She was first mentioned in an anonymous pamphlet, published in 1641, which described her as having prophesied various events of the reign of Henry VIII a...

Phalaris

(Encyclopedia)Phalaris fălˈərĭs [key], c.570–c.554 b.c., tyrant of Agrigentum, Sicily, notorious for his cruelties. He burned his victims alive in a brazen bull (making his first experiment upon Perillus, its...

Evans, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Maurice, 1901–89, Welsh-American actor. Evans came into prominence in 1928 and in 1934 was a leading man with the Old Vic. He first appeared on Broadway in 1936 in Romeo and Juliet with Katha...

Gatling, Richard Jordan

(Encyclopedia)Gatling, Richard Jordan, 1818–1903, American inventor, b. Winton, N.C. He invented agricultural implements, which he manufactured in St. Louis, and then studied medicine in Indiana and Ohio, but he ...

Wilson, Pete

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Pete (Peter Barton Wilson), 1933–, American politician, b. Lake Forest, Ill. A lawyer and moderate Republican, he began his career in local politics. He was a campaign aide in Richard Nixon'...

Stockton, Francis Richard

(Encyclopedia)Stockton, Francis Richard (Frank R. Stockton), 1834–1902, American humorist and story writer, b. Philadelphia. He wrote several children's books including Ting-a-Ling (1870) and The Floating Prince ...

Yates, Richard, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Yates, Richard, 1815–73, American political leader, b. Warsaw, Ky. He studied law and became a lawyer and Whig politician in Jacksonville, Ill. A state legislator (1842–46, 1848–50) and U.S. Con...

Yorba Linda

(Encyclopedia)Yorba Linda yôrˈbə lĭnˈdə [key], city (1990 pop. 52,422), Orange co., S Calif., in a region of citrus fruit; inc. 1967. The city grew tremendously in the late 20th cent. along with the southern ...

biography

(Encyclopedia)biography, reconstruction in print or on film, of the lives of real men and women. Together with autobiography—an individual's interpretation of his own life—it shares a venerable tradition, meeti...

Henry VI, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry VI, 1165–97, Holy Roman emperor (1191–97) and German king (1190–97), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I (Frederick Barbarossa). He was crowned German king at Aachen in 116...
 

Browse by Subject