Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Olcott, Henry Steel

(Encyclopedia)Olcott, Henry Steel, 1832–1907, American religious leader and author, cofounder of Theosophist movement, b. Orange, N.J. After working as an agricultural scientist and a lawyer, he and Helena Blavat...

Harrod, James

(Encyclopedia)Harrod, James, 1742–93, American frontiersman, b. Bedford co., Pa. He fought in the French and Indian Wars and in 1773 made a journey down the Ohio River to Kentucky. In 1774 he returned to Kentucky...

Covarrubias, Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Covarrubias, Miguel mēgālˈ kōvär-ro͞oˈbēäs [key], 1902–57, American artist and writer, b. Mexico City. Largely self-taught, he went to New York City in 1923 and won prompt recognition as a ...

New Smyrna Beach

(Encyclopedia)New Smyrna Beach smûrˈnə [key], city (1990 pop. 16,543), Volusia co., NE Fla., on Indian River (a lagoon; part of the Intracoastal Waterway) and on Ponce de Leon Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean; inc. 1...

Paine, Robert Treat

(Encyclopedia)Paine, Robert Treat, 1731–1814, political figure in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Boston, Mass. He served briefly as a chaplain in the French and Indian War ...

Walker, Francis Amasa

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Francis Amasa, 1840–97, American economist, statistician, and educator, b. Boston, grad. Amherst; son of Amasa Walker. In the Civil War he was brevetted brigadier general. Walker's activitie...

Sumter, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sumter, Thomas, 1734–1832, American Revolutionary officer, b. near Charlottesville, Va. He served with Edward Braddock (1755) and John Forbes (1758) in their expeditions against Fort Duquesne in the...

buckthorn

(Encyclopedia)buckthorn, common name for some members of the Rhamnaceae, a family of woody shrubs, small trees, and climbing vines widely distributed throughout the world. The buckthorns (several species of the gen...

Khan, Ali Akbar

(Encyclopedia)Khan, Ali Akbar älēˈ ăkˈbär khän [key], 1922–2009, Indian musician, b. Shivpur, East Bengal (now Bangladesh). A master of the sarod, a lutelike 25-stringed N Indian instrument, Khan was born ...

Ahmad Khan, Sir Sayyid

(Encyclopedia)Ahmad Khan, Sir Sayyid säˈyēd äkhmädˈ khän [key], 1817–98, Indian Muslim educator. His family was long connected with the Mughal court, but he entered the service of the British East India Co...