Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Winthrop, Robert Charles

(Encyclopedia)Winthrop, Robert Charles, 1809–94, American statesman, b. Boston. He studied law under Daniel Webster, was admitted (1831) to the bar, and was (1835–41) a Whig member of the Massachusetts legislat...

Warner, Charles Dudley

(Encyclopedia)Warner, Charles Dudley, 1829–1900, American editor and author, b. Plainfield, Mass., grad. Hamilton College, 1851, LL.B. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1858. After practicing law in Chicago, he was associat...

Yerkes, Charles Tyson

(Encyclopedia)Yerkes, Charles Tyson yûrˈkēz, –kəs [key], 1837–1905, American financier, b. Philadelphia. He began his business career as a clerk in a Philadelphia grain commission house. He became a broker ...

Young, Charles Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Young, Charles Augustus, 1834–1908, American astronomer, b. Hanover, N.H., grad. Dartmouth, 1853. He discovered the reversing layer of the solar atmosphere and proved the gaseous nature of the sun's...

Worth, Charles Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Worth, Charles Frederick, 1825–95, French and British fashion designer. He was the founder of the Maison Worth in Paris and London, the longest running fashion dynasty, and the arbiter of women's fa...

Wuorinen, Charles Peter

(Encyclopedia)Wuorinen, Charles Peter wûrˈĭnən [key], 1938–2020, American composer, conductor, and pianist, b. New York City. Wuorinen studied at Columbia (B.A., 1961; M.A., 1963) and taught there, at the Man...

Wurtz, Charles Adolphe

(Encyclopedia)Wurtz, Charles Adolphe shärl ädôlfˈ vürts [key], 1817–84, French chemist. He was professor at the Sorbonne (1852–75), at the Faculty of Medicine, Paris (1853–75), and at the Faculty of Scie...

Wentworth, William Charles

(Encyclopedia)Wentworth, William Charles, 1793?–1872, Australian statesman. His exploration (1813) of the Blue Mts. in Australia revealed vast pasturelands in the western part of the continent. In 1816 he went to...

Wheatstone, Sir Charles

(Encyclopedia)Wheatstone, Sir Charles hwētˈstōn, –stən [key], 1802–75, English physicist and inventor. He was professor at King's College, London, from 1834. A pioneer in telegraphy, he was coinventor with ...

Whitaker, Charles Harris

(Encyclopedia)Whitaker, Charles Harris hwĭtˈəkər [key], 1872–1938, American architect and author, b. Rhode Island, studied art abroad. Editor (1913–27) of the journal of the American Institute of Architects...