Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

233 results found

Ford, Paul Leicester

(Encyclopedia)Ford, Paul Leicester lĕsˈtər [key], 1865–1902, American historian and novelist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. His father, Gordon L. Ford, then possessed probably the best library of Americana in the country;...

Wolseley, Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Wolseley, Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount wo͝olzˈlē [key], 1833–1913, British field marshal. He fought in Burma (present-day Myanmar; 1852–53), the Crimea (1854–56), India (1857–58), a...

Cline, Patsy

(Encyclopedia)Cline, Patsy, 1932–63, American country singer, b. Winchester, Va., as Virginia Patterson Hensley. She began singing locally while still in her teens and signed her first recording contract in 1953,...

langue d'oc and langue d'oïl

(Encyclopedia)langue d'oc dôēlˈ [key], names of the two principal groups of medieval French dialects. Langue d'oc (literally, “language of yes”) was spoken south of a line running, roughly, from Bordeaux to ...

Krakatoa

(Encyclopedia)Krakatoa kräkätouˈ [key], volcanic island, c.5 sq mi (13 sq km), W Indonesia, in Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra; rising to 2,667 ft (813 m). A momentous volcanic explosion on Aug. 23, 1883, ...

Orléans, Charles, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Orléans, Charles, duc d' shärl dük dôrlāäNˈ [key], 1391–1465, French prince and poet; nephew of King Charles VI. After the assassination of his father, Louis d'Orléans, he became (1407) titu...

Newgate

(Encyclopedia)Newgate nyo͞oˈgĭt [key], former prison in the City of London, England, originally in the gatehouse of the principal west gate of London. Dating from the 12th cent. and burned by Wat Tyler's followe...

Mackay, John William

(Encyclopedia)Mackay, John William măkˈē [key], 1831–1902, American financier, b. Dublin, Ireland. He immigrated to the United States in 1840. In 1859 he joined the rush to Nevada, where silver had been discov...

McLuhan, Marshall

(Encyclopedia)McLuhan, Marshall (Herbert Marshall McLuhan), 1911–80, Canadian communications theorist and educator, b. Edmonton, Alta. He taught at the Univ. of Toronto (1946–80) and at other institutions of hi...

fairy

(Encyclopedia)fairy, in folklore, one of a variety of supernatural beings endowed with the powers of magic and enchantment. Belief in fairies has existed from earliest times, and literatures all over the world have...