Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Morgan, Sir Henry

(Encyclopedia)Morgan, Sir Henry, 1635?–1688, Welsh buccaneer. In his youth he went to the West Indies, eventually joining the buccaneers there. On the death (1667) of Edward Mansfield, Morgan took his place as co...

Moore, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Brian, 1921–99, Canadian-American novelist, b. Belfast, Northern Ireland. He emigrated to Canada in 1948, where he was a reporter for the Montreal Gazette. He later moved to the United States...

Mitchum, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Mitchum, Robert (Robert Charles Duran Mitchum), 1917–97, American film actor, b. Bridgeport, Conn. He found extra work and bit parts in early 1940s movies, and first achieved wide notice for his sup...

Augustine of Canterbury, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Augustine of Canterbury, Saint ôˈgəstēn, –tĭn; ôgŭsˈtĭn [key], d. c.605, Italian missionary, called the Apostle of the English, first archbishop of Canterbury (from 601). A Roman monk, he w...

Autry, Gene

(Encyclopedia)Autry, Gene (Orvon Grover Autry), 1907–98, American entertainer and businessman, b. Tioga Springs, Tex. Probably the most successful of the movies' singing cowboys, Autry began singing o...

Paley, Grace

(Encyclopedia)Paley, Grace, 1922–2007, American writer and social activist, b. the Bronx, N.Y., as Grace Goodside. In short stories mainly celebrating the lives of women, Paley paints the daily lives of working-c...

Teagarden, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Teagarden, Jack (Weldon Leo Teagarden), 1905–64, American jazz trombonist and singer, b. Vernon, Tex. One of the earliest white bluesmen, he came from a jazz-playing family and was mainly self-taugh...

Shahn, Ben

(Encyclopedia)Shahn, Ben (Benjamin Shahn), 1898–1969, American painter and graphic artist, b. Lithuania. Shahn emigrated to the United States in 1906. After working in lithography until 1930, his style crystalliz...

Saroyan, William

(Encyclopedia)Saroyan, William səroiˈən [key], 1908–81, American author, b. Fresno, Calif. Of Armenian background and extremely prolific, he created works that combine optimism, sentimentality, and a rhapsodic...

Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, duke of shrōzˈbərē, shro͞ozˈ– [key], 1660–1718, English statesman. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he embraced Protestantism in 1679. A powerful Whig, he was one of ...