Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Challenger expedition

(Encyclopedia)Challenger expedition, British oceanographic expedition under the direction of the Scottish professor Charles Wyville Thompson and the British naturalist Sir John Murray. Taking place from 1872 to 187...

Lovat, Simon Fraser, 11th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Lovat, Simon Fraser, 11th Baron lŭvˈət [key], 1675?–1747, Scottish nobleman and Jacobite conspirator. The nephew of the 9th baron, he and his father contested the passing of the title to his cous...

Lindley, John

(Encyclopedia)Lindley, John, 1799–1865, English botanist and horticulturist. He organized the first flower shows in England and was influential in preserving the Royal Gardens at Kew (see Kew Gardens). In 1829 he...

Lehmann, John

(Encyclopedia)Lehmann, John lāˈmən [key], 1907–89, English poet, editor, and publisher. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he began working at Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press in 1931 and manage...

Leland, John

(Encyclopedia)Leland or Leyland, John, c.1506–1552, English antiquary. He was successively chaplain and librarian to Henry VIII. In 1533 he was appointed king's antiquarian, and in this capacity traveled through ...

Lennon, John

(Encyclopedia)Lennon, John: see Beatles, The. ...

Lansing, John

(Encyclopedia)Lansing, John, 1754–1829?, American political leader and jurist, b. Albany, N.Y. He served as military secretary to Gen. Philip J. Schuyler in the American Revolution and later became a prominent la...

Laski, John

(Encyclopedia)Laski, John yän lăsˈkē [key], Latin Johannes Alasco, 1499–1560, Polish Protestant reformer. A learned priest, he went in 1523 to Basel, where he was a close friend of Erasmus. After returning to...

Laurance, John

(Encyclopedia)Laurance, John lôrˈəns [key], 1750–1810, American Revolutionary officer, b. near Falmouth, Cornwall, England; son-in-law of Alexander MacDougall. A lawyer, he was (1777–82) judge advocate gener...

Laurens, John

(Encyclopedia)Laurens, John, 1754–82, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Charleston, S.C.; son of Henry Laurens. In 1777 he joined George Washington's staff as a volunteer aide-de-camp, fought at Brandywine and i...