Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Edgeworth, Richard Lovell

(Encyclopedia)Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, 1744–1817, Anglo-Irish educational theorist, b. Bath, England, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at Oxford; father of Maria Edgeworth. A member of the literary cote...

De Forest, Lee

(Encyclopedia)De Forest, Lee, 1873–1961, American inventor, b. Council Bluffs, Iowa, grad. Yale, 1896. He was a pioneer in the development of wireless telegraphy, sound pictures, and television. His triode (1906)...

Alfonso II, Spanish king of Asturias

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso II (Alfonso the Chaste), 759–842, Spanish king of Asturias (791–842), grandson of Alfonso I. He established his capital at Oviedo, which his father, Fruela I, had founded. Continuing the s...

Dane, Clemence

(Encyclopedia)Dane, Clemence, pseud. of Winifred Ashton, 1888–1965, English novelist and playwright. She was an artist, teacher, and actress before she turned to writing. Her first novel, A Regiment of Women (191...

Circe

(Encyclopedia)Circe sûrˈsē [key], in Greek mythology, enchantress; daughter of Helios. She lived on an island, where she decoyed sailors and treacherously changed them into beasts. According to the Odyssey, she ...

Faisal II

(Encyclopedia)Faisal II or Feisal II both: fīˈsəl [key], 1935–58, king of Iraq (1939–58). He ascended to the throne on the death of his father, King Ghazi. After a long regency, Faisal attained his majority ...

Franceschini, Baldassare

(Encyclopedia)Franceschini, Baldassare bäldäs-säˈrā fränchāskēˈnē [key], 1611–89, Florentine painter; pupil of his father, who was a sculptor. He was also called Volterrano. His works include the Corona...

Absalom

(Encyclopedia)Absalom ăbˈsəlŏm [key], in the Bible, son of David. He murdered his half-brother Amnon for the rape of their sister Tamar, and fled. No sooner was he reconciled with his father than he incited a r...

Hellen

(Encyclopedia)Hellen hĕlˈən, –ēn [key], in Greek mythology, ancestor of the Hellenes, or Greeks; son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. He was the father of Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus, who were the progenitors of the pr...

Green, Hetty

(Encyclopedia)Green, Hetty, 1835–1916, American financier, b. Henrietta Howland Robinson, New Bedford, Mass. She inherited a large fortune from her father and invested it so shrewdly that she was considered the g...

Browse by Subject