Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Regency

(Encyclopedia)Regency, in British history, the period of the last nine years (1811–20) of the reign of George III, when the king's insanity had rendered him unfit to rule and the government was vested in the prin...

San Juan Boundary Dispute

(Encyclopedia)San Juan Boundary Dispute, controversy between the United States and Great Britain over the U.S.–British Columbia boundary. It is sometimes called the Northwest Boundary Dispute. The difficulty aros...

Sampson, William Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sampson, William Thomas, 1840–1902, American naval officer, b. Palmyra, N.Y. After serving with Union naval forces in the Civil War, he saw varied naval service and was (1886–90) superintendent of...

Puebla, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Puebla, city (1990 pop. 1,007,170), capital of Puebla state, E central Mexico. Its official name is Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, in honor of Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza, who defeated French forces there in 1...

Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, 1769–1852, British soldier and statesman. Wellington, “the iron duke,” with the soldier's taste for discipline and order and the aristocrat's distrus...

Granada, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Granada, city, capital of Granada prov., S Spain, in Andalusia, at the confluence of the Darro and Genil rivers. Formerly (17th cent.) a silk center, Gr...

Carlists

(Encyclopedia)Carlists, partisans of Don Carlos (1788–1855) and his successors, who claimed the Spanish throne under the Salic law of succession, introduced (1713) by Philip V. The law (forced on Philip by the Wa...

Cid

(Encyclopedia)Cid or Cid Campeador sĭd, Span. thēᵺ kämpāäᵺōrˈ [key] [Span.,=lord conqueror], d. 1099, Spanish soldier and national hero, whose real name was Rodrigo (or Ruy) Díaz de Vivar. Under Ferdina...

Fernández de Córdoba, Gonzalo

(Encyclopedia)Fernández de Córdoba, Gonzalo fārnänˈdāth dā kōrˈdōbä [key], 1453–1515, Spanish general, called the Great Captain. He fought in the civil wars preceding and following the accession of Is...

Henry II, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Henry II or Henry of Trastámara trăstəmărˈə [key], 1333?–1379, Spanish king of Castile and León (1369–79), illegitimate son of Alfonso XI. After taking part in several unsuccessful revolts ...