Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Head, Sir Edmund Walker

(Encyclopedia)Head, Sir Edmund Walker, 1805–68, British governor-general of Canada (1854–61), cousin of Sir Francis Bond Head. An Oxford scholar and tutor, he published several books. His success as lieutenant ...

Groppi, James

(Encyclopedia)Groppi, James, 1931–85, American Roman Catholic cleric and political activist, b. Milwaukee. Groppi, who grew up in the Milwaukee slums, attended St. Francis' Seminary and was ordained in 1960. In 1...

Housman, Laurence

(Encyclopedia)Housman, Laurence, 1865–1959, English author; brother of A. E. Housman. He achieved success as the anonymous author of An Englishwoman's Love Letters (1900). Best known as a dramatist, he wrote Litt...

Cleef, Joos van

(Encyclopedia)Cleef or Cleve, Joos van yōs vän klāf, klāˈvə [key], c.1485–1540, Flemish portrait painter. Much of his life was spent in Antwerp. He is often identified with the Master of the Death of the Vi...

Ross, Betsy

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Betsy, 1752–1836, American seamstress, b. Philadelphia. Her full name was Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole. She is known to have made flags during the American Revolution, although the...

Palgrave, Sir Robert Harry Inglis

(Encyclopedia)Palgrave, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, 1827–1919, English banker and economist; son of Sir Francis Palgrave. He edited (1877–83) the Economist, wrote several books on economics, and served (1885) on t...

Vitry-le-François

(Encyclopedia)Vitry-le-François vētrēˈ-lə-fräNswäˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 17,483), Marne dept., NE France, on the Marne River. Textiles and earthenware are the chief manufactures. The town was founded by Fr...

Kitchen Cabinet

(Encyclopedia)Kitchen Cabinet, in U.S. history, popular name for the group of intimate, unofficial advisers of President Jackson. Early in his administration Jackson abandoned official cabinet meetings and used hea...

Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

(Encyclopedia)Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma mountbătˈən [key], 1900–1979, British admiral; great-grandson of Queen Victoria and uncle of Philip Mountbatten, d...

Henry II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Henry II, 1519–59, king of France (1547–59), son of King Francis I. His robust physique contrasted with his weak and pliant disposition. Throughout his reign he was governed by Anne de Montmorency...