Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

296 results found

Bird, Robert Montgomery

(Encyclopedia)Bird, Robert Montgomery, 1806–54, American playwright and novelist, b. New Castle, Del., M.D. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1827. He wrote several prizewinning verse plays for the actor Edwin Forrest, nota...

Bresson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bresson, Robert rôbĕrˈ brĕsôNˈ [key], 1901–99, French film director and scriptwriter, b. Bromont-Lamottie, France. Bresson's films tend to be austere, unadorned, and concerned more with intell...

Blanchot, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Blanchot, Maurice mōrēsˈ bläNshōˈ [key], 1907–2003, French novelist and literary critic. One of the first intellectuals in France to be interested in questions of language and meaning, he was ...

Murray, John, 2d marquess and 1st duke of Atholl

(Encyclopedia)Murray, John, 2d marquess and 1st duke of Atholl ăthˈəl [key], 1660–1724, Scottish nobleman; son of the 2d earl and 1st marquess. A supporter of William III, he held high government posts in Scot...

Murnane, Gerald

(Encyclopedia)Murnane, Gerald, 1939–, Australian writer, B.A. Univ. of Melbourne, 1969. His first two novels, Tamarisk Row (1974) and A Lifetime on Clouds (1976), are semiautobiographical recollections of his ear...

Scroggs, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Scroggs, Sir William, 1623?–1683, English jurist. Educated at Oxford and trained in law at Gray's Inn, he became (1669) a king's sergeant, was made (1676) justice in common pleas through the influen...

Santander, Francisco de Paula

(Encyclopedia)Santander, Francisco de Paula fränsēˈskō dā pouˈlä säntändārˈ [key], 1792–1840, Colombian revolutionist. Given command of the guerrillas of the llanos by Simón Bolívar, Santander materi...

Whiskey Ring

(Encyclopedia)Whiskey Ring, in U.S. history, a group of distillers and public officials who defrauded the federal government of liquor taxes. Soon after the Civil War these taxes were raised very high, in some case...

artillery

(Encyclopedia)artillery, originally meant any large weaponry (including such ancient engines of war as catapults and battering rams) or war material, but later applied only to heavy firearms as opposed to small arm...

Ruscha, Ed

(Encyclopedia)Ruscha, Ed (Edward Joseph Ruscha 4th) ro͞oshāˈ [key], 1937–, American artist, b. Omaha, Neb. He is closely associated with Los Angeles, where he moved to attend (1956–60) the Chouinard Art Inst...