Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Atwood, Margaret Eleanor

(Encyclopedia)Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939–, Canadian novelist and poet. Atwood is a skilled and powerful storyteller whose novels, set mainly in the near future, sometimes make use of such popular genres as hi...

Pepys, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Pepys, Samuel pēps [key], 1633–1703, English public official, and celebrated diarist, b. London, grad. Magdalene College, Cambridge, 1653. In 1656 he entered the service of a relative, Sir Edward M...

Vico, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Vico, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēˈstä vēˈkō [key], 1668–1744, Italian philosopher and historian, also known as Giambattista Vico, b. Naples. In 1699, Vico became professor of rhetor...

Welles, Gideon

(Encyclopedia)Welles, Gideon wĕlz [key], 1802–78, American statesman, b. Glastonbury, Conn. He was (1826–36) editor and part owner of the Hartford Times, one of the first New England papers to support Andrew J...

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant

(Encyclopedia)Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant bōˈrĭgärd [key], 1818–93, Confederate general, b. St. Bernard parish, La., grad. West Point, 1838. As engineer on the staff of Winfield Scott in the Mexican Wa...

rococo, in architecture

(Encyclopedia)rococo rəkōˈkō, rō– [key], style in architecture, especially in interiors and the decorative arts, which originated in France and was widely used in Europe in the 18th cent. The term may be der...

Sandburg, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Sandburg, Carl, 1878–1967, American poet, journalist, and biographer, b. Galesburg, Ill. The son of poor Swedish immigrants, he left school at the age of 13 and became a day laborer. He served in th...

Dawes Commission

(Encyclopedia)Dawes Commission, commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, created by the U.S. Congress in 1893 under the Dawes Act with H. L. Dawes as chairman. Its aim was the reorganization of the Indian Territory...

Cieza de León, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Cieza de León, Pedro pāˈᵺrō thēāˈthä dā lāōnˈ [key], 1518?–1560, Spanish soldier and explorer in South America. His Chronicle of Peru is one of the most richly detailed accounts of the...

Minucius Felix, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Minucius Felix, Marcus märˈkəs mĭnyo͞oshˈəs fēˈlĭks [key], fl. 2d cent., Christian apologist, author of a dialogue, Octavius, one of the earliest Latin apologies. In it a pagan and a Christi...