Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Harleian Library

(Encyclopedia)Harleian Library härˈlēən, härlēˈ– [key], manuscript collection of more than 7,000 volumes and more than 14,000 original legal documents, formed by Robert Harley, 1st earl of Oxford, and his ...

Frederick I, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Frederick I or Frederick Barbarossa bärbərôsˈə [key] [Ital.,=red beard], c.1125–90, Holy Roman emperor (1155–90) and German king (1152–90), son of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, duke of Swabia,...

Quebec campaign

(Encyclopedia)Quebec campaign, 1775–76, of the American Revolution. The Continental Congress decided to send an expedition to Canada to protect the northern frontier from British attack and to persuade Canada to ...

Albemarle, Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Albemarle, Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st earl of ălˈbəmärl [key], 1669–1718, Dutch adherent and constant companion of William III of England. He accompanied the future king to England (1688) and ...

Thomson, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Charles, 1729–1824, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Co. Londonderry (now Derry), Ireland. Emigrating to America in 1739, he later taught school and became a merchant. His pr...

West Point

(Encyclopedia)West Point, U.S. military post, since 1802 seat of the United States Military Academy. On the high west bank of the Hudson River N of New York City, West Point was the site of Revolutionary forts guar...

essay

(Encyclopedia)essay, relatively short literary composition in prose, in which a writer discusses a topic, usually restricted in scope, or tries to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view. Although ...

Adrian IV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Adrian IV, d. 1159, pope (1154–59), an Englishman (the only English pope), b. Nicholas Breakspear at Langley, near St. Albans. He was successor of Anastasius IV. At an early age he went to France. T...

Saratoga campaign

(Encyclopedia)Saratoga campaign, June–Oct., 1777, of the American Revolution. Lord George Germain and John Burgoyne were the chief authors of a plan to end the American Revolution by splitting the colonies along ...

Digby, Kenelm Henry

(Encyclopedia)Digby, Kenelm Henry, 1800–1880, English author, b. Ireland. He converted to Roman Catholicism after his graduation from Cambridge. His principal works are The Broadstone of Honour (1822; enl. ed., 4...