Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Black, James

(Encyclopedia)Black, James, 1823–93, American temperance leader. A Pennsylvania lawyer, he was active in state and national temperance work. His plan for a National Publication House was adopted by the National T...

Blair, James

(Encyclopedia)Blair, James, 1656–1743, Church of England clergyman, missionary to colonial Virginia, and founder of the College of William and Mary, b. Scotland. At the request of the bishop of London, Blair trav...

Ussher, James

(Encyclopedia)Ussher or Usher, James both: ŭshˈər [key], 1581–1656, Irish prelate and scholar. While a fellow (1599–1605) of Trinity College, Dublin, he was ordained (1601). By 1605 he was chancellor of St. ...

Galashiels

(Encyclopedia)Galashiels gălˌəshēlzˈ [key], town, Scottish Borders, SE Scotland, on the Gala Water. Famous for ...

mks system

(Encyclopedia)mks system, system of units of measurement based on the metric system and having the meter of length, the kilogram of mass, and the second of time as its fundamental units. Other mks units include the...

Offa's Dyke

(Encyclopedia)Offa's Dyke, ancient entrenchment of W England and E Wales, from the Dee estuary to near the estuary of the Wye River. It was built in the 8th cent. by Offa, king of Mercia, as a barrier against the W...

James, Saint (St. James the Greater)

(Encyclopedia)James, Saint, d. c.a.d. 43, in the Bible, one of the Twelve Apostles, called St. James the Greater. He was the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John; these brothers were the Boanerges, or Sons of...

James, Saint (St. James the Less)

(Encyclopedia)James, Saint, in the Bible, one of the Twelve Apostles, called St. James the Less or St. James the Little. He was the son of Alphaeus; his mother, Mary, was one of those at the cross and tomb. The Wes...

Linton, William James

(Encyclopedia)Linton, William James, 1812–97, Anglo-American wood engraver, author, and political reformer. In 1842 he began working as a wood engraver with John Orrin Smith and produced illustrations for the new...

Browse by Subject