Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

119 results found

Erie Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Erie Railroad, rail transportation line designed to connect the mouth of the Hudson River with the Great Lakes region. The New York and Erie RR Company was enfranchised and incorporated in 1832, and c...

Lorde, Audrey Geraldine

(Encyclopedia)Lorde, Audre, 1934–1992, African-American poet, essayist, and civil rights activist, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (M.L.S. 1961). Lorde was born to...

West, Kanye Omari

(Encyclopedia) West, Kanye Omari, 1977- , African American rapper, b. Atlanta (some sources give Douglasville), Al. West’s father, Ray, was a Black Panther who ...

Franklin, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, Benjamin, 1706–90, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer, b. Boston. The only American of the colonial period to earn a European reputation as a natural philosopher, he is bes...

XYZ Affair

(Encyclopedia)XYZ Affair, name usually given to an incident (1797–98) in Franco-American diplomatic relations. The United States had in 1778 entered into an alliance with France, but after the outbreak of the Fre...

Pulitzer, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Pulitzer, Joseph po͝oˈlĭtsər, pyo͞oˈ– [key], 1847–1911, American newspaper publisher and politician, b. Hungary. He emigrated to the United States in 1864, served a year in the Union army in...

magic, in entertainment

(Encyclopedia)magic, in entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main catego...

transcendentalism , American literary and philosophical movement

(Encyclopedia)transcendentalism trănˌsĕndĕnˈtəlĭzəm [key] [Lat.,=overpassing], in literature, philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860. It originated among ...

Stuart, Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Stuart, Gilbert, 1755–1828, American portrait painter, b. North Kingstown, R.I., best known for his portraits of George Washington. Having shown an early talent for drawing, he became the pupil of C...

Tweed, William Marcy

(Encyclopedia)Tweed, William Marcy, 1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an ...