Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

John Mark

(Encyclopedia)John Mark: see Mark, Saint.

John Paul I

(Encyclopedia)John Paul I, 1912–78, pope (1978), an Italian (b. Canale d'Agordo) named Albino Luciani; successor of Paul VI. Born into a poor, working-class family, he trained at local seminaries and at the Grego...

John Scotus

(Encyclopedia)John Scotus: see Duns Scotus, John; Eriugena, John Scotus. ...

Kane, John

(Encyclopedia)Kane, John, 1860–1934, American primitive painter, b. Scotland. He came to Pittsburgh at the age of 19 and worked for years as a day laborer, painting in his spare time. His paintings exhibit a deli...

Arden, John

(Encyclopedia)Arden, John ärˈdən [key], 1930–2012, English playwright and novelist best known for his politically engaged work of the 1950s and 60s, a period during which he was considered one of Britain's maj...

Knowles, John

(Encyclopedia)Knowles, John, 1926–2001, American writer, b. Fairmont, W. Va., grad. Yale, 1949. He is best known for his semiautobiographical first novel, A Separate Peace (1960), a coming-of-age story about a bo...

Knox, John

(Encyclopedia)Knox, John, 1514?–1572, Scottish religious reformer, founder of Scottish Presbyterianism. In 1557 the Scottish Protestant nobles signed their First Covenant, banding together to form the group kn...

Kay, John

(Encyclopedia)Kay, John, 1704–64, English inventor. He patented (1733) the fly shuttle, operated by pulling a cord that drove the shuttle to either side, freeing one hand of the weaver to press home the weft. Wor...

Nash, John

(Encyclopedia)Nash, John, 1752–1835, English architect; pupil of Sir Robert Taylor. After enjoying an extensive practice in Wales, he began to work c.1792 in London. His capacities were greatest in town planning,...

Napier, John

(Encyclopedia)Napier, John nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1550–1617, Scottish mathematician and theologian. He invented logarithms and wrote Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio (1614), containing the first log...