Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

John George

(Encyclopedia)John George, 1585–1656, elector of Saxony (1611–56). A drunkard, he nonetheless ruled the leading German Protestant state during the Thirty Years War. He vacillated in his policy between support o...

John Henry

(Encyclopedia)John Henry, legendary African American famous for his strength, celebrated in ballads and tales. In the most popular version of the story, John Henry tries to outwork a steam drill with only his hamme...

John Hyrcanus

(Encyclopedia)John Hyrcanus: see Maccabees, Jewish family. ...

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. ...

Montagu, John

(Encyclopedia)Montagu, John: see Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th earl of. ...

Moody, John

(Encyclopedia)Moody, John, 1868–1958, American financial writer, b. Jersey City, N.J. He was working in a Wall Street brokerage house in 1900 when he founded Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities...

Metaxas, John

(Encyclopedia)Metaxas, John mĭtăkˈsəs, Gr. māˈtäksäsˌ [key], 1871–1941, Greek general and statesman. A career soldier, he served in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and in the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, in w...

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...