Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

407 results found

Beaufort, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Beaufort, Henry bōˈfərt [key], 1377?–1447, English prelate and statesman. The son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and his mistress (later wife) Catherine Swynford, he was half-brother to Hen...

Thanksgiving Day

(Encyclopedia)Thanksgiving Day, national holiday in the United States commemorating the Pilgrims' celebration of the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony in 1621, after a winter of great starvation and privation. ...

Vallandigham, Clement Laird

(Encyclopedia)Vallandigham, Clement Laird vəlănˈdĭghămˌ, –gămˌ [key], 1820–71, American political leader, leader of the Copperheads in the Civil War, b. New Lisbon (now Lisbon), Ohio. He became (1842) a...

Van Doren, Mark

(Encyclopedia)Van Doren, Mark 1894–1973, American poet and critic, b. Hope, Vermilion co., Ill., Ph.D. Columbia, 1920; brother of Carl Van Doren. He taught English at Columbia (1920–59), where he was a renowned...

Nebraska

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Nebraska nəbrăsˈkə [key], Great Plains state of the central United States. It is bordered by Iowa and Missouri, across the Missouri River (E), Kansas (S), Colorado (SW), Wyoming (NW), and S...

executive order

(Encyclopedia)executive order, in the United States, official document initiated and signed by the president containing directives concerning how the executive branch shall carry out its responsibilities under the ...

Rodgers, Richard Charles

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, Richard Charles, 1902–79, American composer, b. New York City. Rodgers studied at Columbia and the Institute of Musical Art, New York City. He met both of his future collaborators, Lorenz H...

secession, in political science

(Encyclopedia)secession, in political science, formal withdrawal from an association by a group discontented with the actions or decisions of that association. The term is generally used to refer to withdrawal from...

Illinois, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Illinois, midwestern state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Lake Michigan and Indiana (E); Kentucky, across the Ohio River (SE); Missouri and Iowa, across the Mississippi River...

habeas corpus

(Encyclopedia)habeas corpus hāˈbēəs kôrˈpəs [key] [Lat.,=you should have the body], writ directed by a judge to some person who is detaining another, commanding him to bring the body of the person in his cus...