Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cameron, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Cameron, Simon kămˈərən [key], 1799–1889, American politician and financier, b. Lancaster co., Pa. From humble beginnings he rose to be a newspaper publisher and with considerable success branch...

Council Bluffs

(Encyclopedia)Council Bluffs, city (2020 pop. 62,799), seat of Pottawattamie co., SW Iowa, on and below bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, opposite Omaha, Nebr.; ...

Chandler, Zachariah

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, Zachariah, 1813–79, U.S. Senator from Michigan (1857–75, 1879) and Secretary of the Interior (1875–77), b. Bedford, N.H. He moved to Detroit in 1833 and through merchandising, land spe...

Milligan, ex parte

(Encyclopedia)Milligan, ex parte, case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1866. By authorization of Congress, President Lincoln in 1863 suspended the writ of habeas corpus in cases where military officers held pe...

Custis-Lee Mansion

(Encyclopedia)Custis-Lee Mansion, Va.: see Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial. ...

Gettysburg Address

(Encyclopedia)Gettysburg Address, speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of the national cemetery on the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa. It is one of the most famous and mo...

Booth, John Wilkes

(Encyclopedia)Booth, John Wilkes wĭlks [key], 1838–65, American actor, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, b. near Bel Air, Md.; son of Junius Brutus Booth and brother of Edwin Booth. He made his stage debut at the...

Gloucester, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Gloucester, city (2020 pop. 29,729), Essex co., NE Mass., on Cape Ann; settled 1623, inc. as a city 1873. It is a port of entry at the head of Glouceste...

Howard, Oliver Otis

(Encyclopedia)Howard, Oliver Otis, 1830–1909, Union general in the Civil War, founder of Howard Univ., b. Leeds, Maine, grad. Bowdoin College, 1850, and West Point, 1854. Made a brigadier general of volunteers (S...

Stratford-on-Avon

(Encyclopedia)Stratford-on-Avon, district (2001 pop. 111,484), Warwickshire, central England, on the Avon River. The town and former borough of Stratford-upon-Avon is the administrative seat of the district, which ...