Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gratz, Barnard

(Encyclopedia)Gratz, Barnard grăts [key], 1738–1801, American merchant, b. Langensdorf, Upper Silesia. Having worked in his cousin's countinghouse in London, Gratz emigrated (1754) to Philadelphia, where he beca...

Booth, Junius Brutus

(Encyclopedia)Booth, Junius Brutus, 1796–1852, Anglo-American actor. After experience in the provinces, he appeared at Covent Garden. In 1817, with his portrayal of Richard III, he established himself as a rival ...

Brin, Sergey Mikhaylovich

(Encyclopedia)Brin, Sergey Mikhaylovich, 1973–, American business executive and computer scientist, b. Moscow, grad. Univ. of Maryland (B.S., 1993) and Stanford (M.S., 1995). His family immigrated to the United S...

Merryman, ex parte

(Encyclopedia)Merryman, ex parte, case decided in 1861 by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney sitting as a federal circuit judge in Baltimore. John Merryman, a citizen of Maryland, was imprisoned by the U.S. army on suspi...

Makemie, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Makemie, Francis məkĕˈmē [key], c.1658–1708, American clergyman, considered the founder of Presbyterianism in America. Born in Ireland, he studied in Scotland and c.1682 was ordained a missionar...

Henson, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Henson, Josiah, 1789–1883, black slave, reputedly the basis of the character of Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom's Cabin, b. Charles co., Md. In 1825 he faithfully led a party of his master's slaves from Mary...

Frederick, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Frederick, city (2020 pop. 78,171), seat of Frederick co., NW Md.; settled 1745, inc. 1817. The processing center of a fertile farm and dairying area, i...

Nemacolin's Path

(Encyclopedia)Nemacolin's Path nĕmˈəkōˌlĭnz [key], Native American trail between the Potomac and the Monongahela rivers, going from the site of Cumberland, Md., to the mouth of Redstone Creek, where Brownsvil...

Hauptman, Herbert Aaron

(Encyclopedia)Hauptman, Herbert Aaron houptˈmän [key], 1917–2011, American chemist, b. Bronx, N.Y., grad. City College of New York (B.S., 1937) and Univ. of Maryland (Ph.D., 1955). In 1985, Hauptman and former ...

Gist, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Gist, Christopher gĭst [key], c.1706–1759, American frontiersman, b. Maryland. Commissioned by the Ohio Company to explore their western lands. In 1750 he descended the Ohio River, explored E Kentu...