Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Memminger, Christopher Gustavus

(Encyclopedia)Memminger, Christopher Gustavus mĕmˈĭnjər [key], 1803–88, American politician, Confederate secretary of the treasury, b. Württemberg, Germany. He was brought to Charleston, S.C., as a child and...

Carteret, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Carteret, Sir George kärˈtərĕt [key], c.1610–1680, proprietor of East Jersey (see New Jersey). He served in the British navy, fought for the royalists, and became (1643) lieutenant governor of h...

Davis, John

(Encyclopedia)Davis or Davys, John, 1550?–1605, English navigator. He made his first voyage in search of the Northwest Passage in 1585, continuing the work of Martin Frobisher. On this voyage he discovered Cumber...

conch

(Encyclopedia)conch kŏngk, kŏnch, kôngk [key], common name for certain marine gastropod mollusks having a heavy, spiral shell, the whorls of which overlap each other. In conchs the characteristic gastropod foot ...

Ferlinghetti, Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Ferlinghetti, Lawrence fûrˈlĭng-gĕtˈē [key], 1919–2021, American author and publisher, b. Yonkers, N.Y, ...

Franklin, John Hope

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, John Hope, 1915–2009, the dean of 20th-century African-American historians, b. Rentiesville, Okla., grad. Fisk Univ. (A.B., 1935), Harvard (M.A., 1936; Ph.D., 1941). Franklin served on the...

Schurz, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Schurz, Carl sho͝orts [key], 1829–1906, American political leader, b. Germany. He studied at the Univ. of Bonn and participated in the revolutionary uprisings of 1848–49 in Germany. Compelled to ...

De Forest, John William

(Encyclopedia)De Forest, John William də fôrˈəst, fŏrˈ– [key], 1826–1906, American author, b. Seymour, Conn. He served in the Civil War, chiefly as a captain. His vivid accounts of battle scenes in Louisi...

Houston, David Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Houston, David Franklin hyo͞oˈstən [key], 1866–1940, American cabinet officer and educator, b. Monroe, N.C., grad. South Carolina College, 1887, M.A. Harvard, 1892. He taught political science at...

Hammond, James Henry

(Encyclopedia)Hammond, James Henry, 1807–64, American statesman, b. Newberry co., S.C. A lawyer and the owner of large plantations on the Savannah River, Hammond was an early believer in secession. He voiced this...

Browse by Subject