Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Oswald, Lee Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Oswald, Lee Harvey, 1939–63, presumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, b. New Orleans. Oswald spent most of his boyhood in Fort Worth, Tex. Later, he attended a Dallas high school, and enlisted (1956) i...

Laurens, John

(Encyclopedia)Laurens, John, 1754–82, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Charleston, S.C.; son of Henry Laurens. In 1777 he joined George Washington's staff as a volunteer aide-de-camp, fought at Brandywine and i...

Surrey, Henry Howard, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Surrey, Henry Howard, earl of, 1517?–1547, English poet; son of Thomas Howard, 3d duke of Norfolk. His irascibility and continuous vaunting of his descent from Edward I resulted in his imprisonment ...

Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of därˈbē [key], 1435?–1504, English nobleman. During the Wars of the Roses, Stanley was ostensibly a supporter of the Lancastrian Henry VI, but he had Yorkist sym...

Pole, English noble family

(Encyclopedia)Pole, English noble family. The first member of importance was William de la Pole, d. 1366, a rich merchant who became the first mayor of Hull (1332) and a baron of the exchequer (1339). His oldest so...

Petersburg

(Encyclopedia)Petersburg, city (1990 pop. 38,386), politically independent and in no county, SE Va., on the Appomattox River; inc. 1850. A port of entry and an important tobacco market, it has industries producing ...

Holland, Henry Richard Vassall Fox, 3d Baron

(Encyclopedia)Holland, Henry Richard Vassall Fox, 3d Baron, 1773–1840, British politician, nephew of Charles James Fox. He was a member of the Whig opposition party from 1797 and served as lord privy seal in the ...

Edward V

(Encyclopedia)Edward V, 1470–83?, king of England (1483), elder son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. His father's death (1483) left the boy king the pawn of the conflicting ambitions of his paternal uncle, t...

York, house of

(Encyclopedia)York, house of, royal house of England, deriving its name from the creation of Edmund of Langley, fifth son of Edward III, as duke of York in 1385. The claims to the throne of Edmund's grandson, Richa...

Pembroke, William Marshal, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Pembroke, William Marshal, 1st earl of, d. 1219, English nobleman. He became (1170) a guardian of Prince Henry, eldest son of Henry II, and supported him in his abortive rebellion (1173–74) against ...