Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Barnet

(Encyclopedia)Barnet bärˈnət [key], outer borough of Greater London, SE England. Although mainly residen...

African Methodist Episcopal Church

(Encyclopedia)African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist denomination (see Methodism). It was established in 1816 in Philadelphia with Richard Allen as its first bishop. In 1991 there were about 3.5 million memb...

Gregory, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Gregory, Dick (Richard Claxton Gregory), 1932–2017, African-American civil-rights activist and comedian, b. St. Louis, Mo. A biting satirist who used the struggle for civil rights and other topical ...

national bank

(Encyclopedia)national bank, in the United States, financial institution of a class authorized by Congress in acts of 1863 and 1864. The acts were intended to provide a way of marketing the large bond issues made n...

Haggai

(Encyclopedia)Haggai hăgˈāī [key], prophetic book of the Bible. Dated 520 b.c., it is a collection of five oracles addressed to Jews, newly returned from the Babylonian exile. The prophet summons the people to ...

Bain, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Bain, Alexander, 1818–1903, Scottish philosopher and psychologist. He was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, where he later taught for three years. He taught one year (1845) at Anderson's Univ...

Nehemiah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Nehemiah, originally combined with Ezra to form a single book in the Hebrew canon. In the Septuagint, Ezra and Nehemiah are combined as Second Esdras. The book narrates the return to Jerusalem of Nehe...

Weil, Simone

(Encyclopedia)Weil, Simone sēmônˈ vīl [key], 1909–43, French philosopher and mystic. After receiving her baccalauréat with honors at 15, she studied philosophy for four years, then entered (1928) the prestig...

Lee, Francis Lightfoot

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 1734–97, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Westmoreland co., Va.; brother of Arthur, Richard H., and William Lee. Whi...

Marie Byrd Land

(Encyclopedia)Marie Byrd Land, area of W Antarctica, E of the Ross Shelf Ice and the Ross Sea and S of the Amundsen Sea; the Ford Ranges lie in the northwest part. The region was discovered and claimed for the Unit...