Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Benn, Anthony Wedgwood

(Encyclopedia)Benn, Anthony Wedgwood (Tony Benn), 1925–2014, British politician, b. London, grad. New College, Oxford. After working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (1949–50), he was elected a Labour m...

Drew, Charles Richard

(Encyclopedia)Drew, Charles Richard, 1904–50, African-American physician, b. Washington, D.C. A surgeon and a professor at Howard Univ. (1935–36; 1942–50), he developed a means of preserving blood plasma for ...

Sherman, James Schoolcraft

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, James Schoolcraft, 1855–1912, Vice President of the United States (1909–12), b. near Utica, N.Y. A lawyer, he was (1884–85) mayor of Utica. Sherman served (1887–91, 1893–1909) as a ...

Davis, Benjamin Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Benjamin Oliver, 1877–1970, American general, b. Washington, D.C. After studying (1897–98) at Howard Univ., Davis served as a lieutenant in the Spanish-American War and in 1899 enlisted in ...

Churchyard, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Churchyard, Thomas, 1520?–1604, English author. In his youth he was page to Henry Howard, earl of Surrey. He spent most of his life as a professional soldier, serving in Scotland, Flanders, and Fran...

Fleming, Sir Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Fleming, Sir Alexander, 1881–1955, Scottish bacteriologist, discoverer of penicillin (1928) and lysozyme (1922), an antibacterial substance found in saliva and other body secretions. Educated at St....

Kokomo

(Encyclopedia)Kokomo kōˈkəmō [key], city (1990 pop. 44,962), seat of Howard co., N central Ind., on Wildcat Creek; inc. 1865. Glass, motor vehicle parts, metal products, plastics, food and beverages, and plumbi...

Carnarvon, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Carnarvon, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th earl of, 1831–90, British statesman. As colonial secretary (1866–67) under the earl of Derby he introduced the British North America Act, which made C...

Freedmen's Bureau

(Encyclopedia)Freedmen's Bureau, in U.S. history, a federal agency, formed to aid and protect the newly freed blacks in the South after the Civil War. Established by an act of Mar. 3, 1865, under the name “bureau...

Burgess, Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Burgess, Anthony bûrˈjĭs [key], 1917–93, English novelist, b. Manchester as John Anthony Burgess Wilson, grad. Manchester Univ., 1940. He taught school in England and in East Asia and pursued an ...

Browse by Subject