Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

319 results found

Catiline

(Encyclopedia)Catiline (Lucius Sergius Catilina) kătˈĭlīn [key], c.108 b.c.–62 b.c., Roman politician and conspirator. At first a conservative and a partisan of Sulla, he was praetor in 68 b.c. and governor o...

Turgenev, Ivan Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Turgenev, Ivan Sergeyevich ēvänˈ syĭrgāˈəvĭch to͞orgāˈnyĭf [key], 1818–83, Russian novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer, considered one of the foremost Russian writers. He came fr...

Wedgwood, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Wedgwood, Josiah, 1730–95, English potter, descendant of a family of Staffordshire potters and perhaps the greatest of all potters. At the age of nine he went to work at the plant owned by his broth...

Demosthenes

(Encyclopedia)Demosthenes dĭmŏsˈthənēz [key], 384?–322 b.c., Greek orator, generally considered the greatest of the Greek orators. He was a pupil of Isaeus, and—although the story of his putting pebbles in...

Melbourne, William Lamb, 2d Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Melbourne, William Lamb, 2d Viscount mĕlˈbərn [key], 1779–1848, British statesman. He entered Parliament as a Whig in 1805, was (1827–28) chief secretary for Ireland, and entered (1828) the Hou...

Braddock, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Braddock, Edward, 1695–1755, British general in the French and Indian War (see under French and Indian Wars). Although he had seen little active campaigning before 1754, Braddock was reputed to have...

Ten Years War

(Encyclopedia)Ten Years War, 1868–78, struggle for Cuban independence from Spain. Discontent was caused in Cuba by excessive taxation, trade restrictions, and virtual exclusion of native Cubans from governmental ...

Zola, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Zola, Émile āmēlˈ zôläˈ [key], 1840–1902, French novelist, b. Paris. He was a professional writer, earning his living through journalism and his novels. About 1870 he became the apologist for...

Rainey, Gertrude "Ma"

(Encyclopedia)Rainey, Gertrude "Ma," 1886–1939, African-American blues singer and songwriter, b. Columbus, Ga., as Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett. Rainey's place and...

Russell

(Encyclopedia)Russell, English noble family. It first appeared prominently in the reign of Henry VIII when John Russell, 1st earl of Bedford, 1486?–1555, rose to military and diplomatic importance. He was lord hi...