Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Perry, Ralph Barton

(Encyclopedia)Perry, Ralph Barton, 1876–1957, American realist philosopher, b. Poultney, Vt., grad. Princeton (B.A., 1896) and Harvard (Ph.D., 1899). He taught at Harvard from 1902, becoming professor of philosop...

Perry, William James

(Encyclopedia)Perry, William James, 1927–, U.S. government official, b. Vandergrift, Pa. A Ph.D. in mathematics, former Stanford engineering professor, and founder of a military electronics firm, he served (1977â...

Scott, Sir Walter

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Sir Walter, 1771–1832, Scottish novelist and poet, b. Edinburgh. He is considered the father of both the regional and the historical novel. Scott's narrative poems introduced a form of v...

Johnson, Allen

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Allen, 1870–1931, American historian, b. Lowell, Mass. He was professor of history at Iowa (now Grinnell) College (1898–1905), Bowdoin College (1905–10), and Yale (1910–26). He achiev...

Johnson, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Andrew, 1808–75, 17th President of the United States (1865–69), b. Raleigh, N.C. On Apr. 15, 1865, following Lincoln's assassination, Johnson took the oath of office as President. His...

Johnson, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Boris (Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson), 1964–, British political leader, b. New York City, grad. Oxford (1986). While at Oxford Johnson was president of the prestigious Oxford Union deb...

Johnson, Cave

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Cave, 1793–1866, American political leader, b. Robertson co., Tenn. He practiced law in his native state and served (1829–37, 1839–45) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Johnson gave...

Johnson, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Denis, 1949–2017, American writer, b. Munich, Germany, where his father was a diplomat; B.A. Univ. of Iowa, 1971, M.F.A. Iowa Writers' Workshop, 1974. Years of drinking and taking drugs end...

Johnson, Eastman

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Eastman, 1824–1906, American portrait and genre painter, b. Lovell, Maine. He studied with a lithographer in Boston and later in Düsseldorf, then for almost four years at The Hague, where ...

Johnson, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Edward, 1881–1959, Canadian tenor and operatic manager, b. Guelph, Ont. As Eduardo di Giovanni, he sang in Italian opera houses (1912–19). In 1920 he joined the Chicago Opera Company and ...