Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Parks, Rosa Louise

(Encyclopedia)Parks, Rosa Louise, 1913–2005, American civil-rights activist, b. Tuskegee, Ala., as Rosa Louise McCauley. A seamstress and long-time activist-member of the Montgomery, Ala., chapter of the National...

Jackson, Mahalia

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Mahalia məhălˈyə [key], 1911–72, American gospel singer, b. New Orleans. She sang in church choirs during her childhood. Moving (1927) to Chicago, she worked at various menial jobs and ...

Langton, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Langton, Stephen, c.1155–1228, English prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was educated at Paris. Innocent III named him cardinal in 1206, and he became archbishop of Canterbury the f...

Lapointe, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Lapointe, Ernest läpwăNtˈ [key], 1876–1941, Canadian political leader, b. Quebec prov. A lawyer, he was from 1904 to 1941 a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons. After the death of Wil...

Maximilian I, 1756–1825, king and elector of Bavaria

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian I, 1756–1825, king (1806–25) and elector (1799–1806) of Bavaria as Maximilian IV Joseph. His alliance with French Emperor Napoleon I earned him the royal title and vast territorial in...

Clapton, Eric Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Clapton, Eric Patrick, 1945–, British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, b. Ripley, Surrey, England. A seminal figure in rock music, he is noted especially for his virtuoso guitar playing, whose sty...

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz äbdo͝olˈlä ĭbˈən ăbdo͝olˈ ăzēzˈ [key], 1924–2015, king of Saudi Arabia (2005–15), b. Riyadh. Like his predecessor, King Fahd, he was a son of Saudi Arabia's fo...

Pérez, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Pérez, Antonio äntôˈnyō pāˈrĕth [key], b. 1534 or 1539, d. 1611, Spanish politician. Ambitious and unscrupulous, he became secretary to King Philip II and was, with the princesa de Éboli, a c...

Antiochus I

(Encyclopedia)Antiochus I (Antiochus Soter) āntīˈəkəs sōˈtər [key], b. c.324 b.c., d. c.262 or 261 b.c., king of Syria (280–261? b.c.), son of Seleucus I. He did not, like his father, seek to expand in Eu...

Browse by Subject