Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Stamp Act

(Encyclopedia)Stamp Act, 1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamp...

Goldsborough, Louis Malesherbes

(Encyclopedia)Goldsborough, Louis Malesherbes mălzûrbˈ gōlˈbərə [key], 1805–77, American naval officer, b. Washington, D.C. Appointed a midshipman in 1812, he fought in the Mediterranean and in the Mexican...

chickadee

(Encyclopedia)chickadee chĭkˈədēˌ [key], small North American bird of the titmouse family. The black-capped chickadee (Parus atricapillus), lively and gregarious, is a permanent resident over most of its range...

Morgan, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Morgan, Daniel, 1736–1802, American Revolutionary general, b. probably in Hunterdon co., N.J. He moved (c.1753) to Virginia and later served in the French and Indian Wars and several campaigns again...

Williamson, Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Williamson, Hugh, 1735–1819, American political leader, physician, and scientist, b. West Nottingham, Pa. He studied theology, preached for a short time, and then was (1760–63) professor of mathem...

Smithies, Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Smithies, Oliver, 1925–2017, American geneticist, b. Halifax, England, Ph.D., Oxford, 1951. Smithies was on the faculty at the Univ. of Toronto (1953–60) and Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison (1960–8...

Stoneman, George

(Encyclopedia)Stoneman, George, 1822–94, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Busti, N.Y. As commander of Fort Brown, Tex., in Feb., 1861, he refused to obey the order of General Twiggs to surrender to Tex...

Faulkner, William

(Encyclopedia)Faulkner, William, 1897–1962, American novelist, b. New Albany, Miss., one of the great American writers of the 20th cent. Born into an old Southern family named Falkner, he changed the spelling of ...

Paraguay, country, South America

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Paraguay pârˈəgwā, –gwī, Span. pärägwīˈ [key], officially Republic of Paraguay, republic (2015 est. pop. 6,639,000), 157,047 sq mi (406,752 sq km), S central South America. Paraguay ...

Jefferson, Territory of

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Territory of, in U.S. history, region that roughly encompassed the present-day state of Colorado, although extending 2° farther south and 1° farther north, organized by its inhabitants (1...
 

Browse by Subject