Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Wirtz, William Willard, 1912–2010, U.S. secretary of labor (1962–69), b. DeKalb, Ill. A professor of law at Northwestern Univ. (1939–42), he served (1943–45) with the War Labor Board and was (...

(Encyclopedia) Beresford, William Carr Beresford, Viscount, 1768–1854, British general. He served with distinction in Egypt (1801–3) and participated (1806) in the capture of Cape Colony (later Cape Province, So...

(Encyclopedia) Stegner, Wallace (Wallace Earle Stegner), 1909–93, American writer, b. Lake Mills, Iowa, grad. Univ. of Utah (1930). He wrote perceptively of the American West in short stories, e.g., The Woman on t...

(Encyclopedia) Strickland, Donna Theo, 1959–, Canadian physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Rochester, New York, 1989. Strickland held research positions at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa from 1988 to 1991...

(Encyclopedia) Saint Austell sŭnt ôˈstəl; [key], town (1991 pop. 36,639), Cornwall, SW England, at the mouth of the Fowey River on St. Austell Bay. China clay (discovered there c.1755) is produced and exported, ...

(Encyclopedia) Bardsey Island bärdˈsē [key], Welsh Ynys Enlli, 0.7 sq mi (1.8 sq km), Gwynedd, Wales, off the SW tip of the Lleyn Peninsula. The small island, which rises to 548 ft (167 m), is separated from the ...

(Encyclopedia) Gleason, Henry Allan glēˈsən [key], 1882–1975, American botanist, plant geographer, and plant ecologist. His floristic studies of North American vegetation led to his “individualistic concept o...

(Encyclopedia) Laurel and Hardy, American film comedy team. The duo consisted of Stan Laurel, 1890–1965, b. Ulverson, England, whose real name was Arthur Stanley Jefferson; and Oliver Hardy, 1892–1957, b. Atlant...

(Encyclopedia) Lee, William, 1739–95, American Revolutionary diplomat, b. Westmoreland co., Va.; brother of Arthur Lee, Francis L. Lee, and Richard H. Lee. He opened a business house in London in 1768 and later wa...

(Encyclopedia) Mansfield, William Murray, 1st earl of, 1705–93, English jurist. As solicitor general (1742–54) he prosecuted the Scottish rebel lords, Balmerino (Arthur Elphinstone), Kilmarnock, and Lovat. In 17...