Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Manson, Charles Milles, 1934–2017, American criminal and cult leader, b. Cincinnati, Ohio, as Charles Milles Maddox. As a youth Manson began a life of crime, mainly burglaries, thefts, and robberies...

(Encyclopedia) pragmatic sanction, decision of state dealing with a matter of great importance to a community or a whole state and having the force of fundamental law. The term originated in Roman law and was used o...

(Encyclopedia) Bingham, Hiram, 1875–1956, American archaeologist, historian, and statesman, b. Honolulu; son of Hiram Bingham (1831–1908). He was educated at Yale (B.A., 1898), the Univ. of California (M.A., 190...

(Encyclopedia) Anna (Anna Ivanovna) änˈnə ĭväˈnôvnə [key], 1693–1740, czarina of Russia (1730–40), daughter of Ivan V and niece of Peter I (Peter the Great). On the death of her distant cousin, Peter II,...

(Encyclopedia) True, Alfred Charles, 1853–1929, American agricultural expert and educator, b. Middletown, Conn., grad. Wesleyan Univ. (B.A., 1873). Associated with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture from 1889, he was d...

(Encyclopedia) Gridley, Charles Vernon, 1844–98, U.S. naval officer, b. Logansport, Ind. After serving in the Civil War, he continued in naval service. He was flagship commander under Commodore Dewey at Manila in ...

(Encyclopedia) Norton, Charles Eliot, 1827–1908, American scholar and teacher, b. Cambridge, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1846. As professor of the history of art at Harvard (1875–98) and as a man of letters he had a s...

(Encyclopedia) Doolittle, James Harold, 1896–1993, American aviator, b. Alameda, Calif. After serving in World War I as a flier he returned to school and earned a Sc.D. from MIT. He then became noted for his speed...

(Encyclopedia) Balchen, Bernt bârnt bälˈkən [key], 1899–1973, Norwegian-American aviator. He headed one of the search expeditions for Amundsen and Ellsworth in 1925 and was a member of their 1926 expedition to...

(Encyclopedia) Mazzuchelli, Samuel Charles mäˈzho͞okĕlē [key], 1806–64, Italian missionary in America. He was a Dominican. He was ordered (1830) to the island of Mackinac to be the only permanent priest in th...