Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Galton, Sir Francis gôlˈtən [key], 1822–1911, English scientist, founder of eugenics; cousin of Charles Darwin. He turned from exploration and meteorology (where he introduced the theory of the a...

(Encyclopedia) Seward, Anna sēˈwərd [key], 1742–1809, English poet, called the Swan of Lichfield. A member of the Lichfield literary group, which included Thomas Day and Erasmus Darwin, she was acquainted also ...

(Encyclopedia) Hales, John, 1584–1656, English clergyman and scholar, often alluded to as the Ever-Memorable. He won distinction by his lectures on Greek at Oxford, his preaching, and his writings. From 1613 to 16...

(Encyclopedia) Accolti, Benedetto bānādĕtˈtō äk-kôlˈtē [key], c.1415–1466?, Italian humanist and historian. From his history of the First Crusade, Tasso supposedly drew the idea for Jerusalem Delivered. H...

(Encyclopedia) Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm, 1853–1917, English actor-manager, whose original name was Herbert Draper Beerbohm. He was a half-brother of Max Beerbohm. His first success (1884) was as the curate in Th...

(Encyclopedia) Colosseum or Coliseum both: kŏləsēˈəm [key], Ital. Colosseo, common name of the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, near the southeast end of the Forum, between the Palatine and Esquiline hills. Begun ...

(Encyclopedia) Fleming, Ian Lancaster, 1908–64, English spy novelist, b. London. Son of a Conservative member of Parliament, Fleming was educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and Munich and Geneva universities and worked a...

(Encyclopedia) Porter, Horace, 1837–1921, American soldier and diplomat, b. Huntingdon, Pa. In the Civil War he saw varied service, mostly as an ordnance officer, before becoming (1864) aide-de-camp to Gen. U. S. ...

(Encyclopedia) Barrymore, Anglo-American family of actors. Lionel and Ethel's younger brother, John Barrymore,John Barrymore, 1882–1942, b. Philadelphia, tried his hand at painting and cartooning before turning ...

(Encyclopedia) nursery school, educational institution for children from two to four years of age. It is distinguishable from a day nursery in that it serves children of both working and nonworking parents, rarely r...