Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Latimer, Hugh lătˈəmər [key], 1485?–1555, English bishop and Protestant martyr. Latimer was educated at Cambridge, entered the church, and came under the influence of the Reformation. He first b...

(Encyclopedia) Shirley, William, 1694–1771, colonial governor in British North America, b. England. He became a lawyer and in 1731 emigrated to Massachusetts. In 1741 he became governor of Massachusetts. He oppose...

(Encyclopedia) Ringling Brothers, seven brothers, sons of German-born August Rüngeling, who established an American circus empire. Albert C. (1852–1916), Otto (1858–1911), Alfred T. (1861–1919), Charles Edwar...

(Encyclopedia) Derby, Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley, 14th earl of därˈbē [key], 1799–1869, British statesman. Although a Whig, he entered (1827) government as George Canning's undersecretary for the colo...

(Encyclopedia) Green, Hetty, 1835–1916, American financier, b. Henrietta Howland Robinson, New Bedford, Mass. She inherited a large fortune from her father and invested it so shrewdly that she was considered the g...

(Encyclopedia) Clare, John, 1793–1864, English poet. A romantic poet who wrote shortly after the vogue for such verse, he had a profound and singular gift for capturing nature in exquisitely specific detail. The s...

(Encyclopedia) Mutis, José Celestino hōsāˈ thālĕstēˈnō mo͞oˈtēs [key], 1732–1808, Spanish naturalist and plant explorer. One of Linnaeus' first disciples in Spain, he went to South America and settled ...

(Encyclopedia) Peele, George, 1558?–1597?, English playwright, educated at Oxford. He experimented in a variety of forms, including the pageant, history, pastoral, comedy, and melodrama, but his best-known work is...

(Encyclopedia) Dee, John, 1527–1608, English mathematician and occultist. He was educated at Cambridge. Accused of practicing sorcery against Queen Mary I, he was acquitted and later was a favorite of Queen Elizab...

(Encyclopedia) Petraeus, David Howell pĕtrāˈəs [key], 1952–, American military officer and government official, b. Cornwall, N.Y., studied West Point (B.S., 1974), U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (...