Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Robert I (Robert the Magnificent), d. 1035, duke of Normandy (1027–35); father of William the Conqueror. He is often identified with the legendary Robert the Devil. He aided King Henry I of France a...

(Encyclopedia) Windham, William wĭnˈdəm [key], 1750–1810, British politician. Elected to Parliament in 1784, he was a friend of Edmund Burke, whom he assisted in the impeachment of Warren Hastings. He served (1...

(Encyclopedia) Falconer, William fôkˈnər [key], 1732–69, Scottish poet. The victim of a shipwreck off Greece, he described his ordeal in a long, didactic poem, The Shipwreck (1762). He also wrote (1769) a sourc...

(Encyclopedia) Eggleston, William (William Joseph Eggleston, Jr.), 1939–, American photographer credited with establishing color photography as an art form, b. Memphis Tenn. His early work in black and white was i...

(Encyclopedia) Beebe, William (Charles William Beebe) bēˈbē [key], 1877–1962, American ornithologist, explorer, and author, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., B.S. Columbia, 1898. He became (1899) curator of ornithology and la...

(Encyclopedia) Tryon, William, 1729–88, English colonial governor in North America. After a distinguished army career he was appointed (1764) lieutenant governor of North Carolina and succeeded (1765) Arthur Dobbs...

(Encyclopedia) Phelps, Edward John, 1822–1900, American lawyer and diplomat, b. Middlebury, Vt. He attended (1841–42) Yale law school, was admitted (1843) to the bar, and practiced law in Vermont and later in Ne...

(Encyclopedia) Taylor, Edward Thompson, 1793–1871, American Methodist missionary preacher among seamen, known as Father Taylor, b. Richmond, Va. He was licensed in 1814 to preach and ordained in 1819 in the Method...

(Encyclopedia) Spahn, Warren Edward, 1921–2003, American baseball player, b. Buffalo, N.Y. A spectacular pitcher in high-school baseball, Spahn turned professional in 1939 and played in the minor leagues. In 1942 ...

(Encyclopedia) Somerset, Edward Seymour, duke of, 1506?–1552, protector of England. He served on various military and diplomatic missions for Henry VIII and, after the marriage of his sister Jane to the king, was ...