Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Osterman, Andrei Ivanovich, Count əndrāˈ ēväˈnəvĭch əstyĭrmänˈ [key], 1686–1747, Russian statesman, b. Germany. His original name was Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann. Under Czar Pete...

(Encyclopedia) Pennell, Joseph pĕnˈəl [key], 1857–1926, American illustrator, etcher, lithographer, and author, b. Philadelphia, studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Much of his time was spent ...

(Encyclopedia) philately fĭlătˈəlē [key], collection and study of postage stamps and of materials relating to their history and use. Collecting stamps began soon after the first postage stamp was issued in 1840...

(Encyclopedia) Diniz, Port. Dinis dēnēshˈ [key], 1261–1325, king of Portugal (1279–1325), son and successor of Alfonso III. Like his grandfather, Alfonso X of Castile, whose legal works he had translated into...

(Encyclopedia) Chertoff, Michael, 1953–, U.S. government official, b. Elizabeth, N.J., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1975, J.D., 1978). A lawyer, Chertoff was an assistant federal prosecutor in New York (1983–87) and New...

(Encyclopedia) Ford, John, 1895–1973, American film director, b. Cape Elizabeth, Maine, as John Martin Feeney. Ford began directing in 1917 after an apprenticeship with his brother Francis. Over the next 50 years,...

(Encyclopedia) Jackson, Glenda, 1936–2023, English actress and politician. Jackson's first starring role was as Charlotte Corday in Marat/Sade (1966) for the Royal S...

(Encyclopedia) John the Baptist, Saint, d. c.a.d. 28–a.d. 30, Jewish prophet, considered by Christians to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who was also a kinswoman of Mary, th...

(Encyclopedia) surrogate mother, a woman who agrees, usually by contract and for a fee, to bear a child for a couple who are childless because the wife is infertile or physically incapable of carrying a developing f...

(Encyclopedia) Tower of London, ancient fortress in London, England, just east of the City and on the north bank of the Thames, covering about 13 acres (5.3 hectares). Now used mainly as a museum, it was a royal res...