Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) English units of measurement, principal system of weights and measures used in a few nations, the only major industrial one being the United States. It actually consists of two related systems—the U...

(Encyclopedia) Granville, John Carteret, 1st Earl, 1690–1763, English statesman, better known as Lord Carteret. He served as ambassador to Sweden (1719–20) and as a secretary of state (1721–24), but his favor ...

(Encyclopedia) Ford, John, 1586–c.1640, English dramatist, b. Devonshire. He went to London to study law but was never called to the bar. The early part of his playwriting career was taken up with collaborations, ...

(Encyclopedia) Sherrington, Sir Charles Scott, 1857–1952, English neurophysiologist, educated at Cambridge. He was professor of physiology at the universities of Liverpool and London and at Oxford. He contributed ...

(Encyclopedia) Havre, Le lə äˈvrə [key], city, Seine-Maritime dept., N France, in Normandy, at the mouth of ...

(Encyclopedia) Golden Gate, strait, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1 to 2 mi (1.6–3.2 km) wide, linking San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1579 by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Known ...

(Encyclopedia) Schwarz, Berthold bĕrˈtôlt shvärts [key], fl. 14th cent., German Franciscan monk and alchemist. It was formerly widely believed, especially in Germany, that he invented gunpowder and was the first...

(Encyclopedia) Glanvill or Glanvil, Joseph glănˈvĭl [key], 1636–80, English clergyman and philosopher. He was chaplain in ordinary to Charles II and prebendary of Worcester Cathedral. An exponent of occasionali...

(Encyclopedia) Winwood, Sir Ralph, 1563?–1617, English diplomat and statesman. He served as ambassador to France (1601–3) and agent to the States-General of the Netherlands (1603–14). At The Hague he assisted ...

(Encyclopedia) America, in music, a patriotic hymn of the United States. The words (beginning “My country, 'tis of thee”) were written in 1832 by Samuel Francis Smith while he was a theological student in Andove...