Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) crucifixion, hanging on a cross, in ancient times a method of capital punishment. It was practiced widely in the Middle East but not by the Greeks. The Romans, who may have borrowed it from Carthage, ...

(Encyclopedia) Johnson, Reverdy, 1796–1876, American lawyer and statesman, b. Annapolis, Md. Admitted to the bar in 1816, he served in the Maryland legislature (1821–28) and the U.S. Senate (1845–49) and was a...

(Encyclopedia) populism, in politics, a movement or political strategy that purports to endorse the will of the common or ordinary people, especially when distinguished from and opposed to a corrupt political or eco...

(Encyclopedia) Service Employees International Union (SEIU), labor union representing U.S. and Canadian workers in health care (doctors, nurses, health technicians), public services (government workers, school emplo...

(Encyclopedia) Spectator, English daily periodical published jointly by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele with occasional contributions from other writers. It succeeded the Tatler, a periodical begun by Steele on Ap...

(Encyclopedia) Mellon, Paul, 1907–99, American philanthropist and art collector, b. Pittsburgh. The son of Andrew W. Mellon, he attended Yale (B.A., 1929) and Clare College, Cambridge (A.B., 1931). He worked brief...

(Encyclopedia) Pensacola pĕnsəkōˈlə [key], city (1990 pop. 58,165), seat of Escambia co., extreme NW Fla., on Pensacola Bay; inc. 1822. It is a port of entry with a natural harbor and shipping and fishing indus...

(Encyclopedia) Billings, John Shaw, 1838–1913, American surgeon and librarian, b. Indiana. In the Civil War he was medical inspector of the Army of the Potomac. After the war he was given charge of the Surgeon Gen...

(Encyclopedia) Blair, Francis Preston, 1791–1876, American journalist and politician, b. Abingdon, Va. Through the Frankfort, Ky., journal Argus of Western America, which he edited with Amos Kendall, Blair was an ...

(Encyclopedia) Close, Glenn, 1947–, American actress, b. Greenwich, Conn. She began her career in the theater, debuting on Broadway in Love for Love (1974), winning an Obie for the off-Broadway The Singular Life o...