Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Brooks, 1848–1927, American historian, b. Quincy, Mass.; son of Charles Francis Adams (1807–86). His theory that civilization rose and fell according to the growth and decline of commerce w...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Abigail, 1744–1818, wife of President John Adams and mother of President John Quincy Adams, b. Weymouth, Mass., as Abigail Smith. A lively, intelligent woman, she married John Adams in 1764 a...

(Encyclopedia) Thompson, Daniel Pierce, 1795–1868, American novelist, b. Charlestown, Mass. He wrote adventure novels, many of which deal with life in Vermont. His notable work is The Green Mountain Boys (1839). ...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Henry, 1838–1918, American writer and historian, b. Boston; son of Charles Francis Adams (1807–86). He was secretary (1861–68) to his father, then U.S. minister to Great Britain. Upon his...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Gerry (Gerard Adams), 1948–, Northern Irish political leader. Born into an Irish nationalist family, Adams became politically active during the Catholic civil rights demonstrations of the 196...

(Encyclopedia) Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine; coeducational; chartered 1794, opened 1802, named for James Bowdoin. One of the nation's older colleges, its alumni include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth L...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Alice, 1926–99, American novelist, b. Fredericksburg, Va. Her deftly wry and witty fiction concerns 20th-century domestic and professional life, and usually concentrates on the lives of women...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Will (William Adams), 1564?–1620, first Englishman to visit Japan. As pilot of a Dutch ship searching for gold and trade, he reached Japan in 1600. At first imprisoned and sentenced to death,...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Doc (Daniel Lucius Adams), 1814–1899, American baseball player and team executive, b. Mont Vernon, N.H., grad. Yale (1835), Harvard Medical School (1838). After working in his father's medica...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia; chartered and opened 1824 “for the promotion of the mechanic arts,” the first of its kind in the country. It was named for Benjamin Franklin. Since the 19th ce...