Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Palmer, Erastus Dow, 1817–1904, American sculptor, b. Pompey, N.Y., self-taught. A carpenter in his youth, he spent his leisure time cutting cameos. He progressed to carving bas-reliefs and then fig...

(Encyclopedia) Blunt, George William, 1802–78, American hydrographer; son of Edmund March Blunt, a pioneer publisher of nautical books and charts in Newburyport, Mass. He established (1821) himself in a similar bu...

(Encyclopedia) Blackmur, Richard Palmer, 1904–65, American critic and poet, b. Springfield, Mass. Although he had no formal education after high school, he was a resident fellow (1940–48) and professor (1948–6...

(Encyclopedia) Mpama, Josie 1903–1979, anti-apartheid activist. Mpama was a pioneer of women's rights in South Africa and a labor advocate. B...

(Encyclopedia) Somerville. 1 City (1990 pop. 76,210), Middlesex co., E Mass., a residential and industrial suburb of Boston, on the Mystic River; settled 1630, set off from Charlestown 1842, inc. as a city 1871. The...

(Encyclopedia) Gershwin, George gŭrshˈwĭn [key], 1898–1937, American composer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Jacob Gershwin. Gershwin wrote some of the most original and popular musical works produced in the United Sta...

(Encyclopedia) Long Island, battle of, Aug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island, George Washingt...

(Encyclopedia)  Weicker, Lowell Palmer, Jr., , 1931–2023 , American politician, b. Paris, France, Yale Univ. (B.A., 1953), Univ. of Virginia School of Law (J.D., 195...

(Encyclopedia) Herbert, George, 1593–1633, one of the English metaphysical poets. Of noble family, he was the brother of Baron Herbert of Cherbury. He was graduated from Cambridge. His early determination to enter...

(Encyclopedia) Selborne, Roundell Palmer, 1st earl of sĕlˈbôrn [key], 1812–95, British jurist and statesman. Called to the bar in 1837, he entered Parliament in 1847 as a nominal Conservative. He soon was assoc...