Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dalton, John dôlˈtən [key], 1766–1844, English scientist. He revived the atomic theory (see atom), which he formulated in the first volume of his New System of Chemical Philosophy (2 vol., 1808�...

(Encyclopedia) Bradstreet, John, c.1711–1774, British officer in the French and Indian Wars. A Nova Scotian, he was captured (1744) by the French and confined at Louisburg. After his exchange he described the weak...

(Encyclopedia) Hancock, John, 1737–93, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Braintree, Mass. From an uncle he inherited Boston's leading mercantile firm, and n...

(Encyclopedia) Robinson, John, 1576?–1625, English nonconformist pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers in Holland. In 1592 he entered Cambridge; in 1597 he received a fellowship and was ordained. Soon thereafter he became...

(Encyclopedia) Ettwein, John ĕtˈvīn [key], 1721–1802, German-American churchman, leader and bishop of the Moravian Church in the United States. He came to America from Germany in 1754 as a missionary. In his mi...

(Encyclopedia) Davis or Davys, John, 1550?–1605, English navigator. He made his first voyage in search of the Northwest Passage in 1585, continuing the work of Martin Frobisher. On this voyage he discovered Cumber...

(Encyclopedia) Jones, John Paul, 1747–92, American naval hero, b. near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. His name was originally simply John Paul. After the Revolution Jones was sent to Europe to collect the prize mone...

(Encyclopedia) Sayles, John (John Thomas Sayles), 1950–, one of America's most influential independent filmmakers as well as a screenwriter, fiction writer, playwright, and actor, b. Schenectady, N.Y., grad. Willi...

(Encyclopedia) Fastolf, Sir John făsˈtŏlf [key], 1378?–1459, English soldier. He won distinction for his long service in the latter part of the Hundred Years War. He was knighted some time prior to 1418 for ser...

(Encyclopedia) John of Nepomuk, Saint nāˈpōmo͝ok [key], d. 1393, patron saint of Bohemia, a martyr. He is also called John Nepomucen. He was vicar general of Bohemia under King Wenceslaus IV (later Holy Roman Em...