Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Propertius, Sextus sĕkˈstəs prōpûrˈshəs [key], c.50 b.c.–c.16 b.c., Roman elegiac poet, b. Umbria. He was a member of the circle of Maecenas. A master of the Latin elegy, he wrote with vigor,...

(Encyclopedia) Pryor, Richard, 1940–2005, American comedian, b. Peoria, Ill. His iconoclastic, wildly inventive, and racially explosive comic style was expressed in language that was often crude and frequently bri...

(Encyclopedia) White, T. H. (Terence Hanbury White), 1906–64, British author, b. Bombay (now Mumbai), India. His best-known work, the tetralogy The Once and Future King (1939–58), is a dramatic and delightfully ...

(Encyclopedia) Ringwood, borough (1990 pop. 12,623), Passaic co., N N.J., in the Ramapo Mts. and on the Wanaque River near the N.Y. line. Iron was found nearby in 1730; mines and works were developed from 1764 by Pe...

(Encyclopedia) English, William Hayden, 1822–96, U.S. Congressman (1853–61), b. Scott co., Ind. A lawyer, he entered politics and served in the House of Representatives (1853–1861). In 1858, when the terms und...

(Encyclopedia) Erlanger, Joseph ûrˈlăng-ər [key], 1874–1965, American scientist, b. San Francisco, grad. Univ. of California (B.S., 1895), M.D. Johns Hopkins, 1899. For his contributions to physiology, especia...

(Encyclopedia) Golden Dawn, Hermetic Order of the, occult-oriented fraternal organization established by the Freemasons in England (1888), led by S. L. MacGregor Mathers (1854–1917). The order's rituals were deriv...

(Encyclopedia) Grätz or Graetz, Heinrich both: hīnˈrĭkh grĕts [key], 1817–91, German Jewish historian. He was the first modern historian to write, from a Jewish perspective, a comprehensive history of the Jew...

(Encyclopedia) Republican party, American political party. In 1980, the conservative Ronald Reagan, a former supporter of Barry Goldwater, regained the presidency for the Republicans and reversed long-standi...

(Encyclopedia) filibuster, term used to designate obstructionist tactics in legislative assemblies. It has particular reference to the U.S. Senate, where the tradition of unlimited debate is very strong. It was not ...