Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Digby, Kenelm Henry, 1800–1880, English author, b. Ireland. He converted to Roman Catholicism after his graduation from Cambridge. His principal works are The Broadstone of Honour (1822; enl. ed., 4...

(Encyclopedia) Perkin, Sir William Henry, 1838–1907, English chemist. In 1856 he discovered the first aniline dye (aniline purple, known as mauve and mauveine); by founding a factory to make it, Perkin established...

(Encyclopedia) Roscoe, Sir Henry Enfield rŏsˈkō [key], 1833–1915, English chemist. He was professor (1857–87) at Owens College, Manchester. He is known for his work, with R. W. Bunsen, in photochemistry and f...

(Encyclopedia) Henry VI, 1421–71, king of England (1422–61, 1470–71). Henry was a mild, honest, and pious man, a patron of literature and the arts and the founder of Eton College (1440). He was, however, u...

(Encyclopedia) McDuffie, George, 1790–1851, American politician, b. Columbia co., Ga. He was a member of the South Carolina legislature and served (1821–34) in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he quickly...

(Encyclopedia) Cadbury, George, 1839–1922, English manufacturer and social reformer; husband of Elizabeth Mary Cadbury. In 1861, Cadbury and his brother Richard assumed control of their father's Birmingham cocoa a...

(Encyclopedia) Cavendish, George, 1500–1561?, English gentleman, usher to Cardinal Wolsey. His biography of Wolsey, written in 1557, remained in manuscript until 1641 and first appeared in entirety in Christopher ...

(Encyclopedia) Best, George, 1946–2005, Northern Irish soccer play, b. Belfast. Regarded as the greatest player ever in British soccer, he was signed by Manchester United in 1961. He first played for the team in 1...

(Encyclopedia) Henry IV, 1367–1413, king of England (1399–1413), eldest son of John of Gaunt and grandson of Edward III; called Henry of Bolingbroke. He founded the Lancastrian dynasty. The new king was immed...

(Encyclopedia) Smollett, Tobias George smŏlˈĭt [key], 1721–71, Scottish novelist. After studying at Glasgow he came to London in 1739. Failing to get his tragedy The Regicide produced, he shipped as a surgeon's...