Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) epitaph, strictly, an inscription on a tomb; by extension, a statement, usually in verse, commemorating the dead. The earliest such inscriptions are those found on Egyptian sarcophagi. In England epit...

(Encyclopedia) Weaver, Robert Clifton, 1907–97, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1966–68), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Harvard (B.S., 1929; M.A., 1931; Ph.D., 1934). An African American, he was su...

(Encyclopedia) Bridges, Robert Seymour, 1844–1930, English poet. In 1882 he abandoned medical practice to devote himself to writing. An excellent metrist, he wrote many beautiful lyrics and longer poems, noted for...

(Encyclopedia) rake, farm implement consisting of a row of straight or curved teeth of metal or wood attached to a bar or frame. It is used for gathering hay or grain into piles; for clearing fields, lawns, and yard...

(Encyclopedia) Jones, Robert Edmond, 1887–1954, American scene designer, b. Milton, N.H. With his design in 1915 for The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife, a new era of scene design began in the United States. His use o...

(Encyclopedia) Dennett, Tyler dĕnˈĭt [key], 1883–1949, American historian and educator, b. Spencer, Wis. Dennett was lecturer in American history at Johns Hopkins (1923–24) and at Columbia (1927–28), chief ...

(Encyclopedia) Prynne, William prĭn [key], 1600–1669, English political figure and Puritan pamphleteer. Beginning his attacks on Arminian doctrine in 1627, he soon earned the enmity of William Laud. When Prynne's...

(Encyclopedia) Salmasius, Claudius klôdˈēəs sălmāˈshəs [key], 1588–1653, French humanist and philologist. Salmasius is known in French as Claude de Saumaise. After studying Latin and Greek with his father,...

(Encyclopedia) Knox, Philander Chase fəlănˈdər [key], 1853–1921, U.S. cabinet member, b. Brownsville, Pa. He built up a fortune as a corporation lawyer in Pittsburgh. He was Attorney General (1901–4) in the ...

(Encyclopedia) Hershey, uninc. city (2020 pop. 13,858), Dauphin co., S central Pa.; founded 1903 as a planned community for workers at the Hershey Corp., the chocolate...