Columbia Encyclopedia

(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) Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson ōˈbərhōltˌsər [key], 1868–1936, American historian, b. Chester co., Pa. He studied abroad and then worked on various Philadelphia newspapers. He edited the Manufactur...

(Encyclopedia) Dean, Jerome Herman (Dizzy Dean), 1911–74, American baseball player, b. Lucas, Ark. His name was originally Jay Hanna Dean. A colorful right-handed pitcher, Dean performed brilliantly (1930–37) fo...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Lubbock, Sir John lŭbˈək [key], 1834–1913, English banker, statesman, and naturalist. As a member of Parliament from 1870, he introduced many reform bills, especially in banking, including legisl...

(Encyclopedia) Neale, John Mason nēl [key], 1818–66, English clergyman, historian, and hymn writer, grad. Trinity College, Cambridge, 1840. An enthusiastic supporter of the High Church movement, he was under the ...

(Encyclopedia) Child, Sir John, d. 1690, English administrator in India. In 1680 he was appointed the British East India Company's agent at Surat, then the company's main factory (i.e., trading station) in W India. ...