Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Flamsteed, John flămˈstēd [key], 1646–1719, English astronomer. He was appointed (1675) astronomer royal by King Charles II and carried on his researches at Greenwich Observatory. Over his protes...

(Encyclopedia) Smeaton, John smēˈtən [key], 1724–92, English civil engineer. He became an instrument maker, improved navigation instruments, and carried out many experiments on mechanical apparatus. Between 175...

(Encyclopedia) Pynchon, John pĭnˈchən [key], c.1626–1703, American colonist and merchant, b. England; son of William Pynchon. He emigrated to Massachusetts Bay colony with his father in 1630. When his father re...

(Encyclopedia) Louis VIII, 1187–1226, king of France (1223–26), son and successor of King Philip II. He fought (1215, 1219) against the Albigenses in S France. Invited by English lords in rebellion against their...

(Encyclopedia) Langton, Stephen, c.1155–1228, English prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was educated at Paris. Innocent III named him cardinal in 1206, and he became archbishop of Canterbury the f...

(Encyclopedia) St. John, Oliver sĭnˈjən [key], 1598?–1673, English politician. He married (1638) a cousin of Oliver Cromwell. In 1637–38 he was, by his brilliant defense of John Hampden in the ship money case...

(Encyclopedia) Nicolay, John George nĭkˈəlā [key], 1832–1901, biographer of Lincoln, b. Bavaria. In 1837 he was brought to the United States, and his family settled in Pike co., Ill. He worked on the Pittsfiel...

(Encyclopedia) Smibert or Smybert, John both: smīˈbərt [key], 1688–1751, American portrait painter, b. Scotland, the first skillful painter in New England. After his apprenticeship to an Edinburgh house painter...

(Encyclopedia) Ruysbroeck, John, Dutch Jan van Ruusbroec yän vän roisˈbro͞ok [key], 1293–1381, Roman Catholic mystic, b. Brabant (now in Belgium and the Netherlands). He was an Augustinian canon. In middle age...

(Encyclopedia) Cairnes, John Elliot kârnz [key], 1823–75, Irish economist, a follower of John Stuart Mill. His Slave Power (1862), a defense of the North in the American Civil War, made a great impression in Engl...