Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Santokhi, Chandrikapersad, 1959–, Surinamese political leader. Trained as a police officer in the Netherlands, he worked for the Suriname police force as an inspector, becoming chief inspector (1982...

(Encyclopedia) Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte, city (1995 est. pop. 114,000), capital of Sri Lanka. A suburb of Colombo (the former capital) previously known as Kotte, the city was designated as the future capital of the...

(Encyclopedia) Germantown, residential section of NW Philadelphia. Settled by Dutch and Germans in 1683, Germantown became one of the earliest printing and publishing centers in the country. When the British occupie...

(Encyclopedia) graveyard school, 18th-century school of English poets who wrote primarily about human mortality. Often set in a graveyard, their poems mused on the vicissitudes of life, the solitude of death and the...

(Encyclopedia) Fraser, Peter, 1884–1950, New Zealand political leader, b. Scotland. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1910. Previously active in Labour politics in London, he was elected to Parliament in 1918, becomi...

(Encyclopedia) Frazee, John frāˈzē [key], 1790–1852, American pioneer sculptor, b. Rahway, N.J. Without formal instruction, he advanced from tombstone cutting to portrait busts, including those of Daniel Webste...

(Encyclopedia) Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 1st duke of, c.1366–1399, English nobleman. He was created earl of Nottingham in 1383, and in 1385 he was made earl marshal of England for life. He joined Thomas of Woodstoc...

(Encyclopedia) North Island or Te Ika-a-Maui [Maori,=the fish of Maui] (1996 pop. 2,718,188), 44,702 sq mi (115,777 sq km), New Zealand. It is the smaller but more populous of the two principal islands of the countr...

(Encyclopedia) Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, 1779–1813, American explorer, an army officer, b. Lamberton (now part of Trenton), N.J. He joined the army (c.1793) and was commissioned second lieutenant in 1799. In 1805 ...

(Encyclopedia) De Quincey, Thomas də kwĭnˈsē [key], 1785–1859, English essayist. In 1802 he ran away from school and tramped about the country, eventually settling in London. His family soon found him and ente...