Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Lawrence or Laurence, Saint, d. 258, Roman deacon and martyr. According to legend he was roasted to death on a gridiron. The Latin Fathers praise him in their writings for his role in the conversion o...

(Encyclopedia) Philip, d. a.d. 34, tetrarch of Ituraea, son of Herod the Great. He was perhaps the ablest of the Herod dynasty. He is mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke. ...

(Encyclopedia) Benedict the Black, Saint, d. 1589, Sicilian friar. Born a slave, he became a hermit and later a Franciscan lay brother. Although illiterate, his humility and extraordinary powers as spiritual directo...

(Encyclopedia) Sangster, Charles, 1822–93, Canadian poet, b. Ontario. At first an imitator of Byron, he became, with the publication of Hesperus and Other Poems and Lyrics (1860), the first notable Canadian poet t...

(Encyclopedia) Gregory the Illuminator, Saint, d. c.330, churchman, called the Apostle of Armenia. He was the first metropolitan of Armenia and is revered as founder of the Armenian Church. Feast: Sept. 30. ...

(Encyclopedia) Holiday, Billie, 1915–59, American singer, b. Baltimore. Her original name was Eleanora Fagan. She began singing professionally in 1930, and after performing with numerous bands—especially those o...

(Encyclopedia) Onassis, Jacqueline Bouvier bo͞oˈvē-āˌ, bo͞ovyāˈ [key], 1929–94, b. Southampton, N.Y. Of a socially prominent family, she worked (1951–53) as a journalist and photographer before marrying ...

(Encyclopedia) Castle, Wendell, 1932–2018, American furniture designer, b. Emporia, Kans., grad. Univ. of Kansas (B.F.A. 1958, M.F.A. 1961). Trained as an industrial designer and sculptor, he became the preeminent...

(Encyclopedia) Donovan, William Joseph dŏnˈəvən [key], 1883–1959, U.S. lawyer and government official, b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Columbia law school. Distinguished service in World War I won him medals and the n...

(Encyclopedia) consciousness, in psychology, a term commonly used to indicate a state of awareness of self and environment. In Freudian psychology, conscious behavior largely includes cognitive processes of the ego,...