Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Usk, Thomas ŭsk [key], d. 1388, English politician and author. He was under-sheriff of London. While in Newgate Prison he wrote Testament of Love, an allegory in prose describing and justifying the p...

(Encyclopedia) Thomas, Seth, 1785–1859, American clock manufacturer, b. Wolcott, Conn. In 1812 he sold his partnership in a clock business established by Eli Terry and set up a factory to make metal-movement clock...

(Encyclopedia) Thomas of Erceldoune ûrˈsəldo͞onˌ [key], fl. 1220?–1297?, Scottish seer and poet, also known as Thomas the Rhymer and Thomas Learmont. Evidence of his existence is founded on the mention of his...

(Encyclopedia) Thomas à Kempis kĕmˈpĭs [key], b. 1379 or 1380, d. 1471, German monk, traditional author of The Imitation of Christ, b. Kempen, Germany. He was schooled at Deventer, in the Netherlands, the center...

(Encyclopedia) Chalkley, Thomas chôˈklē [key], 1675–1741, Quaker mariner and missionary preacher, b. England. He made his home after 1701 in Philadelphia. He traded chiefly with the West Indies, navigating his ...

(Encyclopedia) Holcroft, Thomas hōlˈkrôft [key], 1745–1809, English dramatist and novelist. Sometimes credited with having introduced melodrama to the London stage, he is the author of the sentimental play The ...

(Encyclopedia) Dalyell or Dalzell, Thomas both: dēĕlˈ, dălˈyəl [key], 1599?–1685, Scottish soldier; also called Dalziel of the Binns. He fought for Charles II at the battle of Worcester (1651), was captured,...

(Encyclopedia) Thomas, Clarence, 1948–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1991–), b. Pin Point (Savannah), Ga. Raised in a poor family, he graduated (1974) from the Yale Law School and became a promin...

(Encyclopedia) Sata, Michael Chilufya, 1937–2014, Zambian politician. Sata was a policeman, railway worker, and trade unionist before entering politics in 1963, and was later (1985) elected governor of Lusaka prov...

(Encyclopedia) Ball, Thomas, 1819–1911, American sculptor, b. Charlestown, Mass.; son of a house and sign painter. Thomas Ball was also a singer of reputation, the first in the United States to sing the title role...