Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bedfordshire or Bedford, former county, central England. Also called Beds, it was abolished as an administrative authority in 2009, but it remains a ceremonial county under the Lieutenancies Act. The ...

(Encyclopedia) Hattiesburg, city (2020 pop. 48,730), seat of Forrest co., SE Miss., on the Leaf River; inc. 1884. It is the rail, trade, and industrial center of a far...

(Encyclopedia) Jedidiah jĕdĭdīˈə [key] [Heb.,=beloved of God], in the Bible, auspicious name that Nathan bestowed on the baby Solomon. ...

(Encyclopedia) Straus strous [key], family of American merchants, public officials, and philanthropists. Isidor Straus, 1845–1912, b. Rhenish Bavaria, emigrated (1854) with his brothers to the United States in ord...

(Encyclopedia) Barrett, Lawrence bârˈət [key], 1838–91, American actor, b. Paterson, N.J. An excellent romantic actor, he is best remembered for his portrayal of Cassius to the Brutus of Edwin Booth. Barrett ma...

(Encyclopedia) morris dance or morrice dance, rustic dance of the north of England that had its origin in country festivals, such as those of May Day and Whitsunday. Reference to it in English literature is made as ...

(Encyclopedia) Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of, 1391–1447, English nobleman; youngest son of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun. He was well educated and had a great interest in humanist scholarship. After the accession of ...

(Encyclopedia) Vicksburg campaign, in the American Civil War, the fighting (Nov., 1862–July, 1863) for control of the Mississippi River. The Union wanted such control in order to split the Confederacy and to resto...

(Encyclopedia) Paine, Albert Bigelow, 1861–1937, American author, b. New Bedford, Mass. He is best remembered as the author of the authorized biography of Mark Twain (3 vol., 1912) and as the editor of Twain's let...

(Encyclopedia) Fitch, Clyde (William Clyde Fitch), 1865–1909, American dramatist, b. Elmira, N.Y. An extremely prolific and versatile playwright, he wrote over 36 original plays, including melodramas, farces, soci...