Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Sharp, James, 1613–79, Scottish prelate. As a Presbyterian minister, Sharp became (1650) a leader of the moderate wing of the Scottish church called the Resolutioners. He was captured (1651) by Oliv...

(Encyclopedia) Goffe, William gôf [key], d. c.1679, English soldier and regicide. A personal adherent of Oliver Cromwell, he fought in the English civil war, signed the death warrant of Charles I, and became an adm...

(Encyclopedia) Evans, Sir Martin John, British geneticist, Ph.D., University College London, 1969. After serving on the faculty at University College London (1966–78) and Cambridge (1978–99), he became a profess...

(Encyclopedia) Larvik lärˈvēk [key], city (1995 pop. 39,011), Vestfold co., SE Norway, at the head of the Larviksfjord (an arm of the Skagerrak); chartered 1671. It is a shipping and whaling center. Tanum Church,...

(Encyclopedia) Christians, name taken by the followers of several evangelical preachers on the American frontier, notably James O'Kelley, Abner Jones, and Barton W. Stone, all of whom were antisectarian. Some congre...

(Encyclopedia) rustication rŭstĭkāˈshən [key], in building construction, method of creating textures upon masonry wall surfaces, chiefly upon those of stone, by projecting the blocks beyond the surface of the m...

(Encyclopedia) brownstone, red to brown variety of sandstone. Its unusual color is caused in some instances by the presence of red iron oxide which acts as a cement, binding the sand grains together. Vast thicknesse...

(Encyclopedia) gem, commonly, a mineral or organic substance, cut and polished and used as an ornament. Gems also are used as seals (items of assurance) and as talismans (good-luck charms). For birthstones, see mont...

(Encyclopedia) Pleasanton, city (1990 pop. 50,553), Alameda co., W Calif., a suburb of the San Francisco–Oakland area, in a vineyard and dairy region; inc. 1894. Wine and cheese are produced, and there are publish...

(Encyclopedia) Glenalmond glĕnäˈmənd [key], valley of the Almond River, Perth and Kinross, central Scotland, N of Crieff. A huge flat stone marks the traditional grave of Ossian, the legendary Gaelic poet. A Rom...