Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Reeve, Clara rēv [key], 1729–1807, English novelist. Her most famous work, The Champion of Virtue: A Gothic Story (1777), was written in imitation of Walpole's Castle of Otranto. After the first ed...

(Encyclopedia) Astor, William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount, 1848–1919, American-British financier, b. New York City, educated in Germany and in Italy and at the Columbia law school; son of John Jacob Astor (1822–...

(Encyclopedia) Murray, John, 2d marquess and 1st duke of Atholl ăthˈəl [key], 1660–1724, Scottish nobleman; son of the 2d earl and 1st marquess. A supporter of William III, he held high government posts in Scot...

(Encyclopedia) Westmorland, Ralph Neville, 1st earl of, 1364–1425, English nobleman. His family was one of the most powerful in England and shared domination of the northern counties with the Percy family, with wh...

(Encyclopedia) Selborne, Roundell Palmer, 1st earl of sĕlˈbôrn [key], 1812–95, British jurist and statesman. Called to the bar in 1837, he entered Parliament in 1847 as a nominal Conservative. He soon was assoc...

(Encyclopedia) Simon, Neil (Marvin Neil Simon), 1927–2018, American playwright, b. the Bronx, New York City. His plays, nearly all of them popular with audiences, if not always with critics, are comedies treating ...

(Encyclopedia) Tulsa tŭlˈsə [key], city (2020 pop. 413,066), seat of Tulsa co., NE Okla., on the Arkansas...

(Encyclopedia) Menomonie mənŏmˈənē [key], city (1990 pop. 13,547), seat of Dunn co., W Wis., on the Red Cedar River; platted 1859, inc. 1882. Once a lumber town, it is a trade center in an area of poultry and d...

(Encyclopedia) Kiyoura, Keigo, 1850–1942, Japanese government official and political leader. He joined the ministry of justice in 1876 and participated in the drafting of new legal codes for Japan. He held several...

(Encyclopedia) undine əndēnˈ, ŭnˈdēn [key], in folklore, female water sprite who could acquire a soul by marrying a human being. If, however, her lover proved unfaithful, she had to return to the sea. The lege...