Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Danby, Thomas Osborne, earl of, 1631–1712, English statesman. Under the patronage of the 2d duke of Buckingham, he was appointed treasurer of the navy (1668), a privy councilor (1672), and lord trea...

(Encyclopedia) Fairfax of Cameron, Thomas Fairfax, 3d Baron, 1612–71, English general. He was the son of Ferdinando Fairfax, 2d Baron Fairfax of Cameron (1584–1648), whose title he inherited and under whom he fo...

(Encyclopedia) Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley, 1781–1826, British East Indian administrator. He was one of the founders of Britain's empire in East Asia. Beginning his career (1795) as a clerk in the British...

(Encyclopedia) Lambeau, Earl Louis, 1898–1965, American football coach and player, b. Green Bay, Wis. “Curly” Lambeau briefly attended Notre Dame, where he played for Knute Rockne, but illness forced his retur...

(Encyclopedia) flame test, test used in the identification of certain metals. It is based on the observation that light emitted by any element gives a unique spectrum when passed through a spectroscope. When a salt ...

(Encyclopedia) Champlain, Lake, 490 sq mi (1,269 sq km), 125 mi (201 km) long and from 0.5 to 14 mi (0.8–23 km) wide, forming part of the New York–Vermont border and extending into Quebec. Lake Champlain lies in...

(Encyclopedia) spinel, magnesium aluminum oxide, MgAl2O4, a mineral crystallizing in the isometric system, usually as octahedrons. It occurs as an accessory mineral in basic igneous rocks, in aluminum-rich metamorph...

(Encyclopedia) Northumberland, Thomas Percy, 7th earl of, 1528–72, English nobleman. He was the nephew and heir of the childless 6th earl but did not succeed on the latter's death (1537) because his father had bee...

(Encyclopedia) Wharton, Thomas Wharton, 1st marquess of, 1648–1715, English politician. Before his entry into Parliament (1673) he had acquired the reputation as a rake and gambler that he retained for life. After...

(Encyclopedia) Walcott, Derek Alton, 1930–2017, West Indian dramatist and poet, b. Castries, St. Lucia, grad. Univ. of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, 1953. His grandfathers were both white, one of English, the ot...