Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Black Panthers

(Encyclopedia)Black Panthers, U.S. African-American militant party, founded (1966) in Oakland, Calif., by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Originally aimed at armed self-defense against the local police, the party g...

Cleaver, Eldridge

(Encyclopedia)Cleaver, Eldridge (Leroy Eldridge Cleaver), 1935–98, African-American social activist, b. Wabbaseka, Ark. Growing up in Los Angeles, he spent much of 1954–66 in prison for various crimes including...

bone black

(Encyclopedia)bone black, solid black material, largely carbon, produced by heating animal bones to high temperatures in the absence of air so as to drive off volatile substances. Finely divided bone black is usefu...

Black, Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Black, Hugh, 1868–1953, Scottish-American theologian and author. After serving as a pastor in Paisley and Edinburgh, he emigrated to the United States in 1906 to begin a professorship of practical t...

Black, James

(Encyclopedia)Black, James, 1823–93, American temperance leader. A Pennsylvania lawyer, he was active in state and national temperance work. His plan for a National Publication House was adopted by the National T...

Black, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Black, Joseph, 1728–99, Scottish chemist and physician, b. France. He was professor of chemistry at Glasgow (1756–66) and from 1766 at Edinburgh. He is best known for his theories of latent heat a...

Black, Max

(Encyclopedia)Black, Max, 1909–88, American analytical philosopher, b. Baku, Russia (now Bakı, Azerbaijan), grad. Cambridge, Ph.D. Univ. of London, 1939. He taught at the Univ. of Illinois (1940–46) before goi...

Black Belt

(Encyclopedia)Black Belt, term applied to several areas of Mississippi and Alabama, the heart of the Old South, which are characterized by black soil and excellent cotton-growing conditions. The Black Belt area was...

black codes

(Encyclopedia)black codes, in U.S. history, series of statutes passed by the ex-Confederate states, 1865–66, dealing with the status of the newly freed slaves. They varied greatly from state to state as to their ...

Black Country

(Encyclopedia)Black Country, highly industrialized region, historically mostly in Staffordshire but partly in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, W central England. It includes Dudley, Rowley Regis (see Warley), Tipto...