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Ma, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Ma, Jack, 1964–, Chinese business executive and on-line retailing pioneer, whose Chinese name is Ma Yun mä yün [key]. He taught English at Hangzhou Institute of Electronics and Engineering (now Ha...

California State University System

(Encyclopedia)California State University System, coordinating agency established in 1960 by the merger of individual California state colleges, now consisting of 23 campuses. It constitutes one of the three Califo...

Casey, William Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Casey, William Joseph, 1913–87, American public official, b. New York City. After graduating from Fordham (B.S., 1934) he obtained a law degree from St. Johns Univ. (1937). During World War II he be...

South Manchurian Railway

(Encyclopedia)South Manchurian Railway, Japanese-developed enterprise, with a trackage of 701 mi (1128 km). The line from Changchun to Lüshun (Port Arthur), originally belonging to the Russian-built Chinese Easter...

Sayers, Dorothy Leigh

(Encyclopedia)Sayers, Dorothy Leigh sāˈərz [key], 1893–1957, English writer, grad. Somerville College, Oxford, 1915. Taking first-class honors in medieval literature, she was one of the first women to receive ...

Concert of Europe

(Encyclopedia)Concert of Europe, term used in the 19th cent. to designate a loose agreement by the major European powers to act together on European questions of common interest. The concert emerged after the Congr...

Stubb, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Stubb, Alexander (Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb), 1968–, Finnish political leader, prime minister of Finland (2014–15), b. Helsinki. A member of the center-right National Coalition party (NCP), he se...

Colombo, Emilio

(Encyclopedia)Colombo, Emilio āmēˈlyō kōlômˈbō [key], 1920–2013, Italian political leader. He was elected a member of the constituent assembly in 1946 and a parliamentary deputy for the Christian Democrat...

Berlin, Conference of

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Conference of, 1884–85, international meeting aimed at settling the problems connected with European colonies in Africa. At the invitation of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, represe...

Courrèges, André

(Encyclopedia)Courrèges, André äNdrāˈ ko͞or-rĕzhˈ [key], 1923–2016, French fashion designer whose designs were especially popular and influential during the 1960s. He worked for the couturier Cristóbal B...