Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

North German Confederation

(Encyclopedia)North German Confederation, 1867–71, alliance of 22 German states N of the Main River. Dominated by Prussia, it replaced the German Confederation and included the states that had supported Prussia i...

telemarketing

(Encyclopedia)telemarketing, the practice of selling goods or services to customers by means of the telephone or of surveying consumer preferences in telephone conversations. Telemarketing firms use trained staff a...

Southern Pacific Company

(Encyclopedia)Southern Pacific Company, transportation system chartered (1865) in California and later reincorporated in Kentucky (1885) and Delaware (1947). Small railroads—known collectively as the Southern Pac...

Emancipation Proclamation

(Encyclopedia)Emancipation Proclamation, in U.S. history, the executive order abolishing slavery in the Confederate States of America. The proclamation did not reflect Lincoln's desired solution for the slavery p...

public health

(Encyclopedia)public health, field of medicine and hygiene dealing with the prevention of disease and the promotion of health by government agencies. In the United States, public health authorities are engaged in m...

Megan's law

(Encyclopedia)Megan's law, in the United States, a state or federal statute that requires the notification of public organizations and private citizens when a convicted sex offender has been released from prison an...

Bundestag

(Encyclopedia)Bundestag bo͝onˈdĕstäkhˌ [key], lower house of the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is a popularly elected body that elects the chancellor, passes all legislation (subject to exe...

hospice

(Encyclopedia)hospice, program of humane and supportive care for the terminally ill and their families; the term also applies to a professional facility that provides care to dying patients who can no longer be car...

Sosa, Sammy

(Encyclopedia)Sosa, Sammy (Samuel Kevin Sosa Peralta) sämwĕlˈ sōˈsä pĕrälˈtä [key], 1968–, Dominican baseball player. An outfielder and designated hitter, he broke into the major leagues with the Texas ...

states' rights

(Encyclopedia)states' rights, in U.S. history, doctrine based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to ...