Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

301 results found

Harmony Society

(Encyclopedia)Harmony Society, religious society founded by German Separatists under the leadership of George Rapp. The Harmonists (or Rappites) held property in common and subscribed to the austere doctrines of th...

International Campaign to Ban Landmines

(Encyclopedia)International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), global network of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working toward the eradication of antipersonnel land mines. Established in 1992 by the Vietnam Ve...

Chandler, Zachariah

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, Zachariah, 1813–79, U.S. Senator from Michigan (1857–75, 1879) and Secretary of the Interior (1875–77), b. Bedford, N.H. He moved to Detroit in 1833 and through merchandising, land spe...

South Portland

(Encyclopedia)South Portland, port city (1990 pop. 23,163), Cumberland co., SW Maine, on the Fore River and Casco Bay, part of the Portland metropolitan area; separated from Falmouth (now Portland) as part of the t...

Taylor, Telford

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Telford, 1908–98, U.S. government official and lawyer, b. Schenectady, N.Y. He is best known as the chief prosecutor (1946–49) at the war crimes trials of Nazi leaders in Nuremburg, German...

Yerkes Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Yerkes Observatory, astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wis., on the shore of Lake Geneva. It was founded in 1892 with funds provided by Charles T. Yerkes and its first director was Geor...

Bonnefoy, Yves

(Encyclopedia)Bonnefoy, Yves ēv bônfwäˈ [key], 1923–2016, French poet, critic, and translator of many of Shakespeare's plays and poems, studied Univ. of Poitier, Sorbonne. His verse, e.g., On the Motion and I...

Layton, Irving

(Encyclopedia)Layton, Irving, 1912–2006, Canadian poet, b. Romania as Israel Lazarovitch. His family emigrated to Montreal when he was an infant. He attended Macdonald College (B.Sc., 1939) and McGill Univ. (M.A....

Fuchs, Klaus Emil

(Encyclopedia)Fuchs, Klaus Emil fo͝oks, fo͞oks [key], 1912–88, British physicist and Communist spy, b. Germany. In 1933 he fled Germany for England, where he completed his education. Interned (1940–41) in Can...

Maury, Matthew Fontaine

(Encyclopedia)Maury, Matthew Fontaine fŏntānˈ môrˈē [key], 1806–73, American hydrographer and naval officer, b. near Fredericksburg, Va. Appointed a midshipman in 1825, he saw varied sea duty until a stagec...