Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

La Bruyère, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Bruyère, Jean de zhäN də lä brüyĕrˈ [key], 1645–96, French writer. He lived (1684–96) as tutor in the house of the prince de Condé. His great work, Les Caractères de Théophraste, trad...

Karimov, Islam Abduganievich

(Encyclopedia)Karimov, Islam Abduganievich ĭslämˈ kärēˈmôf [key], 1938–2016, Soviet and Uzbekistani political leader, president of Uzbekistan (1991–2016). He joined the Soviet Communist party in 1964, ro...

Tábor

(Encyclopedia)Tábor täˈbôr [key], city (1991 pop. 36,342), S central Czech Republic, in Bohemia. The city's economy relies on agricultural trade, tobacco, textiles, and the mining of kaolin. The city was founde...

Vandervelde, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Vandervelde, Émile āmēlˈ vändĕrvĕlˈdə [key], 1866–1938, Belgian statesman and Socialist leader. He entered parliament in 1894, and served in many cabinets, notably as minister of justice (1...

War Production Board

(Encyclopedia)War Production Board (WPB), former U.S. government agency, established (Jan., 1942) by executive order to direct war production and the procurement of materials in World War II. The chairman (Donald M...

Breckinridge, Sophonisba Preston

(Encyclopedia)Breckinridge, Sophonisba Preston, 1866–1948, American pioneer social worker, educator, and author, b. Lexington, Ky., grad. Wellesley, 1888, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1901. She was the first woman to ...

Ras al-Khaimah

(Encyclopedia)Ras al-Khaimah räs äl-khīˈmä [key], sheikhdom (1995 pop. 144,430), c.650 sq mi (1,680 sq km), United Arab Emirates, SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf; the northernmost of the seven sheikdoms in the ...

San Juan Capistrano

(Encyclopedia)San Juan Capistrano săn wän kăpĭsträˈnō [key], city (1990 pop. 26,183), Orange co., S Calif.; inc. 1961. San Juan Capistrano has some manufactures, including aircraft parts, medical apparatus, ...

Roberts, Owen Josephus

(Encyclopedia)Roberts, Owen Josephus, 1875–1955, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1930–45), b. Philadelphia. After receiving (1898) his law degree from the Univ. of Pennsylvania, he practiced law in...

Darrow, Clarence Seward

(Encyclopedia)Darrow, Clarence Seward, 1857–1938, American lawyer, b. Kinsman, Ohio. He first practiced law in Ashtabula, Ohio. In 1887 he moved to Chicago, where he was corporation counsel for several years and ...