Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Manaus

(Encyclopedia)Manaus mänousˈ [key], city (1996 pop. 1,158,265), capital of Amazonas state, NW Brazil, on the Rio Negro. It is the chief commercial and cultural center of the upper Amazon region and an important r...

freethinkers

(Encyclopedia)freethinkers, those who arrive at conclusions, particularly in questions of religion, by employing the rules of reason while rejecting supernatural authority or ecclesiastical tradition. The freethink...

American Film Institute

(Encyclopedia)American Film Institute (AFI), nonprofit organization established in Washington, D.C., in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts to preserve and catalog American films and television, to provide ...

poll

(Encyclopedia)poll, technique for ascertaining the attitudes or opinions of the total, or some segment of the total, population on given questions, usually on political, economic, and social conditions. Sampling ...

terrorism

(Encyclopedia)terrorism, the threat or use of violence, often against the civilian population, to achieve political or social ends, to intimidate opponents, or to publicize grievances. The term dates from the Reign...

city government

(Encyclopedia)city government, political administration of urban areas. The English tradition of incorporating urban units (cities, boroughs, villages, towns) and allowing them freedom in most local matters is gene...

communications satellite

(Encyclopedia)communications satellite artificial satellite that functions as part of a global radio-communications network. Echo 1, the first communications satellite, launched in 1960, was an instrumented inflat...

Kremer, Michael Robert

(Encyclopedia)Kremer, Michael Robert, 1964–, American economist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Harvard, 1992. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow (1992–93) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he taught e...

Donahue, Thomas R.

(Encyclopedia)Donahue, Thomas R. (Thomas Reilly Donahue) dŏnˈəhyo͞oˌ [key], 1928–2023, American ...

Vance, Cyrus Roberts

(Encyclopedia)Vance, Cyrus Roberts, 1917–2002, U.S. secretary of state (1977–80), b. Clarksburg, W.Va., grad. Yale (B.A., 1939, LL.B., 1942). After seeing action in the Navy during World War II, Vance practiced...