Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Philip the Good

(Encyclopedia)Philip the Good, 1396–1467, duke of Burgundy (1419–67); son of Duke John the Fearless. After his father was murdered (1419) at a meeting with the dauphin (later King Charles VII of France), Philip...

Opium Wars

(Encyclopedia)Opium Wars, 1839–42 and 1856–60, two wars between China and Western countries that marked the shift of wealth and power from East to West. The first was between Great Britain and China. Early in t...

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

(Encyclopedia)International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), coalition of nongovernmental organizations that was formed in 2007 to advocate for the banning of nuclear weapons. It is based in Geneva, Swit...

Villafranca di Verona

(Encyclopedia)Villafranca di Verona vēlˌläfrängˈkä dē vārôˈnä [key], town (1991 pop. 27,036), Venetia, NE Italy. In 1859, Napoleon III and Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria met there after the Austrian d...

mine, in warfare

(Encyclopedia)mine, in warfare, term formerly applied to a system of tunnels dug under an army fortification and ending in a chamber where either explosives were placed to be detonated at a chosen moment or the sup...

Drew, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Drew, Daniel, 1797–1879, American railroad speculator, b. Carmel, N.Y. He became a cattle dealer in early life and by 1834 was successful enough to engage in the steamboat business on the Hudson, wh...

corner

(Encyclopedia)corner, securing of all or nearly all the supply of any commodity or stock so that its buyers are forced to pay exorbitant prices. Corners may be planned deliberately or may be brought about unintenti...

Frankfurt School

(Encyclopedia)Frankfurt School, a group of researchers associated with the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute of Social Research), founded in 1923 as an autonomous division of the Univ. of Frankfurt. The inst...

Ellison, Harlan

(Encyclopedia)Ellison, Harlan (Harlan Jay Ellison), 1934–2018, American writer best known for his science fiction, b. Cleveland. Ellison wrote more than 100 books and some 1,700 short stories and articles as well...

Adams, Charles Francis, 1835–1915, American economist and historian

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Charles Francis, 1835–1915, American economist and historian, b. Boston; son of Charles Francis Adams (1807–86). In the Civil War he fought at Antietam and Gettysburg and was brevetted brig...