Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

American Friends Service Committee

(Encyclopedia)American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), organization est. 1917 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) that provides social services and information to the public in an attempt to promote int...

American Legion

(Encyclopedia)American Legion, national association of male and female war veterans, founded (1919) in Paris. Membership is open to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The preamble...

Kermanshah

(Encyclopedia)Kermanshah kĕrmänˌshäˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 624,084), capital of Kermanshah prov., W Iran. It is the trade center for a rich agricultural region that produces grain, rice, vegetables, fruits, a...

Košice

(Encyclopedia)Košice kôˈshĭtsĕ [key], Ger. Kaschau, Hung. Kassa, city (1991 pop. 235,160), E Slovakia. It is a major industrial center and transportation hub and a market for the surrounding agricultural area....

Bluebeard

(Encyclopedia)Bluebeard, nickname of the chevalier Raoul in a story by Charles Perrault. In the story Bluebeard's seventh wife, Fatima, yielding to curiosity, opens a locked door and discovers the slain bodies of h...

cellular telephone

(Encyclopedia)cellular telephone or cellular radio, telecommunications system in which a portable or mobile radio transmitter and receiver, or “cellphone,” is linked via microwave radio frequencies to base tran...

decorations, civil and military

(Encyclopedia)decorations, civil and military, honors bestowed by a government to reward services or achievements, particularly those implying valor. The practice of bestowing such decorations dates back at least t...

Thugs

(Encyclopedia)Thugs thŭgz [key], former Indian religious sect of murderers and robbers, also called Phansigars [stranglers]. Membership was primarily hereditary and included both Hindus and Muslims, but all were d...

chinaware

(Encyclopedia)chinaware, hard, white, translucent pottery with soft glaze, known as porcelain. It originated in China but is now produced in various countries. Its composition is of kaolin and petuntse. ...

Cádiz

(Encyclopedia)Cádiz käˈdēth [key], city, capital of Cádiz prov., SW Spain, in Andalusia, on the Bay of...