Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

second

(Encyclopedia)second, abbr. sec or s, fundamental unit of time in all systems of measurement. In practical terms, the second is 1/60 of a minute, 1/3,600 of an hour, or 1/86,400 of a day. Since the length of the da...

Abe, Nobuyuki

(Encyclopedia)Abe, Nobuyuki, 1875–1953, Japanese army officer and political, b. Kanazawa, Ishikawa prefecture. He attended the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and the Army War College, then serve...

Higashikuni, Naruhiko

(Encyclopedia)Higashikuni, Naruhiko, 1887–1990, Japanese military officer and political leader, b. Kyoto. A prince of the imperial family and an uncle of Hirohito, he received military training in Japan and Franc...

Zhu De

(Encyclopedia)Zhu De or Chu Teh both: jo͞o dŭ [key], 1886–1976, Chinese Communist soldier and leader. He was graduated (1911) from the Yunnan military academy and served in various positions with armies loyal t...

Zhejiang

(Encyclopedia)Zhejiang chĕˈkyăngˈ [key], province (2010 pop. 54,426,891), c.40,000 sq mi (103,600 sq km), SE China, on the East China Sea. The capital is Hangzhou. The province includes many islands, notably th...

Manchurian Incident

(Encyclopedia)Manchurian Incident or Mukden Incident, 1931, confrontation that gave Japan the impetus to set up a puppet government in Manchuria. After the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5), Japan replaced Russia as th...

Ito, Hirobumi

(Encyclopedia)Ito, Hirobumi hērōˈbo͞omē ēˈtō [key], 1841–1909, Japanese statesman, the outstanding figure in the modernization of Japan. As a young Choshu samurai, he was a xenophobe. In 1863 he visited E...

Chiang Kai-shek

(Encyclopedia)Chiang Kai-shek jyäng kī-shĕk, jyäng [key], 1887–1975, Chinese Nationalist leader. He was also called Chiang Chung-cheng. After completing military training with the Japanese Army, he returned t...

Meiji

(Encyclopedia)Meiji māˈjē [key], 1852–1912, reign name of the emperor of Japan from 1867 to 1912; his given name was Mutsuhito. He ascended the throne when he was 15. A year later the shogun fell, and the powe...

Liaoning

(Encyclopedia)Liaoning lyouˈnĭngˈ [key], province (2010 pop. 43,746,323), c.58,400 sq mi (151,295 sq km), NE China, on the Bohai and Korea Bay. The capital is Shenyang (Mukden). A part of Manchuria, it encompass...