Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

data encryption

(Encyclopedia)data encryption, the process of scrambling stored or transmitted information so that it is unintelligible until it is unscrambled by the intended recipient. Historically, data encryption has been used...

Necker, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Necker, Jacques zhäk nĕkĕrˈ [key], 1732–1804, French financier and statesman, b. Geneva, Switzerland. In 1750 he went to Paris and entered banking. He rose rapidly to importance, established a b...

Great Northern Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Great Northern Peninsula or Petit Nord Peninsula, comprising NW Newfoundland island, Canada, extending 170 mi (274 km) NE from Bonne Bay on the west to Cape Bauld at the tip; White Bay borders it on t...

Tygart

(Encyclopedia)Tygart tīˈgərt [key], river, c.160 mi (260 km) long, rising in E West Virginia and flowing north to join the West Fork and form the Monongahela at Fairmont. Tygart River Dam (completed 1938), near ...

Trinity Bay

(Encyclopedia)Trinity Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 80 mi (129 km) long, SE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada, between the Avalon Peninsula and the mainland. With its small waterfront settlements, it preserves somethi...

Terschelling

(Encyclopedia)Terschelling tərskĕlˈĭng [key], island, c.40 sq mi (100 sq km), Friesland prov., N Netherlands, in the North Sea, one of the West Frisian Islands. West-Terschelling is the main town. Farming and f...

Davis, George Breckenridge

(Encyclopedia)Davis, George Breckenridge, 1847–1914, American army officer and jurist, b. Ware, Mass., grad. West Point, 1871. His early military service was divided between duty on the Western frontier and teach...

Latin America

(Encyclopedia)Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. The 20 republics are Arge...

Yayi, Thomas Boni

(Encyclopedia)Yayi, Thomas Boni, 1952–, Beninois political leader, president of Benin (2006–16), b. Tchaourou. He studied at the National Univ. of Benin, in Senegal at Cheikh Anta Diop Univ., and in France at t...

Berlin airlift

(Encyclopedia)Berlin airlift, 1948–49, supply of vital necessities to West Berlin by air transport primarily under U.S. auspices. It was initiated in response to a land and water blockade of the city that had bee...

Browse by Subject