Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Jiang Zemin

(Encyclopedia)Jiang Zemin jyängˈ zŭˈmĭnˈ [key], 1926–2022, Chinese government official, general secretary of ...

Nature Conservancy

(Encyclopedia)Nature Conservancy, nonprofit organization established in 1951 to preserve or aid in the preservation of natural environments. It protects wilderness areas in the United States and Canada and is affil...

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(Encyclopedia)Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), international agreement that aims to ensure that trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threate...

Halonen, Tarja Kaarina

(Encyclopedia)Halonen, Tarja Kaarina tärˈyä käˈrēnä häˈlōnĕn [key], 1943–, Finnish political leader, president of Finland (2000–), b. Helsinki, grad. Univ. of Helsinki (LL.M., 1968). Halonen became a...

Debs, Eugene Victor

(Encyclopedia)Debs, Eugene Victor, 1855–1926, American Socialist leader, b. Terre Haute, Ind. Leaving high school to work in the railroad shops in Terre Haute, he became a railroad fireman (1871) and organized (1...

CERN

(Encyclopedia)CERN or European Organization for Nuclear Research, nuclear and particle physics research center straddling the French-Swiss border W of Geneva, Switzerland. Established in 1952 as the provisional Eur...

Rotary International

(Encyclopedia)Rotary International, organization of business and professional people, founded (1905) by Paul Percy Harris, a Chicago lawyer. Beginning with one club in Chicago, it spread to other cities, and in 191...

Bank for International Settlements

(Encyclopedia)Bank for International Settlements (BIS), international financial institution est. (1930) in Basel, Switzerland, by bankers and diplomats from Europe, the United States, and Japan. It was originally s...

Sanusi

(Encyclopedia)Sanusi or Senussi both: səno͞oˈsĭ [key], Arabic Sanusiyya, a political-religious organization in Libya and Sudan founded in Mecca in 1837 by Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi (1791–1859), known as the ...

Empire State Building

(Encyclopedia)Empire State Building, in central Manhattan, New York City, on Fifth Ave. between 33d St. and 34th St. It was designed by the firm of Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon and built in 1930–31. For many years it...