Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Haig, Alexander Meigs, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Haig, Alexander Meigs, Jr., 1924–2010, American general and public official, U.S. secretary of state (1981–82), b. Philadelphia, grad. West Point, 1947. He served in Korea (1950–51) and held sev...

Gamow, George

(Encyclopedia)Gamow, George gămˈŏf [key], 1904–68, Russian-American theoretical physicist and author, b. Odessa. A nuclear physicist, Gamow is better known to the public for his excellent books popularizing ab...

American Civil Liberties Union

(Encyclopedia)American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Founded (1920) by such prominent figur...

Van Zeeland, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Van Zeeland, Paul pōl vän zāˈlänt [key], 1893–1973, Belgian political leader. He was a professor of law and later director of the institute of economic science at the Univ. of Louvain and vice ...

trachoma

(Encyclopedia)trachoma trəkōˈmə [key], infection of the mucous membrane of the eyelids caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Trachoma affects at least 86 million people worldwide. An estimated 1.9 mill...

Busan

(Encyclopedia)Busan or Pusan bo͞oˈsän [key], Jap. Fusan, city, extreme SE South Korea, on the Korea Stra...

Tunis

(Encyclopedia)Tunis to͞onĭs [key], city (1994 pop. 674,100), capital of Tunisia, NE Tunisia, on the Lake of Tunis. Access to the Gulf of Tunis (an arm of the Mediterranean) is by a canal terminating at a subsidia...

bibliography

(Encyclopedia)bibliography. The listing of books is of ancient origin. Lists of clay tablets have been found at Nineveh and elsewhere; the library at Alexandria had subject lists of its books. Modern bibliography b...

Black Muslims

(Encyclopedia)Black Muslims, African-American religious movement in the United States, split since the late 1970s into the American Society of Muslims and the Nation of Islam. The original group was founded (1930) ...

Libeskind, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Libeskind, Daniel, 1946–, American architect, b. Łódź, Poland. He moved to the United States in 1959, becoming a citizen in 1965. He has held a number of teaching posts, notably at the Cranbrook ...

Browse by Subject