Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

small arms

(Encyclopedia)small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Automatic small arms were develope...

Sinuiju

(Encyclopedia)Sinuiju sēnˈo͝oˈēˈjo͞o [key], Jap. Shingishu, city (1993 pop. 326,011), W North Korea, on the Yellow Sea (or West Sea) at the mouth of the Yalu River. A main northern gateway to Korea, it devel...

Angel Island

(Encyclopedia)Angel Island, largest island in San Francisco Bay, W Calif. Explored by the Spanish in 1775, it came under U.S. control in 1851. The U.S. army used the island as a base from 1863 to 1946, and from 195...

navy

(Encyclopedia)navy, originally, all ships of a nation, whether for war or commerce; the term navy now designates only such vessels as are built and maintained specifically for war. There have been three major devel...

Jarring, Gunnar

(Encyclopedia)Jarring, Gunnar gŭnˈär yärˈĭng [key], 1907–2002, Swedish diplomat. He entered diplomatic service during World War II and was minister to India (1948–51), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka; 1950–51), a...

Wainwright, Jonathan Mayhew

(Encyclopedia)Wainwright, Jonathan Mayhew, 1883–1953, American general, b. Walla Walla, Wash. Commissioned in the army in 1906, he reached the rank of brigadier general in 1938. In World War II he was stationed i...

King, William Lyon Mackenzie

(Encyclopedia)King, William Lyon Mackenzie, 1874–1950, Canadian political leader, b. Kitchener, Ont.; grandson of William Lyon Mackenzie. An expert on labor questions, he served in Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal admin...

Tehran Conference

(Encyclopedia)Tehran Conference, Nov. 28–Dec. 1, 1943, meeting of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin at Tehran, Iran. The conference was held to stren...

Congress of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Congress of the United States, the legislative branch of the federal government, instituted (1789) by Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which prescribes its membership and defines it...

Constitution of the United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Constitution of the United States, document embodying the fundamental principles upon which the American republic is conducted. Drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787...