Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

486 results found

Middle English literature

(Encyclopedia)Middle English literature, English literature of the medieval period, c.1100 to c.1500. See also English literature and Anglo-Saxon literature. The 15th cent. is not distinguished in English let...

whaling

(Encyclopedia)whaling, the hunting of whales for the oil that can be rendered from their flesh, for meat, and for baleen (whalebone). Historically, whale oil was economically the most important. In 1932–33, par...

Annapolis, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Annapolis ənăpˈəlĭs [key], city (2020 pop. 40,812), state capital and seat of Anne Arundel co., central Md., on the south bank of the Severn River. Annapolis is a por...

Helena

(Encyclopedia)Helena. 1 City (2020 pop. 20,633), Jefferson and Shelby cos., central Ala.; inc. 1877. White settlers began to occupy the area after the War of ...

Hokkaido

(Encyclopedia)Hokkaido hōkīˈdō [key], island, c.30,130 sq mi (78,040 sq km), N Japan, separated from Ho...

code, in law

(Encyclopedia)code, in law, in its widest sense any body of legal rules expressed in fixed and authoritative written form. A statute thus may be termed a code. Codes contrast with customary law (including common la...

Scandinavia

(Encyclopedia)Scandinavia skănˌdĭnāˈvēə [key], region of N Europe. It consists of the kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark; Finland and Iceland are usually considered part of Scandinavia. Physiographicall...

North Dakota

(Encyclopedia)CE5 North Dakota, state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Minnesota, across the Red River of the North (E), South Dakota (S), Montana (W), and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan...

Confederation, Articles of

(Encyclopedia)Confederation, Articles of, in U.S. history, ratified in 1781 and superseded by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. The imperative need for unity among the new states created by the America...

Livingston

(Encyclopedia)Livingston, family of American statesmen, diplomats, and jurists. Edward Livingston,Edward Livingston, 1764–1836, b. Livingston Manor, was the son of Robert R. Livingston (1718–75) and brother o...