Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

parimutuel betting

(Encyclopedia)parimutuel betting părˌĭmyo͞oˈtyo͞oĕl [key], system of cooperative wagering invented (c.1870) in France by Pierre Oller. According to the system, the holders of winning tickets divide the total...

Williams, Eric

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Eric, 1911–81, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago (1961–81). He attended Oxford and taught at Howard Univ. in Washington, D.C. (1939–53). Returning to Trinidad, he founded (1955) th...

town

(Encyclopedia)town, in the United States. In the New England states the town is the basic unit of local government. The New England town government's unique feature is the town meeting, much praised as a nearly pur...

Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen

(Encyclopedia)Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen oigānˈ bömˈ-bäˈvĕrk [key], 1851–1914, Austrian economist. Three times minister of finance (1895, 1897, and 1900), he initiated important tax reforms and farsighted financi...

Ewell, Benjamin Stoddert

(Encyclopedia)Ewell, Benjamin Stoddert yo͞oˈəl [key], 1810–94, American educator, b. Georgetown, D.C., grad. West Point, 1832; brother of Gen. R. S. Ewell. He taught mathematics at West Point, Hampden-Sidney C...

Maskin, Eric Stark

(Encyclopedia)Maskin, Eric Stark, 1950–, American economist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Harvard, 1976. He was on the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1977–84) and Harvard (1985–2000) before ...

Shenzhen

(Encyclopedia)Shenzhen shĕnˈjŭnˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 695,600) and port, S Guangdong prov., China, on the South China Sea, N of Hong Kong. Designated a special economic zone in 1979 when it was undevelop...

Depardieu, Gérard

(Encyclopedia)Depardieu, Gérard jĕˌrärdˈ dəpärˌdyöˈ [key], 1948–, French actor, b. Châteauroux. He is a versatile, highly successful actor, who has performed on stage and screen in France and also has ...

Dukakis, Michael Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Dukakis, Michael Stanley do͞okäkˈĭs [key], 1933–, American political leader, b. Brookline, Mass. He was a Democratic member of the Massachusetts house of representatives (1963–70) and was twic...

Ferraro, Geraldine Anne

(Encyclopedia)Ferraro, Geraldine Anne fərärˈō [key], 1935–2011, American political leader, b. Newburgh, N.Y., grad. Marymount College (1956), Fordham Law School (1960). A Democrat from Queens, N.Y., she began...

Browse by Subject