Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Baker, Ella Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Ella Josephine, 1903–1986, U.S. civil rights activist, b. Norfolk, Va. Ella Baker was an activist and organizer whose b...

Carey Land Act

(Encyclopedia)Carey Land Act, sponsored by Sen. Joseph M. Carey and passed by the U.S. Congress in 1894. The act provided for the transfer to Western states of U.S.-owned desert lands on the condition that they be ...

Julian, Percy Lavon

(Encyclopedia)Julian, Percy Lavon, 1899–1975, African-American chemist, inventor, and businessman, b. Montgomery, Ala., grad. DePauw Univ. (A.B., 1920), Harvard (M.A., 1923), and the Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1931)...

labor law

(Encyclopedia)labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class ...

Linus, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Linus, in the New Testament, Roman Christian. He is often identified with St. Linus. ...

Leo the Great, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Leo the Great, Saint: see Leo I, Saint. ...

Joanna, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Joanna, in the New Testament. 1 Wife of Herod's steward Chuza. She was a follower of Jesus and was one who found the tomb empty. 2 Ancestor of St. Joseph. ...

Ariel, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Ariel āˈrēĕl [key], in the Bible, aide of Ezra. In two other passages AV calls them “lionlike men” (“two ariels of Moab” in RV). Nothing is known of them. Ariel is also used as a symbolic ...

Lady of the Lake

(Encyclopedia)Lady of the Lake, in Arthurian legend, a misty, supernatural figure endowed with magic powers, who gave the sword Excalibur to King Arthur. She inhabited a castle in an underwater kingdom. According t...