Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Equal Pay Act

(Encyclopedia)Equal Pay Act, U.S. law passed (1963) as an amendment to the Wages and Hours Act (see Fair Labor Standards Act) which prohibits discrimination based on sex that results in unequal pay for equal work. ...

Erymanthian boar

(Encyclopedia)Erymanthian boar ĕrĭmănˈthēən [key], in Greek mythology, a huge boar that ravaged the environs of Mt. Erymanthos. As his third labor, Hercules captured it by chasing it into deep snow and bindin...

Igarka

(Encyclopedia)Igarka ēgärˈkə [key], city, NW Siberian Russia, on the lower Yenisei River. It has sawmills and is a major lumber port. Igarka was founded in 1928. During the Stalin period forced labor was used i...

Hitchcock, Frank Harris

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Frank Harris, 1867–1935, U.S. Postmaster General (1909–13), b. Amherst, Ohio. After service in the Dept. of Agriculture (1897–1903), the Dept. of Commerce and Labor (1903–5), and as...

Geryon

(Encyclopedia)Geryon jĕrˈēən, jərĭˈən [key], in Greek mythology, three-bodied monster who, with his dog Orthrus, watched over a great herd of cattle. He and Orthrus were killed by Hercules when, as his 10th...

metonymy

(Encyclopedia)metonymy mĭtŏnˈəmē [key], figure of speech in which an attribute of a thing or something closely related to it is substituted for the thing itself. Thus, “sweat” can mean “hard labor,” an...

Kohler

(Encyclopedia)Kohler, village (1990 pop. 1,817), Sheboygan co., E Wis., on the Sheboygan River; inc. 1912. The Kohler plumbing-fixtures plant there, which still produces its famous stainless-steel products, has bee...

Stymphalian birds

(Encyclopedia)Stymphalian birds stĭmfāˈlēən [key], in Greek mythology, dangerous man-eating birds that infested the woods around Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. As his fifth labor, Hercules frightened the birds in...

Commerce, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Commerce, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with promoting U.S. economic development and technological advancement. In Feb., 1903, the Congress established a Department...

Howard, John Winston, Australian political leader

(Encyclopedia)Howard, John Winston, 1939–, Australian political leader and prime minister (1996–2007), b. Sydney. A graduate of Sydney Univ., a conservative lawyer, and a member of the Liberal party, he was ele...