Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Singh, Vijay

(Encyclopedia)Singh, Vijay sĭng [key], 1963–, Fijian golfer of Indian descent. He turned pro in 1982, but was suspended (1985) from the Asian tour after allegations of cheating, which he denied. He joined the E...

coin

(Encyclopedia)coin, piece of metal, usually a disk of gold, silver, nickel, bronze, copper, aluminum, or a combination of such metals, stamped by authority of a government as a guarantee of its real or exchange val...

Friedman, Milton

(Encyclopedia)Friedman, Milton frēdˈmən [key], 1912–2006, American economist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Columbia, 1946. Friedman was influential in helping to revive the monetarist school of economic thought (se...

Law, John

(Encyclopedia)Law, John, 1671–1729, Scottish financier in France, b. Edinburgh. After killing a man in a duel (1694) he fled to Amsterdam, where he studied banking. Returning to Scotland (1700), he proposed to Pa...

Petrobras scandal

(Encyclopedia)Petrobras scandal, Brazilian corruption scandal involving executives at the government-controlled oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), prominent politicians, and construction firms work...

Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Charles I, 1600–1649, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1625–49), second son of James I and Anne of Denmark. There were no decisive victories in the civil war until Charles was defeated at...

devaluation

(Encyclopedia)devaluation, decreasing the value of one nation's currency relative to gold or the currencies of other nations. It is usually undertaken as a means of correcting a deficit in the balance of payments. ...

Crabbe, George

(Encyclopedia)Crabbe, George, 1754–1832, English poet, b. Aldeburgh, Suffolk. After practicing medicine for a short time, he went to London in 1780, hoping to earn money by his writing. He was befriended by Edmun...

Maundy Thursday

(Encyclopedia)Maundy Thursday mônˈdē [key] [Lat. mandatum, word in the ceremony], traditional English name for Thursday of Holy Week, so named because it is considered the anniversary of the institution of the E...

Mitchell, Wesley Clair

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, Wesley Clair, 1874–1948, American economist, b. Rushville, Ill. He received his Ph.D. (1899) from the Univ. of Chicago, where he studied under Thorstein Veblen and John Dewey, and he taugh...