Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pinckney, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Pinckney, Thomas, 1750–1828, American political leader and diplomat, b. Charleston, S.C.; brother of C. C. Pinckney and cousin of Charles Pinckney. At the outbreak of the American Revolution he join...

workers' compensation

(Encyclopedia)workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. The degree of responsib...

Wichita, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Wichita wĭchˈĭtô [key], city (1990 pop. 304,011), seat of Sedgwick co., S central Kans., at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers; inc. 1870. It is the chief commercial and ind...

Estrada Palma, Tomás

(Encyclopedia)Estrada Palma, Tomás pälˈmä [key], 1835–1908, Cuban revolutionist and first president (1902–6) of Cuba. An active participant in the Ten Years War (1868–78), he became a general (1876) and w...

Schröder, Gerhard

(Encyclopedia)Schröder, Gerhard shröˈdər [key], 1944–, chancellor of Germany (1998–2005), b. Mosenburg, Germany. A telegenic lawyer and Social Democrat, he entered politics as a Marxist student in the 1960...

civics

(Encyclopedia)civics, branch of learning that treats of the relationship between citizens and their society and state, originally called civil government. With the large immigration into the United States in the la...

Sharon, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Sharon shârˈən [key], city (1990 pop. 17,493), Mercer co., NW Pa., on the Shenango River, near the Ohio line; settled c.1800, inc. as a city 1920. An industrial city, its chief manufactures are tex...

Buffalo, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Buffalo, city (2020 pop. 278,349), seat of Erie co., W N.Y., on Lake Erie and the Niagara and Buffalo rivers; inc. 1832. With more than 37 mi (60 km) of...

Roe v. Wade

(Encyclopedia)Roe v. Wade, case decided in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with Doe v. Bolton, this decision legalized abortion in the first trimester of ...

hickory, in botany

(Encyclopedia)hickory, any plant of the genus Carya of the family Juglandaceae (walnut family); deciduous nut-bearing trees native to E North America and south to Central America except for a few species found in S...
 

Browse by Subject