Columbia Encyclopedia

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National Archives

(Encyclopedia)National Archives, official depository for records of the U.S. federal government, established in 1934 by an act of Congress. Although displeasure concerning the method of keeping national records was...

Fredericksburg

(Encyclopedia)Fredericksburg. 1 Town (2020 pop. 10,875), Gillespie co., S central Texas, in the Texas Hill Country near the Pedernales River; inc. 1928. Located in an...

balloon

(Encyclopedia)balloon, lighter-than-air craft without a propulsion system, lifted by inflation of one or more containers with a gas lighter than air or with heated air. During flight, altitude may be gained by disc...

ring, piece of jewelry

(Encyclopedia)ring, small ornamental hoop usually worn on finger or thumb, but it may be attached to the ear or the nose. Finger rings made of bronze, gold, and silver from the period c.2600–1500 b.c. have been f...

Soyinka, Wole

(Encyclopedia)Soyinka, Wole wōˈlā shôyĭngˈkə [key], 1934–, Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist, essayist, and political activist, born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka. Educated at the universities of Ibadan and ...

Epicurus

(Encyclopedia)Epicurus ĕpĭkyo͝orˈəs [key], 341–270 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Samos; son of an Athenian colonist. He claimed to be self-taught, although tradition states that he was schooled in the systems ...

Greenville

(Encyclopedia)Greenville. 1 City (2020 pop. 29,670, seat of Washington co., W Miss., on Lake Ferguson, a deepwater harbor adjoining the Mississippi River; inc. ...

baby boom

(Encyclopedia)baby boom, a period in which the birthrate is significantly higher than in other periods, especially the post–World War II period in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In the Uni...

Bronze Age

(Encyclopedia)Bronze Age, period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscr...
 

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