Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

banking

(Encyclopedia)banking, primarily the business of dealing in money and instruments of credit. Banks were traditionally differentiated from other financial institutions by their principal functions of accepting depos...

Kossuth, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Kossuth, Louis kŏso͞othˈ [key], Hung. Kossuth Lajos, 1802–94, Hungarian revolutionary hero. Born of a Protestant family and a lawyer by training, he entered politics as a member of the diet and s...

Moynihan, Daniel Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Moynihan, Daniel Patrick moiˈnĭhănˌ [key], 1927–2003, American sociologist and politician, b. Tulsa, Okla., grad. Tufts (B.A., 1948; M.A., 1949; Ph.D., 1961). Raised in a poor neighborhood of Ne...

Lanfranc

(Encyclopedia)Lanfranc lănˈfrăngk [key], d. 1089, Italian churchman and theologian, archbishop of Canterbury (1070–89), b. Pavia. At first educated in civil law, he turned to theology and became a pupil of Ber...

Alexander III, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Alexander III, 1845–94, czar of Russia (1881–94), son and successor of Alexander II. Factors that contributed to Alexander's reactionary policies included his father's assassination, his limited i...

Gallatin, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Gallatin, Albert gălˈətĭn [key], 1761–1849, American financier and public official, b. Geneva, Switzerland. Left an orphan at nine, Gallatin was reared by his patrician relatives and had an exce...

Montserrat, island, West Indies

(Encyclopedia)Montserrat mŏntsərătˈ [key], British dependency and island (2015 est. pop. 5,000), 38 sq mi (98 sq km), West Indies, one of the Leeward Islands. It is a rugged, scenic island of volcanic origin. C...

cryptography

(Encyclopedia)cryptography krĭptŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=hidden writing], science of secret writing. There are many devices by which a message can be concealed from the casual reader, e.g., invisible writing, but t...

Cincinnati

(Encyclopedia)Cincinnati sĭnsənătˈē, –nătˈə [key], city (2020 pop. 309,317), seat of Hami...

Sigismund I

(Encyclopedia)Sigismund I, 1467–1548, king of Poland (1506–48), son of Casimir IV. Elected to succeed his brother, Alexander I, Sigismund faced the problem of consolidating his domestic power in order successfu...
 

Browse by Subject