Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

182 results found

nebula

(Encyclopedia)nebula nĕbˈyo͝olə [key] [Lat.,=mist], in astronomy, observed manifestation of a collection of highly rarefied gas and dust in interstellar space. Prior to the 1960s this term was also applied to b...

Methodism

(Encyclopedia)Methodism, the doctrines, polity, and worship of those Protestant Christian denominations that have developed from the movement started in England by the teaching of John Wesley. John and Charles ...

James, William

(Encyclopedia)James, William, 1842–1910, American philosopher, b. New York City, M.D. Harvard, 1869; son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James and brother of the novelist Henry James. In 1872 he joined the ...

Warren Commission

(Encyclopedia)Warren Commission, popular name given to the U.S. Commission to Report upon the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, established (Nov. 29, 1963) by executive order of President Lyndon B. Johnso...

Universalist Church of America

(Encyclopedia)Universalist Church of America, Protestant denomination originating in the 18th cent. and represented almost entirely in the United States. Universalism is the belief that it is God's purpose to save ...

nationalization

(Encyclopedia)nationalization, acquisition and operation by a country of business enterprises formerly owned and operated by private individuals or corporations. State or local authorities have traditionally taken ...

Heaney, Seamus

(Encyclopedia)Heaney, Seamus (Seamus Justin Heaney) shāˈməs, hēˈnē [key], 1939–2013, Irish poet, one of the finest contemporary English poets, b. Londonderry (now Derry), Northern Ireland, grad. Queen's Uni...

Houston, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Houston, Samuel, 1793–1863, American frontier hero and statesman of Texas, b. near Lexington, Va. In 1836 Houston was elected the first president of the new Republic of Texas. The independence of ...

Clinton, Hillary Rodham

(Encyclopedia)Clinton, Hillary Rodham rŏdˈəm [key], 1947–, U.S. senator and secretary of state, wife of President Bill Clinton, b. Chicago, grad. Wellesley College (B.A. 1969), Yale Law School (LL.B., 1973). A...

Saint Lucia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Saint Lucia sānt lo͞oˈshə, –sēə [key], island nation (2015 est. pop. 177,000), 238 sq mi (616 sq km), West Indies, one of the Windward Islands. The capital is Castries. Morne Gimie (3,1...

Browse by Subject