Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

European Monetary System

(Encyclopedia)European Monetary System, arrangement by which most nations of the European Union (EU) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations relative to one another. It was organized in 1979 to stabil...

Central European Initiative

(Encyclopedia)Central European Initiative, organization founded in 1991 to promote economic and political cooperation in the region between the Adriatic and Baltic seas. Members include Austria, Bosnia and Herzegov...

Western European Union

(Encyclopedia)Western European Union (WEU), European security and defense organization. It was set up in Brussels in 1955 as a defensive, economic, social, and cultural organization, consisting of Belgium, France, ...

weather satellite

(Encyclopedia)weather satellite, artificial satellite used to gather data on a global basis for improvement of weather forecasting. Information includes cloud cover, storm location, temperature, and heat balance in...

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

(Encyclopedia)Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), international organization that came into being in 1961. It superseded the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, which had been ...

observatory, orbiting

(Encyclopedia)observatory, orbiting, research satellite designed to study solar radiation, electromagnetic radiation from distant stars, the earth's atmosphere, or the like. Because the atmosphere and other aspects...

Columbia, U.S. space shuttle

(Encyclopedia)Columbia, U.S. space shuttle. On its 28th flight, on Feb. 1, 2003, after completing a 16-day scientific mission, the spacecraft disintegrated during reentry, killing its seven-person crew. About 16 mi...

Space Force, United States

(Encyclopedia)Space Force, United States (USSF), military force that forms a separate service within the U.S. Dept. of the Air Force, est. Dec. 20, 2019, by act of Congress. The head of the Space Force is the Chief...

Browse by Subject