Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

National Road

(Encyclopedia)National Road, U.S. highway built in the early 19th cent. At the time of its construction, the National Road was the most ambitious road-building project ever undertaken in the United States. It final...

National Socialism

(Encyclopedia)National Socialism or Nazism, doctrines and policies of the National Socialist German Workers' party, which ruled Germany under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945. In German the party name was Nationalsoz...

National Trust

(Encyclopedia)National Trust, British association to preserve for the nation places of natural beauty or buildings of architectural or historic interest in the British Isles; founded 1894, chartered 1895. By act of...

franchise

(Encyclopedia)franchise, in government, a right specifically conferred on a group or individual by a government, especially the privilege conferred by a municipality on a corporation of operating public utilities, ...

Dudamel, Gustavo

(Encyclopedia)Dudamel, Gustavo, 1981–, Venezuelan conductor and violinist. A product of Venezuela's national music-training program, he quickly developed a brilliant, exuberant, and passionate conducting style th...

Grossgörschen

(Encyclopedia)Grossgörschen or Gross Görschen: see Lützen, Germany. ...

oceanography

(Encyclopedia)oceanography, study of the seas and oceans. The major divisions of oceanography include the geological study of the ocean floor (see plate tectonics) and features; physical oceanography, which is conc...

North Rhine–Westphalia

(Encyclopedia)North Rhine–Westphalia nôrtˈrīn-vĕstˌfäˈlən [key], state (1994 pop. 17,759,000), 13,111 sq mi (33,957 sq km), W central Germany. Düsseldorf is the capital. The state is bounded by Belgium a...

easement

(Encyclopedia)easement, in law, the right to use the land of another for a specified purpose, as distinguished from the right to possess that land. If the easement benefits the holder personally and is not associat...

Mignet, François Auguste Marie

(Encyclopedia)Mignet, François Auguste Marie fräNswäˈ ôgüstˈ märēˈ mēnyāˈ [key], 1796–1884, French historian and journalist. With his lifelong friend, Adolphe Thiers, Mignet edited the National, a po...