Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Jayawardene, Junius Richard

(Encyclopedia)Jayawardene, Junius Richard jīˌəwärˈdēn [key], 1906–96, prime minister (1977–78) and president (1978–88) of Sri Lanka. Active in Sri Lankan politics since the early 1940s, he was a foundin...

Hanson, John

(Encyclopedia)Hanson, John, 1715–83, first “President of the United States in Congress Assembled,” b. Charles co., Maryland. He served in the Maryland provincial legislature, was active in the patriot cause i...

West Point

(Encyclopedia)West Point, U.S. military post, since 1802 seat of the United States Military Academy. On the high west bank of the Hudson River N of New York City, West Point was the site of Revolutionary forts guar...

White, William

(Encyclopedia)White, William, 1748–1836, American Episcopal bishop, b. Philadelphia, grad. College of Philadelphia (now Univ. of Pennsylvania), 1765. He was ordained in England in 1772, returning to become assist...

school vouchers

(Encyclopedia)school vouchers, government grants aimed at improving education for the children of low-income families by providing school tuition that can be used at public or private schools. The idea behind schoo...

abdication

(Encyclopedia)abdication, in a political sense, renunciation of high public office, usually by a monarch. Some abdications have been purely voluntary and resulted in no loss of prestige. For instance, Holy Roman Em...

de Klerk, F. W.

(Encyclopedia)de Klerk, F. W. (Frederik Willem de Klerk) frĕdˈərĭk vĭlˈəm də klûrkˈ ...

extradition

(Encyclopedia)extradition ĕkstrədĭshˈən [key], delivery of a person, suspected or convicted of a crime, by the state where he has taken refuge to the state that asserts jurisdiction over him. Its purpose is to...

Turks and Caicos Islands

(Encyclopedia)Turks and Caicos Islands kīˈkōs [key], dependency of Great Britain (2015 est. pop. 34,000), 166 sq mi (430 sq km), West Indies. There are more than 30 cays and islands, of which eight are inhabited...

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, ...