Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Four Freedoms

(Encyclopedia)Four Freedoms. In his message to Congress proposing lend-lease legislation (Jan. 6, 1941), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated that Four Freedoms should prevail everywhere in the world—freedo...

Four-H

(Encyclopedia)Four-H or 4-H, organization for boys and girls, generally from 8 to 18 years of age; some states offer programs for younger children, and there are also collegiate programs. 4-H teaches young people l...

Four Lakes

(Encyclopedia)Four Lakes, chain of canalized lakes in S Wis.: Waubesa, Kegonsa, Mendota, and Monona. Between the last two lies Madison, the state capital. Largest of the four is Mendota, c.6 mi (9.7 km) long, on wh...

four-o'clock

(Encyclopedia)four-o'clock, common name for members of the Nyctaginaceae, a family of plants found in warm climates, especially in the Americas, chiefly as herbs but often in the tropics as shrubs or trees. Species...

four-color process

(Encyclopedia)four-color process: see printing. ...

Four-Power Treaty

(Encyclopedia)Four-Power Treaty: see naval conferences. ...

Gang of Four

(Encyclopedia)Gang of Four, term of opprobrium given by the Chinese Communist authorities to four persons held responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution (1966–69). They were also accused of trying t...

Point Four program

(Encyclopedia)Point Four program, U.S. foreign aid project aimed at providing technological skills, knowledge, and equipment to poor nations throughout the world. The program also encouraged the flow of private inv...

Four Forest Cantons, the

(Encyclopedia)Four Forest Cantons, the, Ger. Die Vier Waldstätten, in central Switzerland, the cantons of Unterwalden, Schwyz, Uri, and Lucerne, the first Swiss communities to win their freedom against the Hapsbur...

Fifty-four forty or fight

(Encyclopedia)Fifty-four forty or fight, in U.S. history, phrase commonly used by extremists in the controversy with Great Britain over the Oregon country. The rights of the United States, they maintained, extended...