Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Masaryk, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Masaryk, Jan yän mäˈsärĭk [key], 1886–1948, Czechoslovak diplomat, son of Thomas G. Masaryk. He was (1925–38) Czechoslovak minister to Great Britain, and in London he became (1940) foreign mi...

Kiritimati

(Encyclopedia)Kiritimati kərĭsˈməs [key], largest atoll in the Pacific (1990 pop. 2,537), 222 sq mi (575 sq km), in the Line Islands, one of the island groups that compose the Republic of Kiribati. It was previ...

Kanton

(Encyclopedia)Kanton kăntŏnˈ, kănˈtŏn [key], coral atoll, 3.5 sq mi (9 sq km), central Pacific, largest of the Phoenix Islands, which comprise part of Kiribati, c.2,000 mi (3,220 km) SE of Honolulu, Hawaii. A...

Pretorius, Martinus Wessel

(Encyclopedia)Pretorius, Martinus Wessel prātôrˈēəs [key], 1818?–1901, Boer (Afrikaner) statesman; son of Andries Pretorius. In 1857 he was elected the first president of the South African Republic (the Tra...

Boulogne-sur-Mer

(Encyclopedia)Boulogne-sur-Mer bo͞olôˈnyə-sür-mĕrˈ [key], city, Pas-de-Calais dept., N France, in Picardy, on the English ...

Windsor, British royal house

(Encyclopedia)Windsor wĭnˈzər [key], name of the royal house of Great Britain. The name Wettin, family name of Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, consort of Queen Victoria, as well as Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the name of th...

Vergennes, Charles Gravier, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Vergennes, Charles Gravier, comte de shärl grävyāˈ kôNt də vĕrzhĕnˈ [key], 1717–87, French statesman. After serving as ambassador at Trier, Constantinople, and Stockholm (where in 1772 he p...

Yonai, Mitsumasa

(Encyclopedia)Yonai, Mitsumasa, 1880–1948, Japanese naval officer and political leader, b. Morioka. He attended the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy (grad. 1901) and the Naval War College, served in the Russo-Japa...

Berlin, Conference of

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Conference of, 1884–85, international meeting aimed at settling the problems connected with European colonies in Africa. At the invitation of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, represe...

Acton, Sir John Francis Edward

(Encyclopedia)Acton, Sir John Francis Edward, 1736?–1811, Neapolitan statesman of British origin, b. Besançon, France. Called upon by Queen Marie Caroline and King Ferdinand IV of Naples (later Ferdinand I of th...