Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

sweepstakes

(Encyclopedia)sweepstakes, contest or race, usually a horse race, on which a lottery is run. Prizes are awarded to the holders of winning tickets. In the case of a horse race, the draw is made from the names of all...

police power

(Encyclopedia)police power, in law, right of a government to make laws necessary for the health, morals, and welfare of the populace. The term has greatest currency in the United States, where it has been defined b...

lottery

(Encyclopedia)lottery, scheme for distributing prizes by lot or other method of chance selection to persons who have paid for the opportunity to win. The term is not applicable when lots are drawn without payment b...

Garfield, James Rudolph

(Encyclopedia)Garfield, James Rudolph, 1865–1950, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1907–9), b. Hiram, Ohio; son of President James A. Garfield. After being admitted to the Ohio bar in 1888, he became a lawyer in...

Boyd, Alan Stephenson

(Encyclopedia)Boyd, Alan Stephenson, 1922–2020, U.S. government official, first secretary of transportation (1967–69), b. Jacksonville, Fla. After serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II, he graduated fr...

convict labor

(Encyclopedia)convict labor, work of prison inmates. Until the 19th cent., labor was introduced in prisons chiefly as punishment. Such work is now considered a necessary part of the rehabilitation of the criminal; ...

Danube

(Encyclopedia)Danube dănˈyo͞ob [key], Czech Dunaj, Ger. Donau, Hung. Duna, Rom. Dunarea, Serbo-Croatian and Bulg. Dunav, Ukr. Dunay, great river of central and SE Europe, c.1,770 mi (2,850 km) long, with a drain...

Brandeis, Louis Dembitz

(Encyclopedia)Brandeis, Louis Dembitz brănˈdīs [key], 1856–1941, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1916–39), b. Louisville, Ky., grad. Harvard law school, 1877. As a successful Boston lawyer (1879...

Semmes, Raphael

(Encyclopedia)Semmes, Raphael sĕmz [key], 1809–77, American naval officer, b. Charles co., Md. He took part in the Mexican War, practiced law at Mobile, Ala., and was in the Lighthouse Service from 1856 to Feb.,...

cosmetics

(Encyclopedia)cosmetics, preparations externally applied to change or enhance the beauty of skin, hair, nails, lips, and eyes. The use of body paint for ornamental and religious purposes has been common among primi...