Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

297 results found

hotel

(Encyclopedia)hotel [Fr., from O.Fr. (origin of Eng. hostel), from Latin (origin of Eng. hospital),=guest place], name applied since the late 17th cent. to an establishment supplying both food and lodging to the pu...

Galbraith, John Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Galbraith, John Kenneth gălˈbrāth [key], 1908–2006, American economist and public official, b. Ontario, Canada, grad. Univ. of Toronto (B.S., 1931), Univ. of California, Berkeley (M.S., 1933; Ph....

meatpacking

(Encyclopedia)meatpacking or meat-processing, wholesale business of buying and slaughtering animals and then processing and distributing their carcasses to retailers. The livestock industry is among the largest in ...

Carnegie, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Carnegie, Andrew kärnĕgˈē, kärˈnəgē [key], 1835–1919, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Dunfermline, Scotland. His father, a weaver, found it increasingly difficult to get work i...

South Sea Bubble

(Encyclopedia)South Sea Bubble, popular name in England for the speculation in the South Sea Company, which failed disastrously in 1720. The company was formed in 1711 by Robert Harley, who needed allies to carry t...

Baldwin, James

(Encyclopedia)Baldwin, James, 1924–87, American author, b. New York City. He spent an impoverished boyhood in Harlem, became a Pentecostal preacher at 14, and left the church three years later. He moved to Paris ...

balance of trade

(Encyclopedia)balance of trade, relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theoris...

Heath, Sir Edward Richard George

(Encyclopedia)Heath, Sir Edward Richard George, 1916–2005, British statesman. Educated at Oxford, he served in the Royal Artillery during World War II, rising to the rank of colonel. He was elected to Parliament ...

wild rice

(Encyclopedia)wild rice, tall aquatic plant (Zizania aquatica) of the family Poaceae (grass family), of a genus separate from common rice (Oryza). Wild rice (called also Canada rice, Indian rice, and water oats) is...

oil industry

(Encyclopedia)oil industry, the business of discovering oil (petroleum), extracting it from the ground, refining it into a variety of products, and distributing it to the public. The development of the oil industry...