Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hill, Sir Rowland

(Encyclopedia)Hill, Sir Rowland, 1795–1879, English educator, inventor, and postal reformer. He introduced the system of self-government in his school at Hazelwood in Birmingham. In his Plans for the Government a...

Di Rupo, Elio

(Encyclopedia)Di Rupo, Elio āˈlēō dē ro͞oˈpō [key], 1951–, Belgian political leader. Born to Italian immigrant parents, he is a chemist by education and was a lecturer (1977–78) at the Univ. of Leeds, E...

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

Squaw Valley

(Encyclopedia)Squaw Valley, valley, NE Calif., in the Sierra Nevada Mts., NW of Lake Tahoe. A well-known ski and winter recreational resort, it was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Ski lifts and trails are on ...

Winston-Salem

(Encyclopedia)Winston-Salem, city (1990 pop. 143,485), seat of Forsyth co., central N.C., in the Piedmont; inc. 1913. It is one of North Carolina's largest cities and foremost industrial centers. Historically a maj...

Maryland, University System of

(Encyclopedia)Maryland, University System of, state-supported system of higher education in Maryland, est. 1988 as the University of Maryland System, renamed 1997. It includes all but two of the publicly supported ...

charter school

(Encyclopedia)charter school, alternative type of American public school that, while paid for by taxes, is independent of the public-school system and relatively free from state and local regulations. A charter sch...

Thatcher, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, Baroness

(Encyclopedia)Thatcher, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, Baroness, 1925–2013, British political leader. Great Britain's first woman prime minister, nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her uncompromising political s...

Wayland, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Wayland, Francis, 1796–1865, American clergyman and educator, b. New York City, grad. Union College, 1813, and studied at Andover Theological Seminary. As pastor (1821–26) of the First Baptist Chu...

Rudenstine, Neil Leon

(Encyclopedia)Rudenstine, Neil Leon ro͞oˈdənstīnˌ [key], 1935–, American scholar, educator, and administrator, b. Ossining, N.Y., grad. Princeton (B.A., 1956), Oxford (Rhodes scholar; B.A., 1959; M.A., 1963)...