Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Triad Society

(Encyclopedia)Triad Society, name given to a number of Chinese antidynastic secret societies by 19th-century Western observers. Most of these groups claimed descent from the Heaven and Earth Society (Taendi hui) or...

Society Islands

(Encyclopedia)Society Islands, island group (2002 pop. 214,445), South Pacific, a part of French Polynesia. The group comprises the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands (total land area c.650 sq mi/1,680 sq km)...

Royal Society

(Encyclopedia)Royal Society, oldest scientific organization in Great Britain and one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded in 1660 by a group of learned men in London who met to promote scientific discussion, par...

secret society

(Encyclopedia)secret society, organization of initiated persons whose members, purposes, and rituals are kept secret. Human groups throughout history have maintained secret societies. The ceremonies of initiation i...

Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins

(Encyclopedia)Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins, 1852–1930, American author, b. Randolph, Mass. Her stories and novels paint a picture of Massachusetts and Vermont still under the influence of Puritanism, in her view...

Clacton-on-Sea

(Encyclopedia)Clacton-on-Sea, town, Essex, E central England. It is a seaside resort situated on high cliffs. The Norman Church of St. John was restored there in 1865...

Carrick-on-Shannon

(Encyclopedia)Carrick-on-Shannon, small town, Co. Leitrim, N Republic of Ireland. Located beside the Shannon River, it is a farm market and a center for trout fishing. ...

Stratford-on-Avon

(Encyclopedia)Stratford-on-Avon, district (2001 pop. 111,484), Warwickshire, central England, on the Avon River. The town and former borough of Stratford-upon-Avon is the administrative seat of the district, which ...

Sunbury-on-Thames

(Encyclopedia)Sunbury-on-Thames, town (1991 pop. 26,240), Surrey, SE England, on the Thames. Sunbury Park with its walled garden is there. Nearby Shepperton has motion-picture studios and a village center from the ...

Southend-on-Sea

(Encyclopedia)Southend-on-Sea, borough and unitary authority (1991 pop. 155,720), E England, at the mouth of the Thames River. The city is a popular seaside resort; its extensive amusement pier suffered major damag...