Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pearson, Drew

(Encyclopedia)Pearson, Drew, 1897–1969, American journalist and radio commentator, b. Evanston, Ill. He traveled around the world as a correspondent before joining the Baltimore Sun in 1926. Pearson gained nation...

Ten Commandments

(Encyclopedia)Ten Commandments or Decalogue [Gr.,=ten words], in the Bible, the summary of divine law given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. They have a paramount place in the ethical systems of Judaism, Christianity,...

Rinehart, Mary Roberts

(Encyclopedia)Rinehart, Mary Roberts rīnˈhärt [key], 1876–1958, American novelist, b. Pittsburgh. A graduate nurse, she married Dr. Stanley M. Rinehart in 1896. The first of her many mystery stories, The Circu...

Robbins, Frederick Chapman

(Encyclopedia)Robbins, Frederick Chapman, 1916–2003, American physician, b. Auburn, Ala., grad. Univ. of Missouri, 1938, M.D. Harvard, 1940. He served on the staff of Children's Hospital, Boston, and at Harvard, ...

Curtis, George Ticknor

(Encyclopedia)Curtis, George Ticknor, 1812–94, American lawyer and writer, b. Watertown, Mass. A highly successful patent attorney, Curtis served in the Massachusetts legislature (1840–43) and as U.S. commissio...

coagulation

(Encyclopedia)coagulation kōăgˌyo͞olāˈshən [key], the collecting into a mass of minute particles of a solid dispersed throughout a liquid (a sol), usually followed by the precipitation or separation of the s...

Gault, in re

(Encyclopedia)Gault, in re ĭn rā gôlt [key], case decided in 1967 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Fifteen-year-old Gerald Gault had been found a delinquent by an Arizona juvenile court and sentenced to the state indu...

Daugherty, Harry Micajah

(Encyclopedia)Daugherty, Harry Micajah dôˈərtē [key], 1860–1941, American politician, b. Fayette co., Ohio. He became a successful corporation lawyer in Columbus, Ohio, and served (1890–94) in the state leg...

demonetization

(Encyclopedia)demonetization dēˌmŏnˌətəzāˈshən [key], governmental withdrawal of the monetary quality from particular coinage or precious metal. By demonetization former money is no longer legal tender, al...

executive privilege

(Encyclopedia)executive privilege, exemption of the executive branch of government, or its officers, from having to give evidence, specifically, in U.S. law, the exemption of the president from disclosing informati...