Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Liberty party

(Encyclopedia)Liberty party, in U.S. history, an antislavery political organization founded in 1840. It was formed by those abolitionists, under the leadership of James G. Birney and Gerrit Smith, who repudiated Wi...

Gül, Abdullah

(Encyclopedia)Gül, Abdullah äbˈdo͞olä go͞ol [key], 1950–, Turkish politician, grad. İstanbul Univ. (B.A., 1971; Ph.D., 1983). An economist, he was first elected to parliament in 1991, originally as a membe...

International Trade Commission, United States

(Encyclopedia)International Trade Commission, United States, independent agency of the U.S. government established in 1916 as the Tariff Commission; renamed International Trade Commission in 1975. It is charged wit...

Eshkol, Levi

(Encyclopedia)Eshkol, Levi lāˈvē ĕshˈkôl [key], 1895–1969, Israeli statesman, third prime minister of Israel, b. Ukraine; originally named Levi Shkolnik. In World War I he served in the Jewish Legion, which...

Becker, Carl Lotus

(Encyclopedia)Becker, Carl Lotus, 1873–1945, American historian, b. Blackhawk co., Iowa. He taught history at Dartmouth College (1901–2), at the Univ. of Kansas (1902–16), and at Cornell (1917–41). After re...

nullity of marriage

(Encyclopedia)nullity of marriage, in law, an unlawful marriage that is either void or voidable because of conditions existing at the time of the marriage. A bigamous or incestuous marriage, for example, is void, a...

Bennett, James Gordon, 1795–1872, American newspaper publisher

(Encyclopedia)Bennett, James Gordon, 1795–1872, American newspaper proprietor, b. Keith, Scotland. He came to America in 1819 and won a reputation as Washington correspondent of the New York Enquirer and later (1...

Weaver, James Baird

(Encyclopedia)Weaver, James Baird, 1833–1912, American political leader, b. Dayton, Ohio. Reared in frontier areas of Michigan and Iowa, he practiced law in Iowa. He served in the Union army in the Civil War and ...

Kwaśniewski, Aleksander

(Encyclopedia)Kwaśniewski, Aleksander kwäshnyĕfˈskē [key], 1954–, Polish politician, president of Poland (1995–), b. Bialogard. He studied economics at the Univ. of Gdańsk, joined the Communist party at 2...

Lafontaine, Oskar

(Encyclopedia)Lafontaine, Oskar, 1943–, German politician. He rose through the Social Democrat Party (SPD) and electoral ranks in the Saar, becoming SPD regional chairman in 1977 and premier of the Saar in 1985. ...