Columbia Encyclopedia

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packaging

(Encyclopedia)packaging, containment and packing prior to sale with the primary purpose of facilitating the purchase and use of a product. Before 1800 packaging was restricted almost entirely to containment for shi...

social security

(Encyclopedia)social security, government program designed to provide for the basic economic security and welfare of individuals and their dependents. The programs classified under the term social security differ f...

reclamation of land

(Encyclopedia)reclamation of land, practice of converting land deemed unproductive into arable land by such methods as irrigation, drainage, flood control, altering the texture and mineral and organic content of so...

Ashe, John

(Encyclopedia)Ashe, John, c.1720–1781, American Revolutionary general, b. Brunswick co., N.C. Speaker of the colonial assembly (1762–65) and a leader of the opposition to the Stamp Act, he was important to the ...

Aberdeenshire

(Encyclopedia)Aberdeenshire, council area (1993 est. pop. 223,630), 2,438 sq mi (6,315 sq km), and former county, NE Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, the county of Aberdeenshire (or Aberdeen) becam...

Kincardineshire

(Encyclopedia)Kincardineshire or Kincardine, former county, E Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, Kincardineshire became (1975) part of the new Grampian region. In the local government reorganization ...

Thomas, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Albert älbĕrˈ tômäˈ [key], 1878–1932, French statesman and Socialist leader. He worked with Jean Jaurès on the journal Humanité and was active in socialist politics. In 1910 he was e...

Cunninghame Graham, Robert Bontine

(Encyclopedia)Cunninghame Graham, Robert Bontine kŭnˈĭngəm [key], 1852–1936, British politician and author. He lived as a cattle rancher in Argentina and traveled widely in Latin America, Morocco, and Spain. ...

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins

(Encyclopedia)Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, 1860–1935, American feminist and reformer, b. Hartford, Conn.; great-granddaughter of Lyman Beecher. Prominent as a lecturer and writer on the labor movement and feminism,...

Gonsalves, Ralph Everard

(Encyclopedia)Gonsalves, Ralph Everard, 1946–, Vincentian political leader. Gonsalves practised law in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for several years, becoming deputy leader of the Unity Labor party (ULP) in ...