Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Space Force, United States

(Encyclopedia)Space Force, United States (USSF), military force that forms a separate service within the U.S. Dept. of the Air Force, est. Dec. 20, 2019, by act of Congress. The head of the Space Force is the Chief...

lyceum, 19th-century American educational association

(Encyclopedia)lyceum līsēˈəm, līˈ– [key], 19th-century American association for popular instruction of adults by lectures, concerts, and other methods. Lyceum groups were concerned with the dissemination of...

John Birch Society

(Encyclopedia)John Birch Society, ultraconservative, anti-Communist organization in the United States. It was founded in Dec., 1958, by manufacturer Robert Welch, headquartered in Belmont, Mass., and named after Jo...

bed and breakfast

(Encyclopedia)bed and breakfast (B&B or BnB), small business that offers guests rooms and breakfast, usually in a private home or apartment. In a B&B, service and meal preparation is typically provided by t...

population

(Encyclopedia)population, the inhabitants of a given area, but perhaps most importantly, the human inhabitants of the earth (numbering about 7.5 billion in 2017), who by their increasing numbers and corresponding i...

refugee

(Encyclopedia)refugee, one who leaves one's native land either because of expulsion or to escape persecution. The legal problem of accepting refugees is discussed under asylum; this article considers only mass disl...

Communications Satellite Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Communications Satellite Corporation (Comsat), organization incorporated (1962) by an act of Congress to establish a commercial system of international communications using artificial satellites. Alth...

Machilipatnam

(Encyclopedia)Machilipatnam bŭnˈdər [key], city (1991 pop. 159,110), Andhra Pradesh state, E central India, a port on the Bay of Bengal. In the 17th cent. it was a center of French, British, and Dutch trade. It ...

San Andrés and Providencia

(Encyclopedia)San Andrés and Providencia, district (1990 est. pop. 39,949), 21 sq mi (54 sq km), Colombia, comprising two small islands and seven groups of coral reefs and cays in the Caribbean 125–200 mi (201�...

Logan, James, American colonial statesman and scholar

(Encyclopedia)Logan, James, 1674–1751, American colonial statesman and scholar, b. Ireland. While engaged in the shipping trade, Logan met William Penn and became (1699) his secretary. He emigrated to Philadelphi...