Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Adams, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Samuel, 1722–1803, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Boston, Mass.; second cousin of John Adams. An unsuccessful businessman, he becam...

social contract

(Encyclopedia)social contract, agreement or covenant by which men are said to have abandoned the “state of nature” to form the society in which they now live. The theory of such a contract, first formulated by ...

Solidarity

(Encyclopedia)Solidarity, Polish independent trade union federation formed in Sept., 1980. Led by Lech Wałęsa, it grew rapidly in size and political power and soon posed a threat to Poland's Communist government ...

Perot, H. Ross

(Encyclopedia)Perot, H. Ross (Henry Ross Perot), 1930–2019, American business executive and political leader, b. Texarkana, Tex., as Henry Ray Perot, grad. Annapolis, 1953. In 1957 he resigned his naval commissio...

Bode's law

(Encyclopedia)Bode's law [for J. E. Bode], also known as Titius's law or the Titius-Bode law, empirical relationship between the mean distances of the planets from the sun. If each number in the series 0, 3, 6, 12,...

commerce, in economics

(Encyclopedia)commerce, traffic in goods, usually thought of as trade between states or nations. Engaged in by all peoples from the earliest times, it has been carried on in some areas and by some peoples more than...

Hamas

(Encyclopedia)Hamas hämäsˈ [key] [Arab., = zeal], Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization that was founded in 1987 during the Intifada; it seeks ...

knight

(Encyclopedia)knight, in ancient and medieval history, a noble who did military service as a mounted warrior. As the feudal system disintegrated, knight service was with growing frequency commuted into cash pay...

Ukraine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ukraine yo͞oˈkrān, yo͞okrānˈ [key], Ukr. Ukraina, republic (2015 est. pop. 44,658,000), 232,046 sq mi (601,000 sq km), E Europe. It borders on Poland in the northwest; on Slovakia, Hungar...

Korea

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Korea kôrēˈə, kə– [key], Korean Hanguk or Choson, region and historic country (85,049 sq mi/220,277 sq km), E Asia. A peninsula, 600 mi (966 km) long, Korea separates the Sea of Japan (c...