Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

shell money

(Encyclopedia)shell money, medium of exchange consisting of shells, the most widely distributed type of ancient currency. Shells are particularly useful as money because they may be strung in long strips of proport...

Independent Treasury System

(Encyclopedia)Independent Treasury System, in U.S. history, system for the retaining of government funds in the Treasury and its subtreasuries independently of the national banking and financial systems. In one for...

United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 CE5 CE5 United States, officially United States of America, republic (2015 est. pop. 319,929,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third l...

Laughlin, James Laurence

(Encyclopedia)Laughlin, James Laurence lŏfˈlĭn [key], 1850–1933, American economist, b. Deerfield, Ohio, Ph.D. Harvard, 1876. He was a distinguished teacher, and as head of the department of political economy ...

monetary agreement

(Encyclopedia)monetary agreement, attempt by two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) nations to regulate and coordinate their financial relations by treaty. The objectives are usually to promote trade by facilitatin...

Lady of the Lake

(Encyclopedia)Lady of the Lake, in Arthurian legend, a misty, supernatural figure endowed with magic powers, who gave the sword Excalibur to King Arthur. She inhabited a castle in an underwater kingdom. According t...

law of the sea

(Encyclopedia)law of the sea: see maritime law; sea, law of the; seas, freedom of the. ...

Lake of the Woods

(Encyclopedia)Lake of the Woods, 1,485 sq mi (3,846 sq km), c.70 mi (110 km) long, on the U.S.-Canada border in the pine forest region of N Minn., SE Man., and SW Ont. More than two thirds of the lake is in Canada....

Browse by Subject