Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

devaluation

(Encyclopedia)devaluation, decreasing the value of one nation's currency relative to gold or the currencies of other nations. It is usually undertaken as a means of correcting a deficit in the balance of payments. ...

Crabbe, George

(Encyclopedia)Crabbe, George, 1754–1832, English poet, b. Aldeburgh, Suffolk. After practicing medicine for a short time, he went to London in 1780, hoping to earn money by his writing. He was befriended by Edmun...

Schwartz, Anna Jacobson

(Encyclopedia)Schwartz, Anna Jacobson, 1915–2012, American research economist and financial historian, b. the Bronx, N.Y., grad. Barnard (B.A. 1934), Columbia (M.A. 1935, Ph.D. 1964). An outstanding exponent of m...

Pérez Jiménez, Marcos

(Encyclopedia)Pérez Jiménez, Marcos märˈkōs pāˈrās hēmāˈnās [key], 1914–2001, president of Venezuela (1952–58). As an army captain he took part in the coup that installed (1945) the Democratic Actio...

Pincay, Laffit Alejandro, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Pincay, Laffit Alejandro, Jr. läfˈēt älākhänˈdrō pēnˈkī, pĭnˈ– [key], 1946–, Panamanian jockey, b. Panama City. He began racing in Panama and came to the United States in 1965. Known ...

parimutuel betting

(Encyclopedia)parimutuel betting părˌĭmyo͞oˈtyo͞oĕl [key], system of cooperative wagering invented (c.1870) in France by Pierre Oller. According to the system, the holders of winning tickets divide the total...

Cahors

(Encyclopedia)Cahors käôrˈ [key], town, capital of Lot dept., S central France, in Quercy, on the Lot Ri...

Bishops' Wars

(Encyclopedia)Bishops' Wars, two brief campaigns (1639 and 1640) of the Scots against Charles I of England. When Charles attempted to strengthen episcopacy in Scotland by imposing (1637) the English Book of Common ...

airmail

(Encyclopedia)airmail, transport of mail by airplanes. Demonstration flights that showed the feasibility of carrying mail by air were made in Great Britain and in the United States in 1911. In the United States, af...

Besant, Sir Walter

(Encyclopedia)Besant, Sir Walter bĭzăntˈ [key], 1836–1901, English novelist and humanitarian, grad. Christ's College, Cambridge, 1859. He taught at the Royal College of Mauritius from 1861 to 1867. After his r...