Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

equatorial coordinate system

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Equatorial coordinate system equatorial coordinate system, the most commonly used astronomical coordinate system for indicating the positions of stars or other celestial objects on the celesti...

Rutte, Mark

(Encyclopedia)Rutte, Mark rŭtˈtə [key], 1967–, Dutch politician, prime minister of the Netherlands (2010–), b. The Hague. He studied at Leiden Univ. (M.A., 1992), where he joined the youth organization of th...

Rajoy Brey, Mariano

(Encyclopedia)Rajoy Brey, Mariano märēäˈnō rähoiˈ brā [key], 1955–, Spanish political leader, b. Santiago de Compostela. The son of a prominent Galician lawyer, he received (1978) a law degree from the Un...

Fukuda, Takeo

(Encyclopedia)Fukuda, Takeo, 1905–95, Japanese politician, b. Gunma prefecture, prime minister of Japan (1976–78). Born into a wealthy farming family, he studied law at Tokyo Imperial Univ. (grad. 1929). After ...

Howard, John Winston, Australian political leader

(Encyclopedia)Howard, John Winston, 1939–, Australian political leader and prime minister (1996–2007), b. Sydney. A graduate of Sydney Univ., a conservative lawyer, and a member of the Liberal party, he was ele...

Gül, Abdullah

(Encyclopedia)Gül, Abdullah äbˈdo͞olä go͞ol [key], 1950–, Turkish politician, grad. İstanbul Univ. (B.A., 1971; Ph.D., 1983). An economist, he was first elected to parliament in 1991, originally as a membe...

Advani, Lal Krishna

(Encyclopedia)Advani, Lal Krishna, 1927–, Indian political leader, b. Karachi, British India (now in Pakistan). A lawyer and a member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), he was the party's pres...

Mintoff, Dominic

(Encyclopedia)Mintoff, Dominic, 1916–2012, Maltese political leader, prime minister of Malta (1955–58, 1971–84). An architect and engineer, he was educated at the Univ. of Malta and Oxford. He joined the Labo...

Matsukata, Masayoshi

(Encyclopedia)Matsukata, Masayoshi mäsīˈōshē mätso͞oˈkäˌtä [key], 1835–1924, Japanese statesman. A Satsuma clansman and a genro, he was a leading figure in the modernization of Japan. As finance minist...

Thorning-Schmidt, Helle

(Encyclopedia)Thorning-Schmidt, Helle hĕlˈə tôrˈnĕng-shmĕtˈ [key] 1966–, Danish political leader, grad. Univ. of Copenhagen (1994). A Social Democrat, she was a member of the European parliament from 1999...