Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

national debt

(Encyclopedia)national debt: see debt, public. ...

body snatching

(Encyclopedia)body snatching, the stealing of corpses from graves and morgues. Before cadavers were legally available for dissection and study by medical students, traffic in stolen bodies was profitable. Those who...

Scopes trial

(Encyclopedia)Scopes trial, Tennessee legal case involving the teaching of evolution in public schools. A statute was passed (Mar., 1925) in Tennessee that prohibited the teaching in public schools of theories cont...

subsidy

(Encyclopedia)subsidy, financial assistance granted by a government or philanthropic foundation to a person or association for the purpose of promoting an enterprise considered beneficial to the public welfare. Sub...

monopoly

(Encyclopedia)monopoly mənōpˈəlē [key], market condition in which there is only one seller of a certain commodity; by virtue of the long-run control over supply, such a seller is able to exert nearly total con...

police

(Encyclopedia)police, public and private agents concerned with the enforcement of law, order, and public protection. In modern cities their duties cover a wide range of activities, from criminal investigation and a...

Kidd, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Kidd, Benjamin, 1858–1916, English social philosopher. His most noted work, Social Evolution (1894), sets forth his doctrine of the constant strife between individual and public interest. ...

Education, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Education, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government responsible for advising on educational plans and policies, providing assistance for education, and carrying out ...

Colombo Plan

(Encyclopedia)Colombo Plan, international economic organization created in a cooperative attempt to strengthen the economic and social development of the nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Officially the Co...

Chernenko, Konstantin Ustinovich

(Encyclopedia)Chernenko, Konstantin Ustinovich kŏstəntyēēnˈ ōōstyēēnˈəvich chĭrnyĕnˈkô [key], 1911–85, Soviet political leader. A protégé of Leonid Brezhnev, he rose through Communist party ranks...