Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

biometrics, in security and personal identification

(Encyclopedia)biometrics, in security and personal identification, the electronic verification of individuals using biological traits, such as iris or retinal scanning, fingerprints, or face recognition, and the te...

Boys and Girls Clubs of America

(Encyclopedia)Boys and Girls Clubs of America, federation of more than 1,006 organizations established (1906) in Boston as the Federated Boys' Clubs to help young people, especially those who are disadvantaged. Lat...

Juno, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Juno, in Roman religion and mythology, wife and sister of Jupiter. In early Roman times she, like the Greek Hera (with whom she was later identified), was goddess and protector of women, concerned esp...

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, SE Alaska, near Juneau. The park (3,224,840 acres/1,305,603 hectares) and the preserve (58,406 acres/23,646 hectares) were established in 1925 as a national mon...

National Institute of Standards and Technology

(Encyclopedia)National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of “working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and st...

Saturn, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Saturn, in Roman religion and mythology, god of harvests, later identified with the Greek Kronos. Little is known of the origins of his cult. His reign was regarded as the Golden Age. He was the husba...

penguin

(Encyclopedia)penguin, originally the common name for the now extinct great auk of the N Atlantic and now used (since the 19th cent.) for the unrelated, generally antarctic diving birds of the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Rhea, in Greek religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Rhea, in Greek religion and mythology, a Titan. She was the wife and sister of Kronos, by whom she bore Zeus, Poseidon, Pluto, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter. She eventually helped Zeus overthrow Kronos. H...

Métis, in Canadian history and society

(Encyclopedia)Métis [Fr.,=mixed], person of mixed racial heritage, particularly a descendant of French and English fur traders and indigenous women, principally in the Canadian prairie provinces of Alberta, Manito...

Browse by Subject