Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

soft-coated wheaten terrier

(Encyclopedia)soft-coated wheaten terrier, breed of medium-sized dog developed and perfected in Ireland. It stands from 17 to 19 in. (43.1–48.3 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 30 to 45 lb (13.6–20.4 kg...

Mission Indians

(Encyclopedia)Mission Indians, Native Americans of S and central California; so called because they were under the jurisdiction of some 21 Spanish missions that were established between 1769 and 1823. The major gro...

migrant labor

(Encyclopedia)migrant labor, term applied in the United States to laborers who travel from place to place harvesting crops that must be picked as soon as they ripen. Although migrant labor patterns exist in other p...

Colville, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Colville kŏlˈvĭl [key], indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Salishan branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Once one of the...

George, Henry

(Encyclopedia)George, Henry, 1839–97, American economist, founder of the single tax movement, b. Philadelphia. Of a poor family, his formal education was cut short at 14, and in 1857 he emigrated to California; t...

Randolph, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Edmund, 1753–1813, American statesman, b. Williamsburg, Va.; nephew of Peyton Randolph. He studied law under his father, John Randolph, a Loyalist who went to England at the outbreak of th...

Masaryk, Thomas Garrigue

(Encyclopedia)Masaryk, Thomas Garrigue gərēgˈ [key], 1850–1937, Czechoslovak political leader and philosopher, first president and chief founder of Czechoslovakia. He is revered by most Czechs and was internat...

Jharkhand

(Encyclopedia)Jharkhand, state (2001 provisional pop. 26,909,428), 30,775 sq mi (79,714 sq km), E central India; created in 2000 from S Bihar, which now forms its northern border. Other bordering states are Chhatti...

serf

(Encyclopedia)serf, under feudalism, peasant laborer who can be generally characterized as hereditarily attached to the manor in a state of semibondage, performing the servile duties of the lord (see also manorial ...

Tacna-Arica Controversy

(Encyclopedia)Tacna-Arica Controversy täkˈnə-ərēˈkə [key], 1883–1929, dispute between Chile and Peru. It arose from provisions of the Treaty of Ancón (1883), which ended the War of the Pacific (see Pacifi...
 

Browse by Subject