Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Central American Federation or Central American Union, political confederation (1825–38) of the republics of Central America—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador. United under ...

(Encyclopedia) American water spaniel, breed of medium-sized sporting dog developed in the American Midwest. It stands about 17 in. (43.2 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 30 and 40 lb (13.6–18.1 kg). It...

(Encyclopedia) American Medical Association (AMA), professional physicians' organization (founded 1847). Its goals are to protect the interests of American physicians, advance public health, and support the growth o...

(Encyclopedia) American Fur Company, chartered by John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) in 1808 to compete with the great fur-trading companies in Canada—the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company. Astor's most ...

(Encyclopedia) Hicks, Thomas Holliday, 1798–1865, American statesman, b. Dorchester co., Md. In 1857 he was elected governor of Maryland as a Know-Nothing. After the states of the lower South seceded in 1860–61,...

(Encyclopedia) Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, 3d duke of, 1735–1806, British statesman. He was secretary of state for the south of Europe (1766) and became a staunch defender of the cause of the American col...

(Encyclopedia) American Automobile Association (AAA), federation of American automobile clubs, est. 1902. AAA provides a number of benefits to its members, including emergency road service; national and internationa...

(Encyclopedia) Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arriv...

(Encyclopedia) Pan-American Highway, system of roads, c.16,000 mi (25,750 km) long, linking the nations of the Western Hemisphere. It was suggested at the Fifth International Conference of American States (1923) and...

(Encyclopedia) lighthouse, towerlike structure erected to give guidance and warning to ships and aircraft by either visible or radioelectrical means. Lighthouses were long built to conform in structure to their geog...