Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cooper, Peter, 1791–1883, American inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, b. New York City. After achieving success in the glue business, Cooper, with two partners, erected (1829) the Canton I...

(Encyclopedia) bauxite bôkˈsīt, bŏkˈ– [key], mixture of hydrated aluminum oxides usually containing oxides of iron and silicon in varying quantities. A noncrystalline substance formerly thought to be a minera...

(Encyclopedia) Mkapa, Benjamin William mkäˈpä [key], 1938–2020, Tanzanian diplomat and political leader. Acquiring a background in both the foreign service and journalism, Mkapa served in a variety of posts, in...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Supreme Court, United States, highest court of the United States, established by Article 3 of the Constitution of the United States. With the emergence of a working conservative majority,...

(Encyclopedia)  Du Pont, Pete (Pierre Samuel du Pont IV), 1935-2021, Wilmington, Del, Princeton Univ. (Mech. Engr., 1956); Harvard Law School (J.D., 1963). Du Pont wa...

(Encyclopedia) convention, in U.S. politics, a gathering of delegates to nominate candidates for elective office and to formulate party policy. They are held at the national, state, and local levels. State convent...

(Encyclopedia) Jawara, Sir Dawda Kairaba douˈdə kīräˈbə jäwärˈə [key], 1924–2019, president of Gambia (1970–94). A veterinarian, he became active in politics in 1960 and leader of the People's Progress...

(Encyclopedia) Tymoshenko, Yulia Volodymyrivna, 1960–, Ukrainian political leader, prime minister of Ukraine (2005, 2007–10), b. Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk). She studied economics and cybernetics at Dnipropetrovsk S...

(Encyclopedia) Jim Crow laws, in U.S. history, statutes enacted by Southern states and municipalities, beginning in the 1880s, that legalized segregation between blacks and whites. The name is believed to be derived...

(Encyclopedia) zoning, legislative regulations by which a municipal government seeks to control the use of buildings and land within the municipality. It has become, in the United States, a widespread method of cont...