Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Le Duc Tho fän dĭn kī [key], 1911–90, Vietnamese political leader. A Vietnamese nationalist and one of the founders (1930) of the Indochinese Communist party, he opposed the French colonial regim...

(Encyclopedia) arborvitae ärˌbərvīˈtē [key] [Lat.,=tree of life], aromatic evergreen tree of the genus Thuja of the family Cupressaceae (cypress family), with scalelike leaves borne on flattened branchlets of ...

(Encyclopedia) jumping mouse, rodent slightly larger than the common mouse, found in North America and N Asia, also called the kangaroo mouse. Its long hind legs and tail enable it to leap distances up to 12 ft (3.7...

(Encyclopedia) Tonkin Gulf resolution, in U.S. history, Congressional resolution passed in 1964 that authorized military action in Southeast Asia. On Aug. 4, 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonki...

(Encyclopedia) Saskatchewan, river, c.340 mi (550 km) long, formed by the confluence of the North Saskatchewan (c.760 mi/1,220 km long) and the South Saskatchewan (c.550 mi/890 km long) rivers near Prince Albert, ce...

(Encyclopedia) San Andreas fault, great fracture (see fault) of the earth's crust in California. It is the principal fault of an intricate network of faults extending more than 600 mi (965 km) from NW California to ...

(Encyclopedia) Frisian Islands frĭzhˈən [key], chain of low-lying islands, off the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, in the North Sea. The West Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands, be...

(Encyclopedia) Artaud, Antonin äNtônăNˈ ärtōˈ [key], 1896–1948, French poet, actor, and director. During the 1920s and 30s he was associated with various experimental theater groups in Paris, and he cofound...

(Encyclopedia) learning disabilities, in education, any of various disorders involved in understanding or using spoken or written language, including difficulties in listening, thinking, talking, reading, writing, s...

(Encyclopedia) New Zealand literature. In the 20th cent. New Zealand developed a vital literary tradition, though only a few of its authors are well-known outside its islands: Katherine Mansfield, short-story writer...