Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Passaic pəsāˈĭk [key], city (1990 pop. 58,041), Passaic co., NE N.J., a port on the Passaic River; settled 1678 by Dutch traders as Acquackanonk, named Passaic 1854, inc. as a city 1873. Formerly ...

(Encyclopedia) Mpama, Josie 1903–1979, anti-apartheid activist. Mpama was a pioneer of women's rights in South Africa and a labor advocate. B...

(Encyclopedia) perestroika pərˈĕstroyˈkə [key], Soviet economic and social policy of the late 1980s. Perestroika [restructuring] was the term attached to the attempts (1985–91) by Mikhail Gorbachev to transfo...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Congo, Republic of the, republic (2015 est. pop. 4,996,000), 132,046 sq mi (342,000 sq km), W central Africa; also known as the Congo Republic. Congo is bordered on the west by Gabon; on the no...

(Encyclopedia) Toledo təlēˈdō [key], city (1990 pop. 332,943), seat of Lucas co., NW Ohio, on the Maumee River at its junction with Lake Erie; inc. 1837. With a natural harbor and its railroads and highways, Tol...

(Encyclopedia) peonage pēˈənĭj [key], system of involuntary servitude based on the indebtedness of the laborer (the peon) to his creditor. It was prevalent in Spanish America, especially in Mexico, Guatemala, Ec...

(Encyclopedia) Lyon, Matthew, 1750–1822, American political leader and pioneer, b. Co. Wicklow, Ireland. He emigrated to America in 1765, settling eventually in Vermont. During the American Revolution he served wi...

(Encyclopedia) Huntington, Collis Potter, 1821–1900, American railroad builder, b. near Torrington, Conn. A storekeeper of Oneonta, N.Y., before he went West in the gold rush of 1849, he became a storekeeper in Ca...

(Encyclopedia) Black Lives Matter, a global political movement. Founded in 2013 by organizers Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, the #Black Lives Matter ...

(Encyclopedia) Ibáñez del Campo, Carlos kärˈlōs ēbäˈnyās ᵺĕl kämˈpō [key], 1877–1960, president of Chile (1927–31, 1952–58). An army general who served as minister of war (1925–27) and vice pr...