Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Hewes, Joseph hyo͞oz [key], 1730–79, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Kingston, N.J. He moved (1760) to Edenton, N.C., and became a wealthy...

(Encyclopedia) Woods, Robert Archey, 1865–1925, American social worker, b. Pittsburgh, grad. Amherst, 1886. After six months at Toynbee Hall, London, he helped found (1891) the South End House, Boston, which he he...

(Encyclopedia) Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), former U.S. government agency, created in 1932 by the administration of Herbert Hoover. Its purpose was to facilitate economic activity by lending money in th...

(Encyclopedia) Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798, four laws enacted by the Federalist-controlled U.S. Congress, allegedly in response to the hostile actions of the French Revolutionary government on the seas and in the ...

(Encyclopedia) holiday [altered from holy day], day set aside for the commemoration of an important event. Holidays are often accompanied by public ceremonies, such as parades and carnivals, and by religious observa...

(Encyclopedia) American architecture, the architecture produced in the geographical area that now constitutes the United States. Wright, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest architects of the 20th cent., ...

(Encyclopedia) Oświęcim ôshvyĕNˈchēm [key], Ger. Auschwitz, town (1992 est. pop. 45,100), Małopolskie prov., SE Poland. It is a railway junction and industrial center producing chemicals, leather, and agricul...

(Encyclopedia) Weld, Theodore Dwight, 1803–95, American abolitionist, b. Hampton, Conn. In 1825 his family moved to upstate New York, and he entered Hamilton College. While in college he became a disciple of the e...

(Encyclopedia) Ávila Camacho, Manuel mänwĕlˈ äˈvēlä kämäˈchō [key], 1897–1955, president of Mexico (1940–46). As a young man, Ávila Camacho joined the revolutionary forces. Later he became brigadier...

(Encyclopedia) Michael (Michael Romanov), 1596–1645, czar of Russia (1613–45), founder of the Romanov dynasty; grandnephew of Anastasia, first wife of Ivan IV. His election as czar, following successive appearan...