Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Central American Common Market (CACM), trade organization envisioned by a 1960 treaty between Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. The treaty established (1961) a secretariat for Central A...

(Encyclopedia) Lowell, John, 1743–1802, American jurist, b. Newburyport, Mass. He became (1762) a lawyer and later served in the provincial assembly (1776, 1778), in the state constitutional convention (1779–80)...

(Encyclopedia) American University of Beirut, at Beirut, Lebanon; English language; chartered by New York State in 1866 as Syrian Protestant College, rechartered 1920 as the American Univ. of Beirut. It has facultie...

(Encyclopedia) North American Native art, diverse traditional arts of Native North Americans. In recent years Native American arts have become commodities collected and marketed by nonindigenous Americans and Europe...

(Encyclopedia) Spanish-American literature, the writings of both the European explorers of Spanish America and its later inhabitants. See also Spanish literature; Portuguese literature; Brazilian literature. T...

(Encyclopedia) Dunbar, William, 1749–1810, American scientist in the old Southwest, b. near Elgin, Scotland. He came to America in 1771. Commissioned by President Jefferson to investigate the Ouachita and Red Rive...

(Encyclopedia) American Geographical Society (AGS), oldest geographical society in the United States, founded 1852 in New York City. Its purpose is to advance the science of geography through discussion and publicat...

(Encyclopedia) Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York City, founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with a core group of 700 artworks, many from her own collection. The museum was an outgrowth of the Whi...

(Encyclopedia) Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), organization formed in 1980 by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, taking over the duti...

(Encyclopedia) Biddle, Nicholas, 1750–78, American naval officer, b. Philadelphia. Biddle left the British navy in 1773. In the American Revolution he became captain in the patriot navy and daringly raided British...