Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Constitutional Convention, in U.S. history, the 1787 meeting in which the Constitution of the United States was drawn up. The convention at Philadelphia drew up one of the most influential document...

(Encyclopedia) Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks War, June 15–Aug. 23, 1866, between Prussia, allied with Italy, and Austria, seconded by Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and several smaller German ...

(Encyclopedia) Galt, Sir Alexander Tilloch tĭlˈək gôlt [key], 1817–93, Canadian statesman, b. England; son of John Galt. In 1835 he went to Canada in the service of the British American Land Company. He direct...

(Encyclopedia) McGee, Thomas D'Arcy məgēˈ [key], 1825–68, Canadian journalist and statesman, a leader in the movement for confederation, b. Ireland. He emigrated (1842) to Boston, where he became editor of the ...

(Encyclopedia) luxury tax, levy on articles that are not essential to a normal standard of living. Such taxes may be imposed strictly for revenue purposes or they may be intended to discourage consumption of certain...

(Encyclopedia) standard of living, level of consumption that an individual, group, or nation has achieved. The evaluation of a standard of living is relative, depending upon the judgment of the observer as to what c...

(Encyclopedia) London, Declaration of, international code of maritime law, especially as related to war, proposed in 1909. The declaration grew largely out of the attempt at the second of the Hague Conferences to se...

(Encyclopedia) Howe, Joseph, 1804–73, Canadian journalist and political leader, b. Halifax, N.S. In 1828, Howe became proprietor and editor of the Nova Scotian, which under his direction became the leading journal...

(Encyclopedia) Santa Cruz, Andrés ändrāsˈ sänˈtä kro͞os [key], 1792?–1865, president of Bolivia (1829–39). In 1820 he joined the revolutionists against Spain and, as Bolívar's chief of staff, participat...

(Encyclopedia) Frankfurt Parliament, 1848–49, national assembly convened at Frankfurt on May 18, 1848, as a result of the liberal revolution that swept the German states early in 1848. The parliament was called by...