Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Royal Academy of Arts, London, the national academy of art of England, founded in 1768 by George III at the instigation of Sir William Chambers and Benjamin West. Sir Joshua Reynolds was the Academy's...

(Encyclopedia) Iran hostage crisis, in U.S. history, events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979. The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Isla...

(Encyclopedia) conservation of natural resources, the wise use of the earth's resources by humanity. The term conservation came into use in the late 19th cent. and referred to the management, mainly for economic rea...

(Encyclopedia) Bédié, Henri Konan, 1934–, Ivoirian political leader. A member of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire–African Democratic Rally (PDCI), Bédié was the country's ambassador to the United State...

(Encyclopedia) Confederacy, name commonly given to the Confederate States of America (1861–65), the government established by the Southern states of the United States after their secession from the Union. (For the...

(Encyclopedia) Quebec Conference, name of two meetings held in Quebec, Canada, in World War II. The first meeting (Aug., 1943) was attended by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister...

(Encyclopedia) War of 1812, armed conflict between the United States and Great Britain, 1812–15. It followed a period of great stress between the two nations as a result of the treatment of neutral countries by bo...

(Encyclopedia) Phoenix, city (1990 pop. 983,403), state capital and seat of Maricopa co., S Ariz., on the Salt River; inc. 1881. It is the largest city in Arizona, the hub of the rich agricultural region of the Salt...

(Encyclopedia) Quill, Michael Joseph, 1905–66, American labor leader, b. Co. Kerry, Ireland. Quill was active (1919–23) in the movement for Irish independence before emigrating (1926) to the United States. He wo...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Missouri mĭzo͝orˈē, –ə [key], one of the midwestern states of the United States. It is bordered by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, across the Mississippi River (E), Arkansas (S), Okla...