Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Peale, Charles Willson pēl [key], 1741–1827, American portrait painter, naturalist, and inventor, b. Queen Annes County, Md. Charles Willson Peale's brother James Peale, 1749–1831, b. Cheste...

(Encyclopedia) panic, crisis in financial and economic conditions, marked by public loss of confidence in the financial structure. Panics are characterized by a general rush of investors to convert their assets into...

(Encyclopedia) pacifism, advocacy of opposition to war through individual or collective action against militarism. Although complete, enduring peace is the goal of all pacifism, the methods of achieving it differ. S...

(Encyclopedia) lightning, electrical discharge accompanied by thunder, commonly occurring during a thunderstorm. The discharge may take place between one part of a cloud and another part (intracloud), between one cl...

(Encyclopedia) Durban dûrˈbən [key], city, now part and seat of eThekwini metropolitan municipality, KwaZulu-Natal prov., E South Africa, on Natal Bay, an arm of the Indian Ocean. Durban is an industrial center, ...

(Encyclopedia) Harlan, John Marshall, 1833–1911, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1877–1911), b. Boyle co., Ky., grad. Centre College, 1850. Admitted to the bar in 1853, he served in...

(Encyclopedia) harmonica. 1 The simplest of the musical instruments employing free reeds, known also as the mouth organ or French harp. It was probably invented in 1829 by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, who called h...

(Encyclopedia) Trumbull, John, 1756–1843, American painter, b. Lebanon, Conn.; son of Gov. Jonathan Trumbull. He served in the Continental Army early in the Revolution as an aide to Washington. He resigned his com...

(Encyclopedia) Banville, John, 1945–, Irish novelist. His novels, which stress language over plot and narrative, are written in a dense, elaborate, and highly original blend of poetry and prose. They are allusive,...

(Encyclopedia) Buckinghamshire bŭkˈĭng-əmshĭr [key], Buckingham, or Bucks, county (2020 est. pop. 817,0...