Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Virginia Military Institute (VMI), at Lexington; state supported; chartered and opened 1839 as the first state military college in the United States. Although one of the leading U.S. military institut...

(Encyclopedia) plea bargaining, negotiation in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a criminal charge in exchange for concessions by the prosecutor (representing the state). The defendant waives the right to ...

(Encyclopedia) Wayne State University, at Detroit, Mich.; state supported; coeducational; established 1956 as a successor to Wayne Univ. (formed 1934 by a merger of five city colleges). The university includes progr...

(Encyclopedia) treaty, in international law, formal agreement between sovereign states or organizations of states. The term treaty is ordinarily confined to important formal agreements, while less formal internation...

(Encyclopedia) Tupelo to͞oˈpĭlō, tyo͞o– [key], city (1990 pop. 30,685), seat of Lee co., NE Miss.; founded 1859, inc. 1870. It is the trade, processing, and shipping center for a cotton, grain, dairying, and ...

(Encyclopedia) Rio de Janeiro rēˈō də zhänāˈrō, Port. rēˈo͝o ᵺĭ zhənĕēˈro͝o [key], state (1996 pop. 13,316,455), 16,568 sq mi (42,911 sq km), SE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Rio d...

(Encyclopedia) Salton Sea sôlˈtən [key], saline lake, 370 sq mi (958 sq km), northern part of the Imperial Valley, SE Calif.; 232 ft (71 m) below sea level. The area was anciently the northern part of the Gulf of...

(Encyclopedia) Moscow State University, at Moscow, Russia, officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State Univ.; founded 1755 as Moscow Univ. by the Russian scientist M. V. Lomonosov, renamed Moscow State Univ. after the R...

(Encyclopedia) Kansas State University, main campus at Manhattan; coeducational; land-grant and state supported; chartered and opened 1863. There is an additional campus at Salina. Among the university's research fa...

(Encyclopedia) Hampshire swine, breed of swine that originated in S England and was introduced to the United States in the early 1800s. Major improvement of the breed took place in the state of Kentucky. Hampshire s...