Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dufour, Guillaume Henri gēyōmˈ äNrēˈ düfo͞orˈ [key], 1787–1875, Swiss general. He served in the French army under Napoleon I, and in 1847 he led the Swiss federal forces to victory against ...

(Encyclopedia) prime meridian, meridian that is designated zero degree (0°) longitude, from which all other longitudes are measured. By international convention, it passes through the site of the Royal Observatory ...

(Encyclopedia) European Investment Bank, nonprofit bank created in 1958 by the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (now part of the European Union [EU]). The bank makes or guarantees loans to E...

(Encyclopedia) Bourinot, Sir John George bo͝orˈĭnōˌ [key], 1837–1902, Canadian historian and political scientist, b. Sydney, N.S. He is remembered as an authority on the Canadian constitution and government. ...

(Encyclopedia) Capponi, Gino, Marchese jēˈnō käp-pōˈnē [key], 1792–1876, Italian politician, historian, and educator. He played an important part in the Risorgimento. His theory of education anticipated the...

(Encyclopedia) Lvov, Prince Georgi Yevgenyevich gēôrˈgē yĭvgāˈnyəvĭch lyəvôfˈ [key], 1861–1925, Russian public official, head of the provisional government (Mar.–July, 1917). He played a prominent pa...

(Encyclopedia) Mulroney, Brian (Martin Brian Mulroney) mŭlrōˈnē, –ro͞oˈnē [key], 1939–, Canadian prime minister (1984–93). Raised in Quebec in a working class family, Mulroney was a successful bilingual...

(Encyclopedia) McCulloch v. Maryland, case decided in 1819 by the U.S. Supreme Court, dealing specifically with the constitutionality of a Congress-chartered corporation, and more generally with the dispersion of po...

(Encyclopedia) Borden, Sir Robert Laird, 1854–1937, Canadian political leader, prime minister during World War I, b. Grand-Pré, N.S. Called to the bar in 1878, he won a reputation as a constitutional lawyer. He w...

(Encyclopedia) Constant, Benjamin (Henri Benjamin Constant de Rebecque) äNrēˈ bäNzhämăNˈ kôNstäNˈ də rəbĕkˈ [key], 1767–1830, French-Swiss political writer and novelist, b. Lausanne. His affair (1794...