Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bréal, Michel Jules Alfred mēshĕlˈ zhül älfrĕdˈ brāälˈ [key], 1832–1915, French philologist. He is best known for his Essai de semantique (1897), which gave great impetus to scientific in...

(Encyclopedia) credit union, cooperative, not-for-profit financial institution that makes low-interest personal loans to its members. It is usually composed of persons from the same occupational group or the same lo...

(Encyclopedia) Big Spring, city (2020 pop. 26,144), seat of Howard co., W central Tex.; inc. 1907. The spring for which it was named once fed a branch of the Colorado ...

(Encyclopedia) Churchill, Winston, 1871–1947, American novelist, b. St. Louis, grad. Annapolis, 1894. He wrote several popular historical novels including Richard Carvel (1899), The Crisis (1901), and The Crossing...

(Encyclopedia) Amersfoort äˈmərsfōrt [key], city, Utrecht prov., central Netherlands. It is a transportation and manufacturing center. Points of interest include a 14th-century water...

(Encyclopedia) Margate märˈgĭt [key], city (1991 pop. 53,137), in the Isle of Thanet, Kent, SE England. It is a seaport with light industries and, since the late 18th cent., a popular resort, especially for Londo...

(Encyclopedia) Nordic Council, international consultative body, created in 1952 by Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Finland joined the council in 1955. The territories of the Faeroes and the Åland Islands have...

(Encyclopedia) Clarke, Samuel, 1675–1729, English philosopher and divine. His chief interest was rational theology, and, although a critic of the deists, he was in sympathy with some of their ideas. He supported t...

(Encyclopedia) Cherry Hill, township (2020 pop. 74,553), Camden co., W central N.J.; name was changed from Delaware township to Cherry Hill in 1961. Largely residentia...

(Encyclopedia) Faguet, Émile āmēlˈ fägāˈ [key], 1847–1916, French literary critic and historian. His prolific studies stimulated interest in French intellectual history of the 17th, 18th, and 19th cent. His...