Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Spener, Philipp Jakob fēˈlĭp yäˈkôp shpāˈnər [key], 1635–1705, German theologian, founder of Pietism. He was pastor of the Lutheran church at Frankfurt in 1670 when, to counteract the barre...

(Encyclopedia) Gotha gōˈtä [key], city, Thuringia, central Germany. It is a rail junction, and its manufa...

(Encyclopedia) Pareto, Vilfredo vēlfrĕˈdō pärĕˈtō [key], 1848–1923, Italian economist and sociologist, b. Paris, of an exiled noble family that returned to Italy in 1858. He studied mathematics and enginee...

(Encyclopedia) Sturges, Preston stûrˈjĭs [key], 1898–1959, American film director, screenwriter, and producer, b. Chicago as Edmond Preston Biden. Educated in the United States and Europe, he turned to playwrit...

(Encyclopedia) McCormick, Robert Sanderson, 1849–1919, American diplomat, b. Rockbridge co., Va.; nephew of Cyrus Hall McCormick. President McKinley appointed (1901) him minister to Austria-Hungary. He became the ...

(Encyclopedia) Browne, Sir Thomas, 1605–82, English author and physician, b. London, educated at Oxford and abroad, knighted (1671) by Charles II. His Religio Medici, in which Browne attempted to reconcile science...

(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) Jena yāˈnä [key], city (1994 pop. 100,090), Thuringia, E central Germany, on the Saale River. Manufactures of this industrial center include pharmaceuticals, glass, optical and precision instrument...

(Encyclopedia) Motley, John Lothrop, 1814–77, American historian and diplomat, b. Dorchester, Mass. Author of two novels concerning Thomas Morton (1839 and 1849), as well as a number of articles for the North Amer...

(Encyclopedia) Blitzstein, Marc (Marcus Samuel Blitzstein), 1905–64, American composer, pianist, and librettist, b. Philadelphia. After attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music, he stu...