Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Oxford. 1 Town (1990 pop. 12,588), Worcester co., S Mass.; settled 1687 by French Protestants, inc. 1693. It is chiefly residential, with some light manufacturing. Clara Barton was born in the town. 2...

(Encyclopedia) Communist party, in the United States, political party that espoused the Marxist-Leninist principles of communism. In 1945, Browder's policy was attacked as being one of the “right deviationism,�...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Hawaii həwīˈē, häväˈē [key], 50th state of the United States, comprising a group of eight major islands and numerous islets in the central Pacific Ocean, c.2,100 mi (3,380 km) SW of San...

(Encyclopedia) Veterans Affairs, United States Department of, federal executive department established to operate programs to benefit veterans and their families. The department was established in 1989; its predeces...

(Encyclopedia) McKean, Thomas məkānˈ, –kēnˈ [key], 1734–1817, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. New London, Pa. He settled at New Castle, Del., and b...

(Encyclopedia) Kensico Reservoir kĕnˈzĭkō [key], c.4 sq mi (10 sq km), SE N.Y., N of White Plains, formed by Kensico Dam (completed 1915) on the Bronx River. A principal unit in the New York City water supply sy...

(Encyclopedia) Grand River, c.165 mi (270 km) long, rising in the highlands of the Ontario Peninsula, S Ont., Canada, and flowing S past Kitchener and Brantford, then SE to Lake Erie at Port Maitland. It is navigabl...

(Encyclopedia) Santa Fe sănˈtə fā [key], city (1990 pop. 55,859), alt. c.7,000 ft (2,130 m), state capital and seat of Santa Fe co., N N.Mex., at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mts. It is an administrative, to...

(Encyclopedia) Permian Basin or West Texas Basin, extensive sedimentary basin, West Texas and SE New Mexico. Covering an area of more than 75,000 sq mi (194,000 sq km), its main components are the Midland Basin on t...

(Encyclopedia) corporal punishment, physical chastisement of an offender. At one extreme it includes the death penalty (see capital punishment), but the term usually refers to punishments like flogging, caning, muti...