Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) banjo, stringed musical instrument, with a body resembling a tambourine. The banjo consists of a hoop over which a skin membrane is stretched; it has a long, often fretted neck and four to nine string...

(Encyclopedia) Grechko, Andrei Antonovich əndrāˈ əntôˈnəvĭch grĕchˈkō [key], 1903–76, Soviet army officer and minister of defense. As a World War II commander he took part in the liberation of the Cauca...

(Encyclopedia) Indiana Harbor, Ind.: see East Chicago. ...

(Encyclopedia) Caspar: see Wise Men of the East. ...

(Encyclopedia) Gaspar: see Wise Men of the East. ...

(Encyclopedia) Three Kings: see Wise Men of the East. ...

(Encyclopedia) chartered companies, associations for foreign trade, exploration, and colonization that came into existence with the formation of the European nation states and their overseas expansion. An associatio...

(Encyclopedia) Elbe ĕlˈbə [key], Czech Labe, a major river of central Europe, c.725 mi (1,170 km) long, rising in the Krknoše Mts., NW Czech Republic, and traversing NW Czech Republic in a wide arc. It then cuts...

(Encyclopedia) Gorno-Badakhshan gôrˈnə-bädäkhshänˈ, –bədəkhshänˈ [key] or Badakhshan, Tajik Kuhistoni Badakhshon, autonomous province (1991 est. pop. 167,100), c.24,600 sq mi (63,710 sq km), roughly con...

(Encyclopedia) Munster, town (1990 pop. 19,949), Lake co., NW Ind. It is a primarily residential suburb in the industrialized Hammond–East Chicago area. There is some light manufacturing. ...