Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) United Presbyterian Church, two denominations of Presbyterianism. 1 In Scotland, the United Presbyterian Church was formed by the union (1847) of the United Secession Church with the majority of the c...

(Encyclopedia) capital punishment, imposition of a penalty of death by the state. Since the 1970s almost all capital sentences in the United States have been imposed for homicide. There has been intense debate reg...

(Encyclopedia) bauxite bôkˈsīt, bŏkˈ– [key], mixture of hydrated aluminum oxides usually containing oxides of iron and silicon in varying quantities. A noncrystalline substance formerly thought to be a minera...

(Encyclopedia) Rocky Mountain spotted fever, infectious disease caused by a rickettsia. The bacterium is harbored by wild rodents and other animals and is carried by infected ticks of several species that attach the...

(Encyclopedia) fuller's earth, mineral substance characterized by the property of absorbing basic colors and removing them from oils. It is composed mainly of alumina, silica, iron oxides, lime, magnesia, and water,...

(Encyclopedia) Mitchell, Margaret, 1900–1949, American novelist, b. Atlanta, Ga. Her one novel, Gone with the Wind (1936; Pulitzer Prize), a romantic, panoramic portrait of the Civil War and Reconstruction periods...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 CE5 United Nations (UN), international organization established immediately after World War II. It replaced the League of Nations. In 1945, when the UN was founded, there were 51 members; 193...

(Encyclopedia) New York State Barge Canal: see New York State Canal System. ...

(Encyclopedia) Couper, James Hamilton ko͞oˈpər [key], 1794–1866, American planter of Georgia, grad. Yale, 1814. Influential in promoting agricultural research and experimentation, he was a pioneer in the cultiv...

(Encyclopedia) Gagra gäˈgrē [key], city, Abkhazia, W Georgia, on the Black Sea and at the foot of the Gre...