Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Zhanjiang or Chankiang both: jän-jyäng [key], Cantonese Tsamkong, official Chinese name for the former French territory of Kwangchowan (325 sq mi/840 sq km) on Guangzhou Bay, S Guangdong prov., Chin...

(Encyclopedia) William II, 1792–1849, king of the Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg (1840–49), son and successor of William I. He served with Wellington in the Peninsular War, was wounded at Waterloo, and...

(Encyclopedia) Schleicher, Kurt von, 1882–1934, German general. A leading Reichswehr (army) figure after World War I, Schleicher wielded great power in the years before Adolf Hitler came to power (1933). He was wa...

(Encyclopedia) Balmaceda, José hōsāˈ bälmäsāˈᵺä [key], 1840–91, president of Chile (1886–91). A leader of a liberal, anticlerical group, he was sent as minister (1878) to Argentina, where he successfu...

(Encyclopedia) Frederick I, 1657–1713, first king of Prussia (1701–13), elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) as Frederick III. He succeeded his father, Frederick William the Great Elector, in Brandenburg. Throug...

(Encyclopedia) Kuiper, Gerard Peter or Gerrit Pieter gĕrˈĭt pēˈtər kīˈpər [key], 1905–73, American astronomer, b. the Netherlands. Kuiper is considered to be the father of modern planetary science for his...

(Encyclopedia) Challenger, U.S. space shuttle. It exploded (Jan. 28, 1986) 73 seconds into its tenth flight, killing all seven crew members, including the first civilian in space, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Th...

(Encyclopedia) Millin, Sarah Gertrude (Liebson), 1889–1968, South African writer. The first of her novels about colonial and racial problems in South Africa is Dark River (1920). Later novels include God's Stepchi...

(Encyclopedia) Lafayette Escadrille ĕskədrĭlˈ [key], small group of American volunteer aviators in World War I, created (Apr., 1916) as Escadrille Américaine in the French air service. It was renamed the Lafaye...

(Encyclopedia) Mercer, Hugh mûrˈsər [key], c.1725–1777, American Revolutionary general, b. Aberdeen, Scotland. A physician, he was a surgeon in the forces of Charles Edward Stuart (the Young Pretender) and afte...