Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Hastings, Serranus Clinton sĕrˈənəs [key], 1814–93, American judge, b. Jefferson co., N.Y. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1836 and moved to Iowa soon afterward. He served in the first Iow...

(Encyclopedia) Vorster, Balthazar Johannes yōhänˈəs bältäzärˈ fôrˈstər [key], 1915–83, South African political leader. A lawyer, John Vorster became involved in the Afrikaner nationalist movement and he...

(Encyclopedia) Colorado [1] kŏlərădˈə, –rădˈō, –räˈdō [2] kŏlərāˈdə, –räˈdə [key]. 1 Great river of the SW United States, 1,450 mi (2,334 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts. of N Colo., and f...

(Encyclopedia) Stanislaus II, 1732–98, last king of Poland (1764–95). He was born Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. His mother was a member of the powerful Czartoryski family, which furthered Stanislaus's career....

(Encyclopedia) progressivism, in U.S. history, a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th cent. In the decades following the Civil War rapid industrialization transformed the United St...

(Encyclopedia) Murphy, Charles Francis, 1858–1924, American political boss, b. New York City. He was the owner of many saloons in New York City and took a keen interest in Democratic politics. His services to Tamm...

(Encyclopedia) Rust Belt or Rustbelt, economic region in the NE quadrant of the United States, focused on the Midwestern (see Midwest) states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, as well as Pennsylvania. The te...

(Encyclopedia) Di Rupo, Elio āˈlēō dē ro͞oˈpō [key], 1951–, Belgian political leader. Born to Italian immigrant parents, he is a chemist by education and was a lecturer (1977–78) at the Univ. of Leeds, E...

(Encyclopedia) Witherspoon, John, 1723–94, Scottish-American Presbyterian clergyman, political leader in the American Revolution, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Haddingtonshire (now East Lothian...

(Encyclopedia) Robbins, Lionel Charles, 1898–1984, British economist, b. Middlesex, England. A professor at the London School of Economics (1929–61), he wrote the well-known methodological treatise, An Essay in ...