Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Estrada, Joseph Marcelo Ejercito, 1937–, Filipino actor and politician, b. Jose Marcelo Ejercito. Under the name Erap Estrada, he became a popular action-film star whose roles often cast him as a he...

(Encyclopedia) Arab Spring, in modern North African and Middle Eastern history, antigovernment demonstrations and uprisings that, from late 2010, swept many of the regions' Arab nations. Arising in large part in rea...

(Encyclopedia) Pasadena păsˌədēˈnə [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 131,591), Los Angeles co., S Calif., at the base of the San Gabriel Mts.; inc. 1866. The city is a research and technological center with manufacture...

(Encyclopedia) Laudonnière, René Goulaine de rənāˈ go͞olĕnˈ də lōdônyĕrˈ [key], fl. 1562–82, French colonizer in Florida. After accompanying Jean Ribaut on the first French expedition to Florida (1562...

(Encyclopedia) Lee Teng-hui lēˈ dŭngˈ-hwēˈ [key], 1923–2020, Taiwanese agricultural economist and politician, president of Taiwan (1988–2000). Born in Taiwan when it was ruled by Japan, he was educated at ...

(Encyclopedia) Noriega, Manuel Antonio mänwĕlˈ äntōˈnyō nôryāˈgə [key], 1934–2017, Panamanian general. Commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces from 1983, when he promoted himself to full general, Nor...

(Encyclopedia) Olmert, Ehud āˈkho͞od ōlˈmârt [key], 1945–, Israeli politician. After serving in the army and working as a lawyer, he won election to the Knesset in 1973 as a Likud candidate. Under Prime Mini...

(Encyclopedia) Pentagon Papers, government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered the period from ...

(Encyclopedia) Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536, rising of Roman Catholics in N England. It was a protest against the government's abolition of papal supremacy (1534) and confiscation (1536) of the smaller monastic propert...

(Encyclopedia) Pinzón, Martín Alonso märtēnˈ älōnˈsō pēnthōnˈ [key] d.1493, Spanish navigator. The commander of the Pinta on Columbus's first voyage to the New World in 1492, he was already an experience...