Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) peyote pāōˈtē [key], spineless cactus (Lophophora williamsii), ingested by indigenous people in Mexico and the United States to produce visions. The plant is native to the SW United States, partic...

(Encyclopedia) Randolph, Edmund, 1753–1813, American statesman, b. Williamsburg, Va.; nephew of Peyton Randolph. He studied law under his father, John Randolph, a Loyalist who went to England at the outbreak of th...

(Encyclopedia) liquor laws, legislation designed to restrict, regulate, or totally abolish the manufacture, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages. The passage of liquor laws has been prompted chiefly by the desire to...

(Encyclopedia) Plymouth. 1 Uninc. town (1990 pop. 45,608), seat of Plymouth co., SE Mass., on Plymouth Bay; founded 1620. Diverse light manufacturing is important to the economy. The town, with summer resort facilit...

(Encyclopedia) Freeport. 1 City (2020 pop. 23,973), seat of Stephenson co., NW Ill., on the Pecatonica River; inc. 1850. It is a trade and manufacturing center in a ...

(Encyclopedia) Empire State Building, in central Manhattan, New York City, on Fifth Ave. between 33d St. and 34th St. It was designed by the firm of Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon and built in 1930–31. For many years it...

(Encyclopedia) Kosrae, island and state (1990 est. pop. 7,435), c.42 sq mi (110 sq km), Federated States of Micronesia. The easternmost island group of the Caroline Islands, Kosrae consist of a larger central island...

(Encyclopedia) International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, established 1946 by chapter 14 of the UN Charter. It superseded the Permanent Court of International Justice (see World ...

(Encyclopedia) balance of payments, balance between all payments out of a country within a given period and all payments into the country, an outgrowth of the mercantilist theory of balance of trade. Balance of paym...

(Encyclopedia) Columbia, river, c.1,210 mi (1,950 km) long, rising in Columbia Lake, SE British Columbia, Canada. It flows first NW in the Rocky Mt. Trench, then hooks sharply about the Selkirk Mts. to flow S throug...