Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) International Monetary Fund (IMF), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1945. It was planned at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944), and its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Th...

(Encyclopedia) political science, the study of government and political processes, institutions, and behavior. Government and politics have been studied and commented on since the time of the ancient Greeks. However...

(Encyclopedia) Armistead, Lewis Addison, 1817–63, Confederate general, b. New Bern, N.C. He was commissioned (1839) in the U.S. army from Virginia but resigned when that state seceded. In the Gettysburg campaign, ...

(Encyclopedia) Logan, James, c.1725–1780, chief of the Mingo, b. Pennsylvania. He took his name from James Logan (1674–1751) and is frequently called simply Logan. He was a leader of the Native Americans on the ...

(Encyclopedia) mugwumps mŭgˈwŭmpsˌ [key], slang term in U.S. political history for the Republicans who in 1884 deserted their party nominee, James G. Blaine, to vote for the Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland....

(Encyclopedia) Bacchylides băkĭlˈĭdēz [key], fl. c.470 b.c., Greek lyric poet, b. Ceos; nephew of Simonides of Ceos. A contemporary of Pindar, he was patronized by Hiero I. His poetry is noted for its narrative...

(Encyclopedia) Neopaganism, polytheistic religious movement, practiced in small groups by partisans of pre-Christian religious traditions such as Egyptian, Greek, Norse, and Celtic. Neopagans fall into two broad cat...

(Encyclopedia) O'Shaughnessy, Arthur William Edgar ōshônˈəsē [key], 1844–81, English poet and naturalist. He was a member of the zoological department of the British Museum. He wrote four volumes of poetry—...

(Encyclopedia) Mitford, Mary Russell, 1787–1855, English author. Her first volume of poetry (1810) sold well despite adverse criticism. Later she turned to playwriting, writing one notable success, Rienzi (1828). ...

(Encyclopedia) Derzhavin, Gavril Romanovich gəvrēlˈ rəmäˈnəvĭch dyĭrzhäˈvĭn [key], 1743–1816, Russian classical poet. His satirical ode to Catherine II, Felitsa (1782), won her favor, and he became poe...