Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) mortmain môrtˈmānˌ [key] [Fr.,=dead hand], ownership of land by a perpetual corporation. The term originally denoted tenure (see tenure, in law) by a religious corporation, but today it includes o...

(Encyclopedia) Brown, George, 1818–80, Canadian statesman and journalist, b. Scotland. In 1837 he emigrated to the United States, but after five years in New York City, he settled in Toronto, Ont. There he founded...

(Encyclopedia) Slater, Samuel, 1768–1835, American pioneer in the cotton textile industry, b. Derbyshire, England. As an apprentice and later a mill supervisor, he gained a thorough knowledge of all the cotton-man...

(Encyclopedia) Liebling, A. J. (Abbott Joseph Liebling), 1904–63, American journalist, b. New York City. He left Dartmouth, attended the Columbia School of Journalism, and wrote for the Providence, R.I. Evening Bu...

(Encyclopedia) Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Parker, 1910–34, b. Rowena, Tex., and Clyde Barrow, 1909–34, b. Tellice, Tex., notorious American criminals during the Great Depression. Joining forces in 1932, they trave...

(Encyclopedia) Mississippi, river, principal river of the United States, c.2,350 mi (3,780 km) long, exceeded in length only by the Missouri, the chief of its numerous tributaries. The combined Missouri-Mississippi ...

(Encyclopedia) Aleutian Islands əlo͞oˈshən [key], chain of rugged, volcanic islands curving c.1,200 mi (1,900 km) west from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula and approaching Russia's Komandorski Islands. A partial...

(Encyclopedia) Cutler, Manasseh mənăsˈə [key], 1742–1823, American clergyman, scientist, and one of the organizers of the Ohio Company of Associates, b. Killingly, Conn. A student of both law and theology, he ...

(Encyclopedia) Federal National Mortgage Association (FMNA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, government-sponsored enterprise that is the largest purchaser and guarantor of home mortgages in the country. Headquartered ...

(Encyclopedia) hedging, in commerce, method by which traders use two counterbalancing investment strategies so as to minimize any losses caused by price fluctuations. It is generally used by traders on the commoditi...