Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Upjohn, Richard, 1802–78, American architect, b. England. He came to the United States in 1829. A skilled cabinetmaker and draftsman, he lived first in Manlius, N.Y., and then in New Bedford, Mass.,...

(Encyclopedia) Lippe lĭpˈə [key], former state, N central Germany, between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser River. It was incorporated in 1947 into the state of North Rhine–Westphalia. Detmold, the former cap...

(Encyclopedia) Paraná pərənäˈ [key], state (1996 pop. 8,985,981), 77,048 sq mi (199,554 sq km), S Brazil, on the borders of Paraguay and Argentina and the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Curitiba. After coffee, ...

(Encyclopedia) Brandenburg bränˈdənbo͝ork [key], state (1994 est. pop. 2,540,000), c.10,400 sq mi (26,940 sq km), E Germany. Potsdam is the capital; other leading cities include Cottbus, Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, a...

(Encyclopedia) Mellon Foundation, officially the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, philanthropic trust formed (1969) through the merger of the Avalon Foundation (est. 1940 by Ailsa Mellon Bruce) and the Old Dominion Foun...

(Encyclopedia) Acre äkˈrə, äkˈrā [key], state (1990 est. pop. 1,125,100), 58,915 sq mi (152,590 sq km), W Brazil, on the borders of Peru and Bolivia. Rio Branco is the capital. ...

(Encyclopedia) Saco, river, c.105 mi (170 km) long, rising in the White Mts., N central N.H. and flowing SE through Maine to the Atlantic Ocean below Biddeford. The falls at Biddeford, site of a hydroelectric dam (o...

(Encyclopedia) city-state, in ancient Greece, Italy, and Medieval Europe, an independent political unit consisting of a city and surrounding countryside. The first city-states were in Sumer, but they reached their p...

(Encyclopedia) home economics, study of homemaking and the relation of the home to the community. Formerly limited to problems of food (nutrition and cookery), clothing, sewing, textiles, household equipment, housec...

(Encyclopedia) illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Throughout most of history most people have been illiterate. In feudal society, for example, the ability to re...