Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Falange fälänˈhā [key] [Span.,=phalanx], Spanish political party, founded in 1933 as Falange Española by José António Primo de Rivera, son of the former Spanish dictator. Professing generally t...

(Encyclopedia) Batista y Zaldívar, Fulgencio fo͞olhĕnˈsēō bätēˈstä ē säldēˈvär [key], 1901–73, president of Cuba (1940–44, 1952–59). An army sergeant, Batista took part in the overthrow of Gerar...

(Encyclopedia) Dorfman, Ariel äryĕlˈ dôrfˈmän [key], 1942–, Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, and journalist, b. Argentina. Dorfman's family moved to the United States shortly after his birth, settling...

(Encyclopedia) Nicholas Brothers, African-American tap dance team consisting of Fayard Antonio Nicholas, 1914–2006, b. Mobile, Ala., and Harold Lloyd Nicholas, 1921–2000, b. Winston-Walem, N.C. Performing on sta...

(Encyclopedia) Canaletto känälĕtˈtō [key], 1697–1768, Venetian painter, whose original name was Antonio Canal. He studied with his father, Bernardo Canal, a theatrical scene painter, and spent several years i...

(Encyclopedia) Cabral, Pedro Alvares pĕˈdro͝o əlväˈrəsh kəbrälˈ [key], c.1467–c.1520, Portuguese navigator. A friend of Vasco da Gama, in 1500 he was sent out by Manuel I as head of a fleet destined for ...

(Encyclopedia) Uribe Vélez, Álvaro, 1952–, Colombian politician. A lawyer from a wealthy cattle-ranching family, he held a number of government posts before becoming mayor of Medellín in 1982; he was later a Co...

(Encyclopedia) Reginald of Châtillon shätēyôNˈ [key], d. 1187, Crusader, lord of Krak and Montreal in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. He came to the Holy Land in the Second Crusade and married (1153) Constance,...

(Encyclopedia) Pan-Americanism, movement toward commercial, social, economic, military, and political cooperation among the nations of North, Central, and South America. In the early 20th cent., U.S. manipulation ...

(Encyclopedia) Sonnino, Sidney, Barone bärôˈnā sōn-nēˈnō [key], 1847–1922, Italian foreign minister instrumental in Italy's entry into World War I. A member of the diplomatic corps (1867–73), he later be...