Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) tunnel, underground passage usually made without removing the overlying rock or soil. Although tunnels are approximately horizontal, they must be built with sufficient gradient for proper drainage. Tu...

(Encyclopedia) Baltimore, city (2020 pop. 575,584), N central Md., surrounded by but politically independent of Baltimore co., on the Patapsco River estuary, an arm of...

(Encyclopedia) pacifism, advocacy of opposition to war through individual or collective action against militarism. Although complete, enduring peace is the goal of all pacifism, the methods of achieving it differ. S...

(Encyclopedia) gay-rights movement, organized efforts to end the criminalization of homosexuality and protect the civil rights of homosexuals. While there was some organized activity on behalf of the rights of homos...

(Encyclopedia) Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917–63, 35th President of the United States (1961–63), b. Brookline, Mass.; son of Joseph P. Kennedy. On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed while ...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, Benjamin, 1706–90, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer, b. Boston. The only American of the colonial period to earn a European reputation as a natural philosopher, he is bes...

(Encyclopedia) Latter-day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of, name of the church founded (1830) at Fayette, N.Y., by Joseph Smith. The headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its members, now numbering about 5.7 mi...

(Encyclopedia) pottery, the baked-clay wares of the entire ceramics field. For a description of the nature of the material, see clay. American art pottery flourished in the first half of the 20th cent., with wor...

(Encyclopedia) programming language, syntax, grammar, and symbols or words used to give instructions to a computer. Once the program is written and has had any errors repaired (a process called debugging), it may ...

(Encyclopedia) insurance or assurance, device for indemnifying or guaranteeing an individual against loss. Reimbursement is made from a fund to which many individuals exposed to the same risk have contributed certai...