Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de rōbĕrˈ kävəlyāˈ syör də lä sälˈ [key], 1643–87, French explorer in North America, one of the most celebrated explorers and builders of New France. He ...

(Encyclopedia) balance of payments, balance between all payments out of a country within a given period and all payments into the country, an outgrowth of the mercantilist theory of balance of trade. Balance of paym...

(Encyclopedia) expatriation, loss of nationality. Such loss is usually, although not necessarily, voluntary. Generally it applies to those persons who have renounced nationality and citizenship in one country to bec...

(Encyclopedia) Grand Falls. 1 City, W N.B., Canada, on the St. John River. The nearby falls in the river and its 1-mi- (1.6-km) long gorge attract many visitors. The ...

(Encyclopedia) Bliss, Tasker Howard, 1853–1930, American army officer and statesman, b. Lewisburg, Pa., grad. West Point, 1875. He was (1898) chief of staff to Gen. James H. Wilson in the Puerto Rico campaign of t...

(Encyclopedia) community chest, cooperative organization of citizens and social welfare agencies in a city. Also known as a united fund, it has two purposes: to raise funds through an annual campaign for its member ...

(Encyclopedia) Fremstad, Olive Nayan frĕmˈstăd [key], 1871–1951, Swedish-American soprano; pupil of Lilli Lehmann. She came to the United States as a child. After her European debut (Cologne, 1895), she sang co...

(Encyclopedia) Palau pälouˈ [key], officially Republic of Palau, independent nation (2015 est. pop. 21,000), c.192 sq mi (497 sq km), W Pacific, in the W Caroline Islands. Belau, the indigenous name for Palau, is ...

(Encyclopedia) United Nations Development Program (UNDP), agency of the United Nations, established in 1965 to unify the operations of the Expanded Program of Technical Assistance and the United Nations Special Fund...

(Encyclopedia) Panama Canal, waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic (by way of the Caribbean Sea) and Pacific oceans, built by the United States (1904–14, on territory leased from the repub...