Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) commercial revolution, in European history, a fundamental change in the quantity and scope of commerce. In the later Middle Ages steady economic expansion had seen the rise of towns and the advent of ...

(Encyclopedia) Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first black classical ballet company. The group was founded in Harlem, New York City, by Arthur Mitchell, then of the New York City Ballet, the first African-American prin...

(Encyclopedia) Jersey City, city (1990 pop. 228,537), seat of Hudson co., NE N.J., a port on a peninsula formed by the Hudson and Hackensack rivers and Upper New York Bay, opposite lower Manhattan; settled before 16...

(Encyclopedia) Reid, Whitelaw, 1837–1912, American journalist and diplomat, b. near Xenia, Ohio. His distinguished correspondence during the Civil War for the Cincinnati Gazette led Horace Greeley to make him mana...

(Encyclopedia) Lae läˈē, lī [key], town (1990 pop. 88,172), Papua New Guinea, on NE New Guinea island, at the head of the Huon Gulf. Lae is an important administrative and commercial center. Founded in 1927 to s...

(Encyclopedia) Duncan, Robert Kennedy, 1868–1914, American industrial chemist and educator b. Brantford, Ont., grad. Univ. of Toronto (B.A., 1892). He was professor at the Univ. of Kansas (1906–10) and at the Un...

(Encyclopedia) Eames, Wilberforce ēmz [key], 1855–1937, American bibliographer, b. Newark, N.J. He joined the staff of the Lenox Library in New York City in 1885 and became its librarian in 1895. After 1911 he wa...

(Encyclopedia) Eberle, Abastenia St. Leger ăbˌəstēˈnēə sānt lĕjˈər ĕbˈərlē [key], 1878–1942, American sculptor, b. Webster City, Iowa, studied at the Art Students League, New York City. She produced...

(Encyclopedia) Chatham Islands, island group, 385 sq mi (996 sq km), South Pacific, c.500 mi (800 km) E of New Zealand, to which it belongs. The two largest islands are Chatham Island, which has a large central lago...

(Encyclopedia) Cumbernauld, town, near Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, SW Scotland. Cumbernauld, the 15th of Britain's new towns, was designated in 1955 to alleviate Glasg...