Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) gentlemen's agreement, in U.S. history, an agreement between the United States and Japan in 1907 that Japan should stop the emigration of its laborers to the United States and that the United States s...

(Encyclopedia) city government, political administration of urban areas. The English tradition of incorporating urban units (cities, boroughs, villages, towns) and allowing them freedom in most local matters is gene...

(Encyclopedia) Vinland or Wineland, section of North America discovered by Leif Ericsson in the 11th cent. The sources for the knowledge of Leif Ericsson's exploration differ as to whether it was planned or accident...

(Encyclopedia) Independent Treasury System, in U.S. history, system for the retaining of government funds in the Treasury and its subtreasuries independently of the national banking and financial systems. In one for...

(Encyclopedia) Cortona kōrtōˈnä [key], town, Tuscany, central Italy. It is an agricultural and tourist c...

(Encyclopedia) nuclear strategy, a policy for the use of nuclear weapons. The first atomic bombs were used in the context of the Allies' World War II policy of strategic bombing. Early in the cold war, U.S. policy w...

(Encyclopedia) shipping, transportation of passengers and goods on waterways. From prehistoric times shipping has had a major influence on human social development. Water routes, unlike roads, did not need building,...

(Encyclopedia) North Brabant brəbăntˈ [key], Du. Noordbrabant, province (1994 pop. 2,259,800), c.1,920 sq mi (4,970 sq km), S Netherlands, bordering on Belgium in the south and on Germany in the east. The capital...

(Encyclopedia) Berkman, Alexander bĕrkˈmän, bûrkˈmən [key], 1870–1936, anarchist, b. Vilna (then in Russian Lithuania). He immigrated to the United States c.1887. Angered by the violent suppression of the Ho...

(Encyclopedia) Baltic states, the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, bordering on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Formed in 1918, they remained independent republics until their involuntary incorporat...