Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) cosmology, area of science that aims at a comprehensive theory of the structure and evolution of the entire physical universe. The earliest pre-Ptolemaic theories assumed that the earth was the cent...

(Encyclopedia) Ku Klux Klan ko͞oˌ klŭks klăn [key], designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used the name....

(Encyclopedia) Sumerian and Babylonian art, works of art and architecture created by the Sumerian and Babylonian peoples of ancient Mesopotamia, civilizations which had an artistic tradition of remarkable antiquity,...

(Encyclopedia) Luther, Martin, 1483–1546, German leader of the Protestant Reformation, b. Eisleben, Saxony, of a family of small, but free, landholders. At Wittenberg the iconoclasts under Carlstadt had institut...

(Encyclopedia) Labour party, British political party, one of the two dominant parties in Great Britain since World War I. Harold Wilson, who became leader on Gaitskell's death in 1963, was able to lead the party t...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Czechoslovakia chĕsˈkōslōvĕnˌskō [key], former federal republic, 49,370 sq mi (127,869 sq km), in central Europe. On Jan. 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (see Slovaki...

(Encyclopedia) American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a federation of autonomous labor unions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and U.S. dependencies, formed in ...

(Encyclopedia) Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de fräNswäˈ märēˈ ärwāˈ də vôltĕrˈ [key], 1694–1778, French philosopher and author, whose original name was Arouet. One of the towering geniuses in lite...

(Encyclopedia) French Revolutionary Wars, wars occurring in the era of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, the decade of 1792–1802. The wars began as an effort to defend the Revolution a...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Cyprus sīˈprəs [key], Gr. Kypros, Turk. Kıbrıs, officially Republic of Cyprus...