Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rai'atea räˌyätāˈä [key], volcanic island, 92 sq mi (238 sq km), South Pacific, largest and most important of the Leeward group of the Society Islands, French Polynesia. The island is mountainou...

(Encyclopedia) referendum, referral of proposed laws or constitutional amendments to the electorate for final approval. This direct form of legislation, along with the initiative, was known in Greece and other early...

(Encyclopedia) ephors ĕfˈərz [key] [Gr.,=overseers], in ancient Greece, magistrates in several Dorian states. In Sparta they comprised an executive, legislative, and judicial board of five Spartan citizens. This ...

(Encyclopedia) Grand Teton National Park tētŏnˈ, tēˈtŏn [key], 309,993 acres (125,503 hectares), NW Wyo.; est. 1929. The park, which includes Jackson Lake and part of Jackson Hole, embraces the most scenic por...

(Encyclopedia) Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), organization established by Civil War veterans of the Union army and navy. Principal figures in the founding of the GAR were John A. Logan and Richard J. Oglesby. The...

(Encyclopedia) Long, Stephen Harriman, 1784–1864, American explorer, b. Hopkinton, N.H. As an army engineer, Long was sent on several exploring and surveying expeditions. The first in 1817 was to the region of the...

(Encyclopedia) New Bedford, city (1990 pop. 99,922), seat of Bristol co., SE Mass., at the mouth of the Acushnet River on Buzzard's Bay; settled 1640, set off from Dartmouth 1787, inc. as a city 1847. Formerly one o...

(Encyclopedia) Palmer, Arnold Daniel, 1929–2016, American golfer, b. Latrobe, Pa. The son of a professional golfer, he won three regional titles in his youth. Turning professional after winning the 1954 U.S. amate...

(Encyclopedia) Danakil, desert region, NE Ethiopia and neighboring portions of Djibouti and Eritrea, c.350 mi (560 km) long and 50–250 mi (80–400 km) wide, between the gulfs of Zula and Tadjoura. It is bordered ...

(Encyclopedia) Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo, duca degli lwēˈjē ämādĕˈō do͞oˈkä dāˈlyē abro͞otˈtsē [key], 1873–1933, Italian explorer and mountain climber; cousin of Victor Emmanuel III. He led (1897) the...