Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Ré rā [key], island (1991 pop. 13,973), 33 sq mi (85 sq km), Charente-Maritime dept., off La Rochelle, W France, in the Bay of Biscay. The island is largely agricultural; it has oyster beds, some fi...

(Encyclopedia) civics, branch of learning that treats of the relationship between citizens and their society and state, originally called civil government. With the large immigration into the United States in the la...

(Encyclopedia) Canonicus kənŏnˈĭkəs [key], c.1565–1647, Native North American chief, who ruled the Narragansett when the Pilgrims landed in New England. He granted (1636) Rhode Island to Roger Williams and be...

(Encyclopedia) Russell, William Fletcher, 1890–1956, American educator, b. Delhi, N.Y., grad. Cornell, 1910, Ph.D. Columbia, 1914; son of James Earl Russell. He was dean (1917–23) of the College of Education, St...

(Encyclopedia) South Kingstown kĭngˈstən, kĭngzˈtounˌ [key], town (1990 pop. 24,631), seat of Washington co., S R.I.; settled 1641, inc. 1674 as Kings Towne, divided into South Kingstown and North Kingstown 17...

(Encyclopedia) Melville Island, 2,240 sq mi (5,802 sq km), Northern Territory, N Australia, in the Timor Sea 16 mi (26 km) off the coast. It is 65 mi (105 km) long and 45 mi (72 km) wide and is separated from Bathur...

(Encyclopedia) treason, legal term for various acts of disloyalty. The English law, first clearly stated in the Statute of Treasons (1350), originally distinguished high treason from petit (or petty) treason. Petit ...

(Encyclopedia) living wage, the hourly wage that, at a minimum, supports a standard of living above the poverty level in a given locality. It differs from the minimum wage, which often provides a less than adequate ...

(Encyclopedia) Owen, Robert Dale, 1801–77, American social reformer, b. Scotland; son of Robert Owen. He studied at his father's New Lanark school and in Switzerland. In 1825 he went to New Harmony, Ind. There he ...