Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Black Lives Matter, a global political movement. Founded in 2013 by organizers Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, the #Black Lives Matter ...

(Encyclopedia) Elizabeth II, 1926–2022, former queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1952–2022), elder daughter and successor of George VI, and Britain's lo...

(Encyclopedia) Missouri Compromise, 1820–21, measures passed by the U.S. Congress to end the first of a series of crises concerning the extension of slavery. By 1818, Missouri Territory had gained sufficient popul...

(Encyclopedia) Surratt, Mary Eugenia sərătˈ [key], 1820–65, alleged conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, hanged on July 7, 1865. A widow (her maiden name was Jenkins) who had moved from Surratts...

(Encyclopedia) Presley, Elvis (Elvis Aaron Presley), 1935–77, American popular singer, b. Tupelo, Miss. Exposed to gospel music from childhoo...

(Encyclopedia) acting, the representation of a usually fictional character on stage or in films. At its highest levels of accomplishment acting involves the employment of technique and/or an imaginative ...

(Encyclopedia) Mugabe, Robert Gabriel mo͞ogäˈbē, –bā [key], 1924–2019, president of Zimbabwe (1987–2017). A founder of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in 1963 and a guerrilla leader, he was imp...

(Encyclopedia) United States Military Academy, at West Point, N.Y.; for training young men and women to be officers in the U.S. army; founded and opened in 1802. The original act provided that the Corps of Engineers...

(Encyclopedia) computer music, term used to describe music composed or performed with the aid of a computer. The first substantial piece of music composed on a computer was the Illiac Suite (1956) by the avant-garde...

(Encyclopedia) Oceanic art, works produced by the island peoples of the S and NW Pacific, including Melanesia (New Guinea and the islands to its north and east), Micronesia (Mariana, Caroline, Marshall, and Gilbert ...