Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) oceanography, study of the seas and oceans. The major divisions of oceanography include the geological study of the ocean floor (see plate tectonics) and features; physical oceanography, which is conc...

(Encyclopedia) Natchez, city (1990 pop. 19,460), seat of Adams co., SW Miss., on bluffs above the Mississippi River; settled 1716, inc. 1803. It is the trade, shipping, and processing center for a soybean, corn, cot...

(Encyclopedia) North, Douglass Cecil, 1920–2015, American economic historian, b. Cambridge, Mass., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1952. North was on the faculty at the Univ. of Washington, Seattle (1950–83...

(Encyclopedia) Bloomington. 1 City (2020 pop. 78,680), seat of McLean co., central Ill.; inc. 1839. The economy is based on farming; electrical equipment is also ...

(Encyclopedia) Connally, John Bowden, Jr. kŏnˈəlē [key], 1917–93, U.S. public official, b. Floresville, Tex. A lawyer, he became associated with Lyndon B. Johnson, managed the latter's successful senatorial ca...

(Encyclopedia) Council of the European Union, institution of the European Union (EU) that has the final vote on legislation proposed by the European Commission and approved by the European Parliament; in some cases ...

(Encyclopedia) Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), organization whose stated mission is “to empower women and girls and to eliminate racism.” The movement is nondenominational. It grew out of the homes f...

(Encyclopedia) Pugachev, Emelian Ivanovich yĭmĭlyänˈ ēväˈnəvĭch po͞ogəchôfˈ [key], c.1742–75, Russian peasant leader, head of the peasant rebellion of 1773–74. A Don Cossack, he exploited a widespre...

(Encyclopedia) Wilberforce, William, 1759–1833, British politician and humanitarian. He was elected to Parliament in 1780 and during the campaign formed a lifelong friendship with William Pitt, whose measures he g...

(Encyclopedia) Bentham, Jeremy, 1748–1832, English philosopher, jurist, political theorist, and founder of utilitarianism. Educated at Oxford, he was trained as a lawyer and was admitted to the bar, but he never p...