Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) tide, alternate and regular rise and fall of sea level in oceans and other large bodies of water. These changes are caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon and, to a lesser extent, of the s...

(Encyclopedia) plastic, any organic material with the ability to flow into a desired shape when heat and pressure are applied to it and to retain the shape when they are withdrawn. The first important plastic, cel...

(Encyclopedia) golf, game of hitting a small hard ball with specially made clubs over an outdoor course sometimes (particularly if it is near the coast) called a links. The object is to deposit the ball in a specifi...

(Encyclopedia) Magna Carta or Magna Charta [Lat., = great charter], the most famous document of British constitutional history, issued by King John at Runnymede under compulsion from the barons and the church in...

(Encyclopedia) Cleveland, Grover (Stephen Grover Cleveland), 1837–1908, 22d (1885–89) and 24th (1893–97) President of the United States, b. Caldwell, N.J.; son of a Presbyterian clergyman. Cleveland's independ...

(Encyclopedia) Henry II, 1133–89, king of England (1154–89), son of Matilda, queen of England, and Geoffrey IV, count of Anjou. He was the founder of the Angevin, or Plantagenet, line in England and one of the a...

(Encyclopedia) influenza or flu, acute, highly contagious disease caused by a RNA virus (family Orthomyxoviridae); formerly known as the grippe. There are three types of the virus, designated A, B, and C, but only t...

(Encyclopedia) Beethoven, Ludwig van lŭdˈwĭg văn bāˈtōvən, Ger. lo͝otˈvĭkh fän bātˈhōfən [key], 1770–1827, German composer. He is universally recognized as one of the greatest composers of the West...

(Encyclopedia)  Rulers of England and Great Britain(including dates of reign) Saxons and Danes House of Normandy House of Blois House of Plantagenet House of Lancaster House of York House of Tudor Ho...

(Encyclopedia)  Supreme Court Justices(including dates on bench) Chief Justices Associate Justices ...