Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Erlander, Tage Fritiof täˈgə frĭtˈyəf ĕrˈländər [key], 1901–85, Swedish socialist leader, prime minister of Sweden (1946–69). On the editorial staff of the encyclopedia Svensk Upplagsbok...

(Encyclopedia) Valla, Lorenzo lōrānˈtsō välˈlä [key], c.1407–57, Italian humanist. Valla knew Greek and Latin well and was chosen by Pope Nicholas V to translate Herodotus and Thucydides into Latin. From hi...

(Encyclopedia) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954. Linda Brown was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka because she was black. When, com...

(Encyclopedia) Low, Seth, 1850–1916, American political reformer and college president, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia, 1870. He entered his father's tea and silk importing firm, but became interested in politi...

(Encyclopedia) Harijans hârˈĭjănzˌ [key] [children of God], in India, individuals who are at the bottom of or outside the Hindu caste system. They were traditionally sweepers, washers of clothes, leatherworkers...

(Encyclopedia) Bethlehem bĕthˈlĭhĕm, –lēəm [key] [Heb.,=house of bread or house of Lahm, a g...

(Encyclopedia) Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, philanthropic institution founded in 1994 by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, to improve the lives of the poor throughout the world, primarily th...

(Encyclopedia) idealism, the attitude that places special value on ideas and ideals as products of the mind, in comparison with the world as perceived through the senses. In art idealism is the tendency to represent...

(Encyclopedia) Long Island (1990 pop. 6,861,454), 1,723 sq mi (4,463 sq km), 118 mi (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 mi (19–32 km) wide, SE N.Y.; fourth largest island of the United States and the largest outside ...

(Encyclopedia) Nussbaum, Martha C., 1947–, American philosopher, b. New York City, Ph.D. Harvard University, 1975. The Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor o...