Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) redstart, common name for an Old World thrush of the genus Phoenicurus, family Turdidae. A small, slender-legged songbird, it is found in woodlands, parks, and heaths. The European redstart, P. phoeni...

(Encyclopedia) Montgomery, city (1990 pop. 187,106), state capital and seat of Montgomery co., E central Ala., near the head of navigation on the Alabama River just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa r...

(Encyclopedia) Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. In response to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and other American actions against Cuba as well as to P...

(Encyclopedia) Bernanke, Ben Shalom bĕrnăngkˈē [key], 1953–, U.S. economist and government official, b. Augusta, Ga.; grad. Harvard (B.A., 1975), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1979). He was a p...

(Encyclopedia) Baker, James Addison, 3d, 1930–, U.S. political leader, b. Houston, Tex. After graduating from Princeton, he served in the U.S. Marines and earned a law degree from the Univ. of Texas. A successful ...

(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) Horta, Victor, Baron, 1861–1947, Belgian architect. The Tassel House in Brussels (1892–93), his first mature work, was the earliest monument of art nouveau. It was excelled only by his later works...

(Encyclopedia) Hammerstein, Oscar hămˈərstīn [key], 1846–1919, German-American operatic impresario. In 1888 he built the Harlem Opera House, and in 1906 the Manhattan Opera House, where he gave noteworthy prod...

(Encyclopedia) Gephardt, Dick (Richard Andrew Gephardt) gĕpˈhärt [key], 1941–, U.S. congressman (1977–2005), b. St. Louis. A lawyer, he was first elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat from Mis...

(Encyclopedia) New Castle. 1 City (1990 pop. 4,837), New Castle co., N Del., on the Delaware River. Mineral, metal, food, paper, and gypsum products are among its varied manufactures. It is also a major book distrib...