Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Wirth, Karl Joseph kärl yōˈzĕf vĭrt [key], 1879–1956, German statesman. A leader of the Catholic Center party, he succeeded (1920) Matthias Erzberger as minister of finance. In 1921, Wirth beca...

(Encyclopedia) Spee, Maximilian, Graf von mäkˌsēmēˈlyän gräf fən shpā [key], 1861–1914, German admiral. At the start of World War I he commanded a squadron in East Asia. In Nov., 1914, he met and defeated...

(Encyclopedia) Gdynia gədĭnˈyə [key], Ger. Gdingen, city (1994 est. pop. 252,100), Pomorskie prov., N Poland, a port on the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Danzig. It is the port of a larger urban area that includes ...

(Encyclopedia) Joanna II, 1371–1435, queen of Naples (1414–35), sister and successor of Lancelot. The intrigues of her favorites kept her court in turmoil. Her second husband, James of Bourbon, tried to seize po...

(Encyclopedia) torpedo boat, small fast warship built specially for using the torpedo as a means of attack. The first modern torpedo boat was the Lightning, built for the British navy in 1877 by the shipyards of Sir...

(Encyclopedia) Majdanek or Maidanek mīdäˈnĕk [key], village, Lubelskie prov., SE Poland, a suburb of Lublin. The Germans established and operated a concentration camp there in World War II. An estimated 170,000 ...

(Encyclopedia) Port Radium, mining village, N central Northwest Territories, Canada, on Great Bear Lake. The mines were discovered in 1930 and yielded deposits of pitchblende, from which much radium was produced. Du...

(Encyclopedia) Arao äräˈō [key], city, Kumamoto prefecture, W Kyushu, Japan, on Ariake Bay. It is a port and is part of the Omuta-Arao industrial region where chemicals, bricks, fert...

(Encyclopedia) Remagen rāˈmäˌgən [key], town (1994 pop. 15,971), Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany, on the Rhine River. It is a rail junction from which mineral water is shipped. U.S. troops used the Ludendorff b...

(Encyclopedia) Samarai sămˈărī [key], small island (59 acres/23.9 hectares), at the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea, New Guinea island. It is a commercial and shipping center and a port of entry. An importa...