Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Peninsular War, 1808–14, fought by France against Great Britain, Portugal, Spanish regulars, and Spanish guerrillas in the Iberian Peninsula. The Peninsular War immeasurably raised Britain's mi...

(Encyclopedia) Clotaire II, d. 629, Frankish king, son of Chilperic I and Fredegunde. He succeeded (584) his father as king of Neustria, but his mother ruled for him until her death (597). In 613, after the death of...

(Encyclopedia) Minamitori or Marcus Island, coral atoll, c.740 acres (300 hectares), W Pacific Ocean, 700 mi (1,125 km) SE of Japan; part of Tokyo prefecture, Japan. Triangular in shape and rising to 204 ft (62 m), ...

(Encyclopedia) Pire, Georges Henri zhôrzh äNrēˈ pēr [key], 1910–69, Belgian priest. He entered a Dominican monastery at the age of 18 and was ordained in 1934. He taught moral philosophy and sociology and dur...

(Encyclopedia) Joyce, William, 1906–46, British Nazi propagandist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., called Lord Haw-Haw. Taken to England as a child, Joyce became involved there in the fascist movement. He went to Germany just ...

(Encyclopedia) Wonsan wŭnˈsän [key], Jap. Gensan, city (1993 pop. 300,148), capital of Kangwon prov., SE North Korea, on the Sea of Japan (or East Sea). It is a major port and naval base, with a natural harbor pr...

(Encyclopedia) Waves (Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service), U.S. navy organization, created (1942) in World War II to release male naval personnel for sea duty. The organization was commanded until 1946 ...

(Encyclopedia) Gorzów Wielkopolski gôrˈzo͞of vyĕlkôpôlˈskē [key], Ger. Landsberg an der Warthe, city (1994 est. pop. 125,800), capital (with Zielona Góra) of Lubuskie prov., W Poland, on the Warthe River. ...

(Encyclopedia) War of 1812, armed conflict between the United States and Great Britain, 1812–15. It followed a period of great stress between the two nations as a result of the treatment of neutral countries by bo...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand II or Ferdinand the Catholic, 1452–1516, king of Aragón (1479–1516), king of Castile and León (as Ferdinand V, 1474–1504), king of Sicily (1468–1516), and king of Naples (1504–16...