Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) World Economic Forum (WEF), independent international organization that seeks to improve the state of the world by encouraging partnerships between the public and private sectors, est. 1971 by the Ger...

(Encyclopedia) World Court, popular name of the Permanent Court of International Justice, established pursuant to Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The protocol establishing it was adopted by the ...

(Encyclopedia) World Heritage Site, a place of cultural or natural importance listed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List. The sites, some natural, so...

(Encyclopedia) Spanish-American War, 1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists. ...

(Encyclopedia) Muhammad II or Mehmet II (Muhammad the Conqueror), 1429–81, Ottoman sultan (1451–81), son and successor of Murad II. He is considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He completed ...

(Encyclopedia) Algerine War ălˈjərēnˌ [key], early 19th-century conflict between Algiers and the United States. The Tripolitan War (1801–5) had brought a temporary halt to the pirate activities of the Barbary...

(Encyclopedia) Robert II (Robert Curthose), c.1054–1134, duke of Normandy (1087–1106); eldest son of King William I of England. Aided by King Philip I of France, he rebelled (1077) against his father. Father and...

(Encyclopedia) Gulf War: see Persian Gulf War; Iran-Iraq War. ...

(Encyclopedia) Trenchard, Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount, 1873–1956, British air marshal. He entered the army in 1893 and served in the South African War. During World War I he commanded the Royal Flying Co...

(Encyclopedia) Davis, Dwight Filley, 1879–1945, American tennis player and public official, b. St. Louis, grad. Harvard, 1900, and Washington Univ. law school. An outstanding tennis player, Davis donated in 1900 a...