Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Economic and Social Council, constituent organ of the United Nations. It was established by the UN Charter and has 54 (18 before 1965) member nations elected for three-year terms (one third every year...

(Encyclopedia) gun control, government limitation of the purchase and ownership of firearms. The availability of guns is controlled by nations and localities throughout the world. In the United States the “right o...

(Encyclopedia) Wilson, James Grant, 1832–1914, American biographer and man of letters, b. Scotland. He was brought to the United States in 1833. After journalistic work in Chicago and service in the Union army in ...

(Encyclopedia) lynching, unlawfully hanging or otherwise killing a person by mob action. The term is derived from the older term lynch law, which is most likely named after either Capt. William Lynch (1742–1820), ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario ...

(Encyclopedia) corporation, in law, organization enjoying legal personality for the purpose of carrying on certain activities. Most corporations are businesses for profit; they are usually organized by three or more...

(Encyclopedia) Lumbee, descendants of Native Americans whose language belonged to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). The ancestors of the Lumbee occupi...

(Encyclopedia) Lange, David Russell lăng [key], 1942–2005, New Zealand politician. After receiving his law degree (LL.M., 1970) he fought for the rights of the underprivileged in Auckland, and was elected to the ...

(Encyclopedia) King, Coretta Scott, 1927–2006, American civil-rights leader, b. Heiberger, Ala.; the wife (1953–68) of Martin Luther King, Jr. After her husband's assassination, she carried on his civil-rights w...

(Encyclopedia) Curtis, Charles, 1860–1936, Vice President of the United States (1929–33), b. near North Topeka, Kans. Of part Native American background, Curtis lived for three years on a Kaw reservation. After ...