Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Antisthenes ăntĭsˈthənēz [key], b. 444? b.c., d. after 371 b.c., Greek philosopher, founder of the Cynics. Most of his paradoxical views stemmed from his early Sophist orientation, even though he...

(Encyclopedia) International Telecommunication Union (ITU), specialized agency of the United Nations, with headquarters at Geneva. It was created in 1934 as a result of the merging of the International Telegraph Uni...

(Encyclopedia) International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), formerly World Conservation Union, international organization founded in 1948 to encourage the preservation of wildlife...

(Encyclopedia) Constitutional Union party, in U.S. history, formed when the conflict between North and South broke down the older parties. The Constitutional Union group, composed of former Whigs and remnants of the...

(Encyclopedia) fire-eaters, in U.S. history, term applied by Northerners to proslavery extremists in the South in the two decades before the Civil War. Edmund Ruffin, Robert B. Rhett, and William L. Yancey were the ...

(Encyclopedia) Sintra or Cintra both: sēnˈtrə [key], town (1991 pop. 20,750), Lisboa dist., W Portugal, in Estremadura. The region has orange groves and vineyards as well as marble quarries, but Cintra is known p...

(Encyclopedia) Benelux Economic Union bĕnˈəlŭksˌ [key], economic treaty among Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It arose out of a customs convention signed in 1944, but was not fully established until 1...

(Encyclopedia) Universal Postal Union (UPU), specialized agency of the United Nations since 1948, with headquarters at Bern, Switzerland. Established in 1875 following adoption of the Universal Postal Convention, it...

(Encyclopedia) White Plains, city (1990 pop. 48,718), seat of Westchester co., SE N.Y., N of New York City; settled by Puritans from Connecticut in 1683; inc. as a village 1866, as a city 1916. The primary employmen...

(Encyclopedia) Geneva Conventions, series of treaties signed (1864–1949) in Geneva, Switzerland, providing for humane treatment of combatants and civilians in wartime. The first convention, signed by 16 nations, c...