Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Johnson, Andrew, 1808–75, 17th President of the United States (1865–69), b. Raleigh, N.C. On Apr. 15, 1865, following Lincoln's assassination, Johnson took the oath of office as President. His...

(Encyclopedia) war, laws of, in international law, rules and principles regulating an armed conflict between nations. These laws are designed to minimize the destruction of life and property, to proscribe cruel trea...

(Encyclopedia) election, choosing a candidate for office in an organization by the vote of those enfranchised to cast a ballot. In the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, and many other nations, usuall...

(Encyclopedia) Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858–1919, 26th President of the United States (1901–9), b. New York City. Alice, his daughter by his first wife, married Nicholas Longworth in the White House; “Princ...

(Encyclopedia) landscape painting, portrayal of scenes found in the natural world; these scenes are treated as the subject of the work of art rather than as an element in another kind of painting. In China landsca...

(Encyclopedia) Marshall, John, 1755–1835, American jurist, 4th chief justice of the United States (1801–35), b. Virginia. Marshall in his arguments drew much from his colleagues, especially his devoted adhe...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, John, 1735–1826, 2d President of the United States (1797–1801), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass., grad. Harvard, 1755. John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams, founded one of the most di...

(Encyclopedia) conservation of natural resources, the wise use of the earth's resources by humanity. The term conservation came into use in the late 19th cent. and referred to the management, mainly for economic rea...

(Encyclopedia) prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. Prostitution in A...

(Encyclopedia) William III, 1650–1702, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1689–1702); son of William II, prince of Orange, stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and of Mary, oldest daughte...