Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Francis I, 1494–1547, king of France (1515–47), known as Francis of Angoulême before he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law, King Louis XII. The king also had some notable political achievem...

(Encyclopedia) Henry V, 1387–1422, king of England (1413–22), son and successor of Henry IV. Henry abandoned his early recklessness (celebrated and probably exaggerated by Shakespeare) and ruled with justice...

(Encyclopedia) Sino-Tibetan languages, family of languages spoken by over a billion people in central and SE Asia. This linguistic family is second only to the Indo-European stock in the number of its speakers. It i...

(Encyclopedia) Progressive Conservative party, former Canadian political party, formed in 1942 by the merger of the Progressive and Conservative parties. Beginning with the first Canadian prime minister, John A. Mac...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Congo, Republic of the, republic (2015 est. pop. 4,996,000), 132,046 sq mi (342,000 sq km), W central Africa; also known as the Congo Republic. Congo is bordered on the west by Gabon; on the no...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Iraq or Irak both: ēräkˈ, ĭrăkˈ [key], officially Republic of Iraq, republic (2005 est. pop. 26,075,000), 167,924 sq mi (434,924 sq km), SW Asia. Iraq is bordered on the south by Kuwait, ...

(Encyclopedia) North West Company, fur-trading organization in North America in the late 18th and early 19th cent.; it was composed of Montreal trading firms and fur traders. After 1810 the rivalry between the Nor...

(Encyclopedia) Chiang Kai-shek jyäng kī-shĕk, jyäng [key], 1887–1975, Chinese Nationalist leader. He was also called Chiang Chung-cheng. After completing military training with the Japanese Army, he returned t...

(Encyclopedia) copyright, right granted by statute to the author or originator of certain literary, artistic, and musical productions whereby for a limited period of time he or she controls the use of the product. T...

(Encyclopedia) Sigismund sĭjˈĭsmənd, sĭgˈ– [key], 1368–1437, Holy Roman emperor (1433–37), German king (1410–37), king of Hungary (1387–1437) and of Bohemia (1419–37), elector of Brandenburg (1376�...