Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  Queen Latifah , 1970- , African-American rapper, songwriter, and actress, b. Newark, N.J., as Dana Elaine Owens. In a musical style known for its m...

(Encyclopedia) Tian Shan or Tien Shan both: tēĕn shän [key] [Chin.,=celestial mountains], mountain system of central Asia, extending c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) from the Pamir Mts., Tajikistan, NE through the Xinjiang ...

(Encyclopedia) Rhett, Robert Barnwell, 1800–1876, American politician, b. Beaufort, S.C. His family changed its name from Smith to Rhett (after a colonial ancestor) in 1837. A lawyer, he was a state legislator, st...

(Encyclopedia) barite bərīˈtēz [key] [New Lat., from barium], or heavy spar, a white, yellow, blue, red, or colorless mineral. It is a sulfate of barium, BaSO4, found in nature as tabular crystals or in granular...

(Encyclopedia) Bath, city (2021 pop. 88,859), Bath and North East Somerset, SW England, in the Avon River valley. Britain's leading winter resort, Bath has the only na...

(Encyclopedia) electrode, terminal through which electric current passes between metallic and nonmetallic parts of an electric circuit. In most familiar circuits current is carried by metallic conductors, but in som...

(Encyclopedia) Eric XIV, 1533–77, king of Sweden (1560–68), son and successor of Gustavus I. To strengthen the power of the crown, he limited (1561) the privileges of the royal dukes. He forbade the marriage of ...

(Encyclopedia) Erzgebirge ĕrtsˈgəbĭrˌgə [key] [Ger.,=ore mountains], Czech Krušné Hory, mountain range, along the Czech–German border, extending c.95 mi (150 km) from the Fichtelgebirge in the southwest to...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Effects of a magnetic field on the products of radioactivity CE5 Disintegration series: Radioactive decay of radium-226 into lead-206 radioactivity, spontaneous disintegration or decay of t...

(Encyclopedia) Change to Win Federation, coalition of seven labor unions representing primarily American workers. It was founded in 2005 as the Change to Win Coalition by five American Federation of Labor and Congre...