Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Hérault de Séchelles, Marie Jean märēˈ zhäN ārōˈ də sāshĕlˈ [key], 1759–94, French revolutionary. A lawyer, he became a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette, but nevertheless joined the r...

(Encyclopedia) Robinson, Sir John Beverley, 1791–1863, Canadian jurist, b. Lower Canada (Quebec). After holding many important offices, he entered upon his long career (1829–62) as chief justice of Upper Canada;...

(Encyclopedia) Althing älˈthĭng [key] [Icel.,=general diet], parliament of Iceland. This assembly, the oldest in Europe, was convened at Thingvellir, SW Iceland, in 930. It was dissolved in 1800, was revived as a...

(Encyclopedia) Mackenzie, William Lyon, 1795–1861, Canadian journalist and insurgent leader, b. Scotland; grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Emigrating to Upper Canada in 1820, he published (1824–34), f...

(Encyclopedia) Cape Town or Capetown, city, legislative capital of South Africa, capital of Western Cape prov., and seat of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality; a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It was the c...

(Encyclopedia) Chen Shui-bian chŭn shwā-byän [key], 1951–, Taiwanese political leader, president of Taiwan (2000–2008). Born into poverty, he obtained his law degree from National Taiwan Univ. in 1975 and pra...

(Encyclopedia) Hastert, Dennis (John Dennis “Denny” Hastert) hăsˈtərt [key], 1942–, U.S. congressman, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1999–2007), b. Aurora, Ill. He attended Wheaton College ...

(Encyclopedia) Marshall Islands, officially Republic of the Marshall Islands, independent nation (2015 est. pop. 53,000), in the central Pacific. The Marshalls extend over a 700-mi (1,130-km) area and comprise two m...

(Encyclopedia) Mowat, Sir Oliver mōˈət [key], 1820–1903, Canadian statesman, b. Upper Canada (now Ontario). A lawyer, he entered (1857) the Legislative Assembly and held cabinet posts before becoming vice-chanc...

(Encyclopedia) Obote, Apollo Milton ōbōˈtā [key], 1924–2005, president of Uganda (1966–71, 1980–85). Obote, a member of the legislative council of Uganda from 1957, founded (1960) the Uganda People's Congr...