Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Pol Pot, 1925–98, Cambodian political leader, originally named Saloth Sar. Paris-educated, and a Khmer Communist leader from 1960, he led Khmer Rouge guerrillas against the government of Lon Nol aft...

(Encyclopedia) Abbott, Tony (Anthony John Abbott), 1957–, Australian political leader, b. London, England. His family moved to Australia in 1960. Educated at the Univ. of Sydney and, as a Rhodes scholar, at Queens...

(Encyclopedia) Eshkol, Levi lāˈvē ĕshˈkôl [key], 1895–1969, Israeli statesman, third prime minister of Israel, b. Ukraine; originally named Levi Shkolnik. In World War I he served in the Jewish Legion, which...

(Encyclopedia) Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more ...

(Encyclopedia) Netanyahu, Benjamin or Binyamin bēnˈyəmēnˌ nĕtənyäˈho͞o [key], 1949–, Isr...

(Encyclopedia) census, periodic official count of the number of persons and their condition and of the resources of a country. In ancient times, among the Jews and Romans, such enumeration was mainly for taxation an...

(Encyclopedia) Hearst, William Randolph, 1863–1951, American journalist and publisher, b. San Francisco. A flamboyant, highly controversial figure, Hearst was nonetheless an intelligent and extremely competent new...

(Encyclopedia) Beard, Charles Austin, 1874–1948, American historian, b. near Knightstown, Ind. A year at Oxford as a graduate student gave him an interest in English local government, and after further study at Co...

(Encyclopedia) prison, place of confinement for the punishment and rehabilitation of criminals. By the end of the 18th cent. imprisonment was the chief mode of punishment for all but capital crimes. At that time, la...

(Encyclopedia) organized crime, criminal activities organized and coordinated on a national scale, often with international connections. The American tradition of daring desperadoes like Jesse James and John Dilling...