Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Baptists, denomination of Protestant Christians holding a distinctive belief with regard to the ordinance of baptism. Since 1644 the name has been applied to those who maintain that baptism should be ...

(Encyclopedia) Moldavia mŏldāˈvēə [key], historic Romanian province (c.14,700 sq mi/38,100 sq km), extending from the Carpathians in Romania east to the Dnieper River in Moldova. The region was part of the Ro...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, John Quincy, 1767–1848, 6th President of the United States (1825–29), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass.; son of John Adams and Abigail Adams and father of Charles Francis Adams (1807–8...

(Encyclopedia) Punic Wars, three distinct conflicts between Carthage and Rome. When they began, Rome had nearly completed the conquest of Italy, while Carthage controlled NW Africa and the islands and the commerce o...

(Encyclopedia) Seward, William Henry, 1801–72, American statesman, b. Florida, Orange co., N.Y. In 1861, Seward became Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, and many expected him to be the real power in th...

(Encyclopedia) agriculture, science and practice of producing crops and livestock from the natural resources of the earth. The primary aim of agriculture is to cause the land to produce more abundantly and at the sa...

(Encyclopedia) International Criminal Court (ICC), first permanent world court created specifically to try individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression, and crimes against humanity, est. 2002; located ...

(Encyclopedia) Thoreau, Henry David thôrˈō, thərōˈ [key], 1817–62, American author, naturalist, social activist, and philosopher, b. Concord, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1837. Thoreau is considered one of the most...

(Encyclopedia) interest, charge for the use of credit or money, usually figured as a percentage of the principal and computed annually. Simple interest is computed annually on the principal. Compound interest, paid ...

(Encyclopedia) Webster, Daniel, 1782–1852, American statesman, lawyer, and orator, b. Salisbury (now in Franklin), N.H. As a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1827–41), he became a leading political figure of t...