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fishing

(Encyclopedia)fishing, act of catching fish for consumption or display. Fishing—usually by hand, club, spear, net, and (at least as early as 23,000 years ago) by hook—was known to prehistoric people. It was pra...

track and field athletics

(Encyclopedia)track and field athletics or athletics, sports of foot racing, hurdling, jumping, vaulting, and throwing varied weights and objects. They are usually separated into two categories: track, the running ...

Gordon, Jeff

(Encyclopedia)Gordon, Jeff (Jeffery Michael Gordon). 1971–, American auto racer, b. Vallejo, Calif. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing's (NASCAR) Rookie of the Year in 1993, “The Kid” became t...

Pocatello

(Encyclopedia)Pocatello pōkətĕlˈō [key], city (1990 pop. 46,080), seat of Bannock co., SE Idaho, between mountains on the Portneuf River near its junction with the Snake (there dammed to form the American Fall...

Hamm, Mia

(Encyclopedia)Hamm, Mia mēˈə [key] (Mariel Margaret Hamm), 1972–, U.S. soccer player, b. Selma, Ala. The best all-around women's soccer player of her generation, she was perhaps most responsible for making wom...

Noll, Chuck

(Encyclopedia)Noll, Chuck (Charles Henry Noll), 1932–2014, American professional football coach, b. Cleveland, B.S. Univ. of Dayton, 1953. A guard and linebacker in college and with the Cleveland Browns (1953–5...

pentathlon

(Encyclopedia)pentathlon pĕntăthˈlən [key], composite athletic event. In ancient Greece it comprised leaping, foot racing, wrestling, discus throwing, and casting the javelin. The modern pentathlon, an Olympic ...

Black Sox scandal

(Encyclopedia)Black Sox scandal, episode in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox, the American League champions, were banned from baseball in 1921 for having conspired with gamblers to throw the 1919 World ...

Varadkar, Leo Eric

(Encyclopedia)Varadkar, Leo Eric, 1979–, Irish politician, b. Dublin, grad. Trinity College Dublin (2003). The son of an Irish nurse and an Indian doctor, he practiced as a junior doctor before qualifying as a ge...

racquetball

(Encyclopedia)racquetball, sport played indoors by two or four players, combining elements of court handball and such racket games as squash racquets. It is played on a standard handball court 40 ft (12.2 m) long, ...