Columbia Encyclopedia

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Wooden, John

(Encyclopedia)Wooden, John, 1910–2010, American basketball coach, b. Martinsville, Ind. He was the first athlete to be honored in the basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach. An All-American guard at Pur...

croquet

(Encyclopedia)croquet krōkāˈ [key], lawn game in which the players hit wooden balls with wooden mallets through a series of 9 or 10 wire arches, or wickets. The first player to hit the posts placed at each end o...

London Bridge

(Encyclopedia)London Bridge, granite, five-arched bridge formerly over the Thames, in London, England. It is 928 ft (283 m) long and was designed by John Rennie and built between 1824 and 1831. The early wooden bri...

Good Friday

(Encyclopedia)Good Friday, anniversary of Jesus' death on the cross. According to the Gospels, Jesus was put to death on the Friday before Easter Day. Since the early church Good Friday has been observed by fasting...

St. John, John Pierce

(Encyclopedia)St. John, John Pierce, 1833–1916, American political reformer, b. Brookville, Ind. He traveled in the West and in South America, fought in the Union army in the Civil War, and after 1869 practiced l...

Asherah

(Encyclopedia)Asherah -rŏth [key], Canaanite fertility goddess and the wooden cult symbol that represented her. She is the consort of El in the Ugaritic texts. Several passages in the Bible may refer to the planti...

Puyallup, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Puyallup pyo͞oălˈəp [key], city (1990 pop. 23,875), Pierce co., W Wash., on the Puyallup River; inc. 1890. It is located in a fertile farm valley noted for its berries and daffodil bulbs. Manufact...

platform tennis

(Encyclopedia)platform tennis, version of lawn tennis played on an elevated wooden or aluminum court that is one fourth the size of a standard court, usually by doubles teams. Unlike lawn tennis, platform tennis al...

torpedo boat

(Encyclopedia)torpedo boat, small fast warship built specially for using the torpedo as a means of attack. The first modern torpedo boat was the Lightning, built for the British navy in 1877 by the shipyards of Sir...

spear

(Encyclopedia)spear, primitive weapon consisting of a wooden shaft tipped with a sharp point, usually 8 to 9 ft (2.4–2.7 m) in length. The point may be carved from the shaft and hardened in a fire, or made from a...