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magic, in entertainment

(Encyclopedia)magic, in entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main catego...

biblical archaeology

(Encyclopedia)biblical archaeology, term applied to the archaeology of the biblical lands, especially those of the ancient Middle East. While the thousands of written texts found in the languages of the ancient Mid...

Wisconsin, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Wisconsin wĭskŏnˈsən, –sĭn [key], upper midwestern state of the United States. It is bounded by Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, from which it is divided in part by the...

children's literature

(Encyclopedia)children's literature, writing whose primary audience is children. See also children's book illustration. The contributions and innovations of the 19th cent. continued into the 20th cent., achieving...

espionage

(Encyclopedia)espionage ĕsˈpēənäzhˌ [key], the act of obtaining information clandestinely. The term applies particularly to the act of collecting military, industrial, and political data about one nation for ...

map

(Encyclopedia)map, conventionalized representation of spatial phenomena on a plane surface. Unlike photographs, maps are selective and may be prepared to show various quantitative and qualitative facts, including b...

carpet

(Encyclopedia)carpet or rug, thick fabric, usually woolen (but often synthetic), commonly used today as a floor covering. In North America the Navajos and other tribes have for generations produced substantial ru...

baseball

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A regulation baseball field. Minimum distance to the outfield fence is 250 ft; professional baseball fields constructed since 1958 have been at least 325 ft deep along the foul lines and 400 ft...

Arthurian legend

(Encyclopedia)Arthurian legend, the mass of legend, popular in medieval lore, concerning King Arthur of Britain and his knights. Although there are innumerable variations of the Arthurian legend, the basic story...

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