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Blair, Bonnie Kathleen

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Bonnie Kathleen, 1964–, American speed skater, b. Cornwall, N.Y. An outstanding technical skater, she won more individual gold medals (five) in Olympic competition than any other American wom...

Čáslavská, Věra

(Encyclopedia)Čáslavská, Věra, 1942–2016, Czechoslovak gymnast, b. Prague. Čáslavská revolutionized a formerly dance-based sport with her athleticism and panache, winning 22 international titles (seven Oly...

oracle

(Encyclopedia)oracle, in Greek religion, priest or priestess who imparted the response of a god to a human questioner. The word is also used to refer to the response itself and to the shrine of a god. Every oracula...

Cockerell, Charles Robert

(Encyclopedia)Cockerell, Charles Robert kŏkˈərəl [key], 1788–1863, English architect, archaeologist, and writer. While excavating at Bassae, Aegina, and other sites in Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, he studie...

sphinx

(Encyclopedia)sphinx sfĭngks [key], mythical beast of ancient Egypt, frequently symbolizing the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra. The sphinx was represented in sculpture usually in a recumbent position ...

Whistler, town, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Whistler, town (1990 est. pop. 4,459), SW B.C., W Canada, 60 mi (97 km) N of Vancouver, near Alta and Green lakes in Whistler Valley in the Coast Mts. A popular summer resort area since the 1920s, it ...

ring, piece of jewelry

(Encyclopedia)ring, small ornamental hoop usually worn on finger or thumb, but it may be attached to the ear or the nose. Finger rings made of bronze, gold, and silver from the period c.2600–1500 b.c. have been f...

sumptuary laws

(Encyclopedia)sumptuary laws sŭmpˈcho͞oĕˌrē [key], regulations based on social, religious, or moral grounds directed against overindulgence of luxury in diet and drink and extravagance in dress and mode of li...

Leopold I, king of the Belgians

(Encyclopedia)Leopold I, 1790–1865, king of the Belgians (1831–65); youngest son of Francis Frederick, duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After serving as a page at the court of Napoleon I and as a general of the Ru...

Sloane, William Milligan

(Encyclopedia)Sloane, William Milligan, 1850–1926, American historian. After serving as secretary to George Bancroft and studying under Droysen in Germany, he was professor of history at Princeton (1883–96) and...