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Newham

(Encyclopedia)Newham nyo͞oˈəm, no͞oˈ– [key], outer borough (1991 pop. 200,200) of Greater London, SE England, on the Thames River. Newham is residential in the northeast. The Royal Docks, which are no longer...

ice dancing

(Encyclopedia)ice dancing, ice-skating competition in which couples are required to perform dance routines to music. The sport gained popularity in the 1930s and the first world championships were held in 1950. Ice...

Thorpe, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Thorpe, Jim (James Francis Thorpe), 1888–1953, American athlete, b. near Prague, Okla. Thorpe was probably the greatest all-round male athlete the United States has ever produced. His mother, a Sac,...

Bjørgen, Marit

(Encyclopedia)Bjørgen, Marit, 1980–, Norwegian cross-country skier, b. Trondheim. The most decorated winter Olympian of all time, with 15 medals, she initially excelled as a sprinter, but later became accomplish...

Brutus, in ancient Rome

(Encyclopedia)Brutus bro͞oˈtəs [key], in ancient Rome, a surname of the Junian gens. Lucius Junius Brutus, fl. 510 b.c., was the founder of the Roman republic. He feigned idiocy to escape death at the hands of L...

Blatter, Sepp

(Encyclopedia)Blatter, Sepp (Joseph S. Blatter), 1936–, Swiss sports executive, grad. Univ. of Lausanne, 1959. He served as general secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation and director of sports timing and p...

Olympus, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Olympus, Mount: see Cyprus; Olympic Mts., Wash.; Olympus, Greece. ...

Sin, in ancient Middle Eastern religions

(Encyclopedia)Sin sĭn [key], moon god of Semitic origin, worshiped in ancient Middle Eastern religions. One of the principal deities in the Babylonian and Assyrian pantheons, he was lord of the calendar and of wis...

Scherbo, Vitaly

(Encyclopedia)Scherbo, Vitaly, 1972–, Belarussian gymnast. Often considered to be the best male gymnast of all time, he had won at least one world title on each apparatus by the time he retired in 1997. He won hi...

boxing

(Encyclopedia)boxing, sport of fighting with fists, also called pugilism and prizefighting. Amateur boxing, while not free from debate, has in recent decades taken steps to ensure safety and objective judging. Th...