Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) handball, team, or field handball, team court game. Despite its status as an Olympic sport, the game is virtually unknown in the United States. Originated in central Europe in the early 1900s as an ou...

(Encyclopedia) Tomba, Alberto älbĕrˈtō tômˈbä [key], 1966–, Italian skier. The winner of five Olympic medals, including golds for giant slalom (1988, 1992) and slalom (1988), and silvers for slalom (1992, 1...

(Encyclopedia) Mount Olympus: see Cyprus; Olympic Mountains; Olympus. ...

(Encyclopedia) Shiffrin, Mikaela Pauline, 1995–, American skier, b. Vail, Colo. She competed in her first World Cup Alpine event, giant slalom, in 2011, and that same year won the slalom title at the U.S. National...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Mediterranean Sea [Lat.,=in the midst of lands], the world's largest inland sea, c.965,000 sq mi (2,499,350 sq km), surrounded by Europe, Asia, and Africa. Some of the most ancient civilizat...

(Encyclopedia) sarcophagus särkŏfˈəgəs [key] [Gr.,=flesh-eater], name given by the Greeks to a special marble found in Asia Minor, near the territory of ancient Troy, and used in caskets. It was believed to hav...

(Encyclopedia) Pillars of Hercules, ancient mythological name for promontories flanking the east entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. They are usually identified with Gibraltar in Europe and with Mt. Acha at Ceuta i...

(Encyclopedia) Phidias or Pheidias both: fĭdˈēəs [key], c.500–c.432 b.c., Greek sculptor, one of the greatest sculptors of ancient Greece. No original in existence can be attributed to him with certainty, alth...

(Encyclopedia) Macedonia măsˌədōˈnēə [key], region, SE Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula, divided among the countries of Greece, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia. A secret terrorist organization working for Mace...

(Encyclopedia) lamp, originally a vessel for holding oil or some combustible substance that could be burned through a wick for illumination; the term has been extended to other lighting devices. Stones, shells, and ...