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blackjack

(Encyclopedia)blackjack, one of the world's most widely played gambling card games; also known as twenty-one or vingt-et-un. Despite contesting claims between the French and Italians, its origins are unknown. Each ...

Tikhonov, Viktor Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Tikhonov, Viktor Vasilyevich, 1930–2014, Soviet and Russian ice hockey player and coach, b. Moscow. As a defenseman (1949–63), he won four national championships (1951–54) with the Soviet air fo...

Johnson, Walter Perry

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Walter Perry, 1887–1946, American baseball player, b. Humboldt, Kans. He began playing with the Washington Senators of the American League in 1907. A right-handed pitcher, he won 417 games ...

Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani

(Encyclopedia)Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, 1980–, emir of Qatar (2013–). The fourth son of Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, he became heir apparent when his older brother Jasmin renounced his claim to the throne i...

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...

conscription

(Encyclopedia)conscription, compulsory enrollment of personnel for service in the armed forces. Obligatory service in the armed forces has existed since ancient times in many cultures, including the samurai in Japa...

Willem-Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Willem-Alexander, 1967–, king of the Netherlands, eldest son of Queen Beatrix. He served (1985–87) in the navy and graduated (1993)from Leiden Univ.; he has been a member of the International Olym...

Favre, Brett

(Encyclopedia)Favre, Brett (Brett Lorenzo Favre) färv [key], 1969–, American football player, b. Gulfport, Miss. As starting quarterback at the Univ. of Southern Mississippi he led the team to two bowl games and...

exile, in politics and government

(Encyclopedia)exile, removal of a national from his or her country, or the civilized parts of it, for a long period of time or for life. Exile may be a forceful expulsion by the government or a voluntary removal by...

Paine, Robert Treat, 3d

(Encyclopedia)Paine, Robert Treat, 3d, 1933–2016, American ecologist, b. Cambridge, Mass., Ph.D. Univ. of Michigan, 1961. He was on the faculty of the Univ. of Washington from 1962 to 1998. Paine's major contribu...
 

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