Games, Hobbies & Recreational Activities, 199-COI
Not every passion needs a scoreboard. From hands-on crafts and tabletop challenges to outdoor pursuits, games, hobbies, and recreational activities bring together creativity, skill, and enjoyment.
Games, Hobbies & Recreational Activities Encyclopedia Articles By Title
1996 Mount Everest disaster
1996 Mount Everest disaster, event that claimed the lives of eight climbers during a summit attempt on Mount Everest......
5 Quizzes That Will Tell You Whether You Should Have Been a Scientist
Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Donna Stricklandâall of them proved their worth as scientists by winning a Nobel......
6 Interesting Facts About Barbie
She is arguably the worldâs most popular doll. In fact, more than 100 are sold every minute. But how much do you......
7 Quintessential National-Spelling-Bee-Winning Words
Since 1925 American grade-school students (and a few from outside the U.S.) have participated in a national spelling......
Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo Giuseppe Maria Ferdinando Francesco, Duke dâ
Luigi Amedeo Giuseppe Maria Ferdinando Francesco, duke dâAbruzzi was a Spanish mountaineer and explorer whose ventures......
acey-deucey
acey-deucey, dice board game, a variant of backgammon, much played in the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and merchant......
acrostic
acrostic, short verse composition, so constructed that the initial letters of the lines, taken consecutively, form......
Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Activision Blizzard is an American developer and manufacturer of electronic games. The company was formed in 2008......
Aerobatics
Aerobatics, maneuvers in which an aircraft is flown under precise control in unusual attitudes (the position of......
After Dark
After Dark, series of interactive screensaver software created by the American software company Berkeley Systems......
Age of Empires
Age of Empires, computer game franchise designed by Ensemble Studios, an American company founded in 1995 and subsequently......
Air racing
Air racing, sport of racing airplanes, either over a predetermined course or cross-country up to transcontinental......
Albertina Museum
Albertina Museum, art museum in Vienna, known primarily for its compilation of graphic arts. The collection is......
all fours
all fours, ancestor of a family of card games dating back to 17th-century England and first mentioned in The Complete......
Altman, Benjamin
...
Americaâs Army
Americaâs Army, army training simulator and electronic game used for army recruitment and training. It was created......
anagram
anagram, a word or group of words formed by transposing the letters of another word or group of words, preferably......
Anand, Viswanathan
Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess master who won the FĂ©dĂ©ration Internationale des Ăchecs (FIDE; International......
Anderssen, Adolf
Adolf Anderssen was a chess master considered the worldâs strongest player from his victory in the first modern......
Annenberg, Walter H.
Walter H. Annenberg was a publisher, philanthropist, and art collector who served as the U.S. ambassador to Britain......
Anthony, Earl Roderick
Earl Roderick Anthony was an American professional bowler, who helped to make bowling a major television sport......
Antique
Antique, a relic or old object having aesthetic, historic, and financial value. Formerly, it referred only to the......
Apa Sherpa
Apa Sherpa is a Nepali mountaineer and guide who set a record for most ascents of Mount Everest (21) that was later......
Apellicon Of Teos
Apellicon Of Teos was a wealthy Greek book collector, who became an Athenian citizen. He had bought from the descendants......
Are You Ready for Some Fantasy Football?
As reliably as the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano in March, the end of summer sparks a migration of......
Art collection
Art collection, an accumulation of works of art by a private individual or a public institution. Art collecting......
Arundel, Thomas Howard, 2nd earl of, Earl Of Surrey, Earl Of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 2nd earl of Arundel was an English noble prominent during the reigns of James I and Charles I and......
Ashley, Maurice
...
Assassinâs Creed
Assassinâs Creed, computer and console video game created and distributed in 2007 by the French game developer......
Atari console
Atari console, video game console released in 1977 by the North American game manufacturer Atari, Inc. Using a......
Aubrey, John
John Aubrey was an antiquarian and biographer, best known for his vivid, intimate, and sometimes acid sketches......
auction bridge
auction bridge, card game that was the third step in the historical progression from whist to bridge whist to auction......
Aulby, Mike
Mike Aulby is an American professional bowler who was one of the sportâs leading competitors during the 1980s and......
baccarat
baccarat, casino card game resembling, but simpler than, blackjack. In basic baccarat the house is the bank. In......
backgammon
backgammon, game played by moving counters on a board or table, the object of the game being a race to a goal,......
Bagatelle
Bagatelle, game, probably of English origin, that is similar to billiards and was probably a modification of it.......
Baldurâs Gate
Baldurâs Gate, computer and console role-playing fantasy electronic game, developed by the Canadian game developer......
Balkline billiards
Balkline billiards, group of billiard games played with three balls (red, white, and white with a spot) on a table......
ballooning
ballooning, unpowered balloon flight in competition or for recreation, a sport that became popular in the 1960s.......
Bank Craps
Bank Craps, dice game, the variant of Craps most played in Nevada gambling houses. A special table and layout are......
Barad, Jill E.
Jill E. Barad is an American business executive who served as chief executive officer (CEO) of the toy manufacturer......
Barbie
Barbie, an 11-inch- (29-cm-) tall plastic doll with the figure of an adult woman that was introduced on March 9,......
barbooth
barbooth, dice game of Middle Eastern origin, used for gambling; in the United States it is played chiefly by persons......
Baseball
Baseball, pocket-billiards game, named for the similarity in its scoring system to the American game played with......
Before the E-Reader: 7 Ways Our Ancestors Took Their Reading on the Go
The iPhone was released in 2007. E-books reached the mainstream in the late 1990s. Printed books have been around......
belote
belote, trick-and-meld card game derived from klaberjass about 1920 and now the most popular card game in France.......
Berners, Dame Juliana
Dame Juliana Berners was an Englishwoman of letters and the purported author of A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an......
Bertoldo di Giovanni
Bertoldo di Giovanni was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and medalist who was a student of Donatello and a teacher......
bezique
bezique, trick-and-meld card game related to pinochle, both of which derive from the 19th-century French game of......
billiards
billiards, any of various games played on a rectangular table with a designated number of small balls and a long......
bingo
bingo, game of chance using cards on which there is a grid of numbers, a row of which constitute a win when they......
BioShock
BioShock, computer and console electronic game created by game developer 2k Boston/2k Australia and released in......
Bird-watching
Bird-watching, the observation of live birds in their natural habitat, a popular pastime and scientific sport that......
biritch
biritch, card game similar to bridge whist and a forerunner of auction and contract bridge. Apparently developed......
blackjack
blackjack, gambling card game popular in casinos throughout the world. Its origin is disputed, but it is certainly......
blindmanâs buff
blindmanâs buff, childrenâs game played as early as 2,000 years ago in Greece. The game is variously known in Europe:......
Bonney, ThérÚse
ThérÚse Bonney was an American photographer and writer remembered chiefly for her pictures portraying the ravages......
book collecting
book collecting, acquisition of books, not only as texts but also as objects desirable for such qualities as their......
bookplate
bookplate, a label with a printed design intended to indicate ownership, usually pasted inside the front cover......
bouts-rimés
bouts-rimĂ©s, (French: ârhymed endsâ), rhymed words or syllables to which verses are written, best known from a......
bowling
bowling, game in which a heavy ball is rolled down a long, narrow lane toward a group of objects known as pins,......
bridge
bridge, card game derived from whist, through the earlier variants bridge whist and auction bridge. The essential......
bridge whist
bridge whist, card game popular from the 1890s through 1910, and the second step in the historical progression......
Britannicaâs Football (Soccer) Set Piece Game
Have you ever seen a football swerve through the air and sail into the net past a desperately diving goalkeeper?......
Britannicaâs Online Curling Game
The venerable but quirky game of curling has enthralled audiences of the Winter Games since it was added to the......
Brown, Roger
Roger Brown was an American artist and collector who was associated with the Chicago Imagists and was known for......
Budge, Sir Wallis
Sir Wallis Budge was the curator (1894â1924) of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities at the British Museum, London,......
Bykova, Elizaveta Ivanovna
Elizaveta Ivanovna Bykova was a Russian chess player who was the womenâs world champion (1953â56; 1958â62). In......
Caillebotte, Gustave
Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter, art collector, and impresario who combined aspects of the academic and......
Call of Duty
Call of Duty, electronic game that brought new advances to the first-person shooter genre, winning numerous game......
Camden, William
William Camden was an English antiquary, a pioneer of historical method, and author of Britannia, the first comprehensive......
canasta
canasta, card game of the rummy family, developed in Buenos Aires, Arg., and Montevideo, Uruguay, in the 1940s......
candlepins
candlepins, bowling game played on a standard tenpin lane with slender, cylindrical pins about 15 inches (38 cm)......
Capablanca, JosĂ© RaĂșl
JosĂ© RaĂșl Capablanca was a chess master who won the world championship (1921) from Emanuel Lasker and lost it (1927)......
card game
card game, game played for pleasure or gambling (or both) with one or more decks of playing cards. Games using......
Carlsen, Magnus
...
Carmack, John
John Carmack is an American computer-game designer whose pioneering work on three-dimensional game design led to......
Carom billiards
Carom billiards, game played with three balls (two white and one red) on a table without pockets, in which the......
Carter, Don
Don Carter was an American professional tenpin bowler who perfected an inimitable unorthodox right-handed backswing......
casino
casino, card game for two to four players, best played with two. A 52-card deck is used. When two play, the dealer......
Catan
Catan is a multiplayer strategy board game in which players compete to settle the fictional island of Catan and......
charade
charade, originally a kind of riddle, probably invented in France during the 18th century, in which a word or phrase......
Cheating Death on Everest
Mount Everestâthe highest point in the worldâgoes by many names. In Sanskrit and Nepali, it is called Sagarmatha;......
checkers
checkers, board game, one of the worldâs oldest games. Checkers is played by two persons who oppose each other......
chemin de fer
chemin de fer, French card game played mainly in European and Latin American casinos. The game is played by up......
chess
chess, one of the oldest and most popular board games, played by two opponents on a checkered board with specially......
chess piece
chess piece, game piece used for playing chess. Chess pieces are distinguished by appearance and made of rigid......
Chessmaster
Chessmaster, popular series of electronic games for playing chess against a computer; it was originally released......
Chiburdanidze, Maya
Maya Chiburdanidze is a womenâs world chess champion from 1978 to 1991. She won the title at the age of 17 by defeating......
childrenâs game
childrenâs game, any of the amusements and pastimes of children that may involve spontaneous, unstructured activity,......
Chinese chess
Chinese chess, strategy board game played in China from about ad 700. Like orthodox chess, Chinese chess is believed......
Christina
Christina was the queen of Sweden (1644â54) who stunned all Europe by abdicating her throne. She subsequently attempted,......
chuck-a-luck
chuck-a-luck, dice game of medieval origin that is related to grand hazard. It is played with three dice and a......
Civilization
Civilization, computer game series created in 1991 by Sid Meier and published by his U.S.-based MicroProse computer......
Clarke, Edward Daniel
Edward Daniel Clarke was an English mineralogist and traveler who amassed valuable collections of minerals, manuscripts,......
Cleghorn, Mildred
Mildred Cleghorn was a dollmaker, teacher, and tribal leader of the Fort Sill Chiricahua Apache (1976â95) who fought......
cocked hat
cocked hat, bowling game played on a standard tenpin lane with three tenpins and a duckpin ball (4â5 inches [10â12.5......
coin collecting
coin collecting, the systematic accumulation and study of coins, tokens, paper money, and objects of similar form......