Marie did not live to see her daughter
accept the award. Her many years of
exposure to harmful radioactivity had
made her very sick. She died on July 4,
1934. Irene died on March 17, 1956.
Frederic died on August 14, 1958.
#More to explore
Atom • Nobel Prize
Marie Curie
232 Curie Family BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Cush
#see Kush.
Custer, George
Armstrong
In 1876 Lieutenant Colonel George
Armstrong Custer led his U.S. Army
unit into battle against a group of Native
Americans. This group consisted of
Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Custer
and all his men died in the battle, called
the battle of the Little Bighorn. Yet
Custer remains one of the best-known
and most popular figures in U.S. history.
Early Life
George Armstrong Custer was born in
New Rumley, Ohio, on December 5,
1839. He spent most of his childhood in
Monroe, Michigan. After high school he
enrolled at the United States Military
Academy atWest Point, New York.
Army Career
During the American CivilWar, Custer
fought for the North. He was famous
for being very brave and aggressive.
When the CivilWar ended, Custer
became lieutenant colonel of an Army
unit called the 7th Cavalry.
In 1874, looking for gold, Custer led
soldiers into the Black Hills of what is
now South Dakota. The U.S. government
had recognized the northern Great
Plains as the sacred hunting grounds of
certain Native American tribes. Many
white miners, however, ignored that fact
and began to settle on the hunting
grounds. When the Native Americans
complained, the government ordered the
U.S. Army to drive them off the land.
Custer’s unit was supposed to prevent
the Native Americans from escaping
attack by the main force of soldiers.
Instead, Custer ordered an attack on a
group that had been assembled by the
Sioux chief Sitting Bull in a nearby
camp. Custer’s attack was one of the
greatest disasters in the history of the
U.S. Army. The Native Americans surrounded
Custer’s force near the Little
Bighorn River and killed all the men.
Death and Legend
Custer died with the rest of the 7th Cavalry
on June 25, 1876. After Custer’s
death, people remembered him as a
hero. The battle of the Little Bighorn
became the subject of songs, books, and
paintings.
Custer once
left his post to
go visit his
wife. The
Army suspended
him
for one year
without pay.
George Armstrong Custer
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Custer, George Armstrong 233
Custer’s reputation slowly changed in
the late 20th century, when people
began to recognize the Native American
side of the story. In 1991 the U.S. Congress
changed the name of the battlefield
monument from the Custer Battlefield
to the Little Bighorn Battlefield.
#More to explore
Cheyenne • Sioux • Sitting Bull
Cycling
The use of a bicycle for pleasure, transportation,
or sport is known as cycling.
Both children and adults ride bicycles
for fun and for exercise. Some people
use bicycles for transportation because it
is less expensive than traveling by car.
Others use bicycles for transportation
because bicycles, unlike cars, do not
pollute the air.
The sport of cycling consists of races
that are held mostly on roads or tracks.
Sport cycling began in 1868 with a race
near Paris, France. The first recorded
race in the United States was held in
1878 in Boston, Massachusetts. The
most famous bicycle race, the Tour de
France, began in 1903. Cycling is also a
part of the Summer Olympic Games.
Road Racing
Sport cycling includes road races for
men, women, and children. Some races
cover short distances of 2.5 to 3 miles (4
to 5 kilometers). Others cover hundreds
of miles. A stage race consists of a series
of races held over several days or even
weeks. The Tour de France is a stage race
that covers more than 2,200 miles
(3,500 kilometers), mainly in France. It
takes three weeks to complete. The
world’s best riders compete in it.
Time trials are a type of competition in
which cyclists do not race directly against
each other. Instead, individual cyclists or
teams are timed as they ride separately
over a certain distance. The cyclist or
team with the fastest time wins.Most
stage races include time trials.
Russian cyclists compete at the 2004 Olympics.
Some of the world’s top cyclists compete in
a championship road race. The International
Cycling Union holds world championships
every year.
234 Cycling BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Track Racing
Several types of bicycle races are held on
an oval track. The track may be either
indoors or outdoors. In the high-speed
races called sprints, cyclists compete
against each other over a short distance.
The pursuit is an event in which cyclists
start on opposite sides of the track and
try to catch each other. In a motorpaced
race, each cyclist rides behind a
motorcycle or motorbike. The motorcycle
cuts through the wind, which normally
slows a bicycle down. As a result,
cyclists can go much faster than they can
in other races.
Another form of track racing is bicycle
motocross (BMX). BMX races are held
on short dirt tracks with many jumps
and turns.
#More to explore
Bicycle
Cypress
Cypresses are evergreen trees and shrubs.
There are about 20 different species, or
