do for fun and as a way to compete with
others. People have enjoyed sports for
thousands of years. Every sport has a set
of rules that the players follow.
Types of Sports
In some sports one person competes
against other individuals. Examples of
these sports include boxing, wrestling,
gymnastics, figure skating, diving, pole
vaulting, and horseback riding.
An orange sponge is shaped somewhat like
a fan. Sponges vary greatly in color, shape,
and size.
Soccer is a popular team sport for children
and adults around the world.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Sports 167
In team sports a group of people plays
against another group, or team. A team
may have as few as two members, or it
may have many members. A doubles
team in tennis has two players. Five
players make up a basketball team. An
ice hockey team has six players, and a
baseball team has nine. Eleven players
make up a football, soccer, or cricket
team.
Sports can be amateur or professional.
Amateur athletes do not get paid for
participating in a sport. Professional
athletes play for money.
Sports also can be organized or unorganized.
Children who get together for
neighborhood football games are playing
unorganized sports. No organization
controls their games. In organized sports
athletes play for a school, a business, a
club, a community, or some other organization.
The organization schedules
games and enforces the rules of the
sport. Organized sports can be amateur
or professional.
History
Since ancient times people have run
races, wrestled, and hunted for sport.
Ancient people in many parts of the
world also played games with balls.
In some ancient cultures sports were a
part of religious practices. This was especially
true of the Greek Olympic Games,
which began in 776 BC. The ancient
Greeks played these games to honor
their gods.
The ancient Romans related athletic
games to military skills, not religion.
They did such sports as boxing, wrestling,
chariot racing, and throwing
spearlike sticks called javelins.
After ancient times people continued to
play sports, but they were usually unorganized.
Organized sports became more
common in the 1700s and 1800s.
People created leagues and other organizations
to control athletic competitions.
They also wrote down sets of rules for
different sports.
..More to explore
Baseball • Basketball • Boxing • Cricket
• Football • Gymnastics • Hockey, Ice
• Ice Skating • Olympic Games • Soccer
• Tennis • Track and Field •Wrestling
Springfield
Population
(2000 census)
111,454;
(2007 estimate)
117,090
Springfield is the capital of the U.S.
state of Illinois. The city lies on the Sangamon
River. Abraham Lincoln lived in
Springfield for more than 20 years
before he became the president of the
United States.
The physical
activity of
sports can
make people
healthier.
168 Springfield BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Many people in Springfield work for the
government. Many others work in service
industries such as health care, tourism,
communications, or insurance. The
city is also a trading center for crops and
livestock produced on nearby farms.
In about 1818 a man named Elisha
Kelly built a cabin in what is now
Springfield. He was the city’s first settler.
Lincoln and eight other Illinois lawmakers
helped make Springfield the capital
of Illinois in 1837. Lincoln lived in the
city from 1837 until he became president
in 1861. Today tourists can visit
Lincoln’s tomb and former home in
Springfield. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library and Museum was
opened in the city in 2005.
#More to explore
Illinois • Lincoln, Abraham
Spy
A spy is a person whose job is to get
secret information. Governments and
businesses hire spies. Spies try to keep
others from discovering who they are
and what they do. The work of spying is
also called espionage.
SpyWork
Spying often takes place during wartime.
Spies for one side try to find out what
the enemy is planning. Government
spies may also gather information about
other countries during peacetime.
A different type of spy works in business.
These spies try to get information
about products or processes that other
companies keep secret.
Spies usually gather information that
people cannot get in ordinary or legal
ways. They may buy or steal secret information
from people. They may use cam-
A statue of U.S. President Abraham
Lincoln stands near the state
Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.
Lincoln lived in Springfield
before he became president.
Some spies use cleverly hidden microphones
to listen in on secret conversations.
Microphones disguised in a piece of wood
and in the heel of a shoe are displayed at
the International Spy Museum in Washington,
D.C.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Spy 169
eras, microphones, or other technology
to gather information. Some spies pretend
to work for one government or
business while actually spying on it for
another government or business. These
spies are called double agents or moles.
Spy History
Spying has gone on since ancient times.
The ancient Egyptians and Chinese used
spies more than 2,000 years ago. European
kings and queens almost always
had spies. These spies kept track of
