#encyclopediadraft

Playing cards are flat, rectangular pieces of layered pasteboard typically used for playing a variety of games of skill or chance. They are thought to have developed during the twelfth century from divination implements or as a derivative of chess. Cards are produced by the modern printing processes of lithography, photolithography, or gravure. In the future, more computerized methods will likely be adopted promising to generate a substantial increase in the playing card manufacturing industry.

Cake, baked from flour with added fat (butter or margarine), sugar, and eggs. Plain cakes are made by rubbing the fat and sugar into the flour, with no egg; sponge cakes by whipping with or without fat; rich cakes contain dried fruit.

Absinthe, an emerald-green liqueur distilled from wormwood and other aromatics, including angelica root, sweet-flag root, star anise, and dittany, which have been macerated and steeped in alcohol. It was invented in the 1790s by a Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a Frenchman who lived in Switzerland, and the liqueur became enormously popular, particularly in late-19th-century Paris. Genuine absinthe is 70% to 80% alcohol.

Basketball can make a true claim to being the only major sport that is an American invention. At the heart of the game is the playing space and the equipment. The space is a rectangular, indoor court. The principal pieces of equipment are the two elevated baskets, one at each end (in the long direction) of the court, and the basketball itself. The ball is spherical in shape and is inflated. Basket-balls range in size from 28.5-30 in (72-76 cm) in circumference, and in weight from 18-22 oz (510-624 g).

Earring, a personal adornment, sometimes an amulet, worn attached to the ear lobe. Since prehistoric times the ear has been pierced for the insertion of the earring; certain primitive tribes distort the lobe with plugs several inches in diameter or with heavy stones. Egyptians first wore large gold hoops, which eventually became smaller and supported pendants.

Chess is a classic two person board game. It is played with specially designed pieces on a square board made up of 64 alternating light and dark squares arranged in eight rows and columns. First appearing around A.D. 600, the game steadily evolved into the modern game known today. The earliest methods of production involved carving the board and pieces out of wood or stone. Today, a variety of common modern manufacturing methods such as injection molding and lithographic printing are employed to mass produce thousands of games.

Cheese, which has been described as "milk's leap toward immortality," can be more dispassionately defined as a product of milk fermentation. Yet part of our fascination with cheese may come from the sheer number and diversity of cheeses worldwide. They number into the thousands, although an exact count is difficult, as cheeses are notoriously difficult to classify.