Sport in France is recognized by the IOC. . Professional players play the very competitive form of Pétanque which is called Pétanque Sport, under precise rules. The competitive form is played by about 480,000 persons licensed with the "Federation Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal" (FFPJP). The FFPJP is the 4th largest sports federation in France. Orienteering is a reasonably popular sport in France; it is regulated by the Fédération Française de Course d'Orientation (FFCO) Cricket is a developing sport in France. Some reports claim that cricket was invented in France, however, the sport is relatively unknown due to inadequate media coverage. In
Bill Bryson Cownie, the mayor of Des Moines, awarded Bryson the key to the city and announced that October 21, 2006 would be known as "Bill Bryson, The Thunderbolt Kid, Day". In January 2007, he was the Schwartz Visiting Fellow at the Pomfret School in Connecticut. Bryson has written the following books: Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an Anglo-American author of books on travel, the English language, science, and other non-fiction topics. Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the United States between