Search Britannica

Centimetres vs inches, metal rulers on a white background with clipping path.

Bob Dylan, 1965.

More than 50 years after Bob Dylan shocked the folk music world by “going electric” people still don’t agree on what happened at Newport in 1965. Why?

Woman eating large container of popcorn in cinema or movie theater.

Was it just being in the right place at the right time that made this snack so popular at the movies?

American bison (Bison bison) also known as buffalo or plains buffalo on the prairie, western U.S.

Where exactly do buffalo roam?

Madonna and Child Enthroned by Gentile da Fabriano, tempera on panel, c. 1420, 95.7 x 56.5 cm

Medieval and Renaissance artists admired Arabic script but couldn’t read it. So they improvised.

Britannica Kids

Explore Encyclopedia Britannica

Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004

A woman gesturing to relief workers arriving to help villagers recover from a deadly Indian Ocean tsunami, Nagappattinam, Tamil Nadu, India, December 31, 2004.

Gurinder Osan/AP

Tsunami that hit the coasts of several countries of South and Southeast Asia in December 2004. The tsunami and its aftermath were responsible...

Fresh vegetables, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, peppers, tomato, squash

8 of History’s Most Famous Vegetarians

Spreading oak tree in summer. (green, leaves, deciduous, shade)

Trees: Giants Holding the Sky

William James

Courtesy of the Harvard University News Service

American philosopher and psychologist, a leader of the philosophical movement of Pragmatism and of the psychological movement of functionalism....

Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)

Stars: Explosions in Space

In the 1800s and early 1900s young children often had to work in factories.

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

Feed corn ready for harvest after drying in the field, Kings Hill County, Virginia. Agriculture food grain cereal corncob

18 Food Crops Developed in the Americas

water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)

Water and its Varying Forms

Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki), a critically endangered toad endemic to Panama.

Extinct in the Wild but Still Around: 5 Plants and Animals Kept Alive by Humans

Electric power lines against sunset (grid, power, wires, electrical, electricity)

Energy & Fossil Fuels

Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus).

Marmota any of 14 species of giant ground squirrels found primarily in North America and Eurasia. These rodents are large and heavy, weighing...

“Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody lends him money.”

chikungunya fever

Mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti, a carrier of yellow fever and dengue, feed on vertebrate blood. Receptors on the mosquitoes’ antennae enable detection of chemicals produced by vertebrates. Certain chemicals, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid, act as attractants for several species of bloodsucking mosquitoes.

Paul I. Howell, MPH; Prof. Frank Hadley Collins/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Image Number: 9534)

Viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes that is characterized by fever, headache, rash, and severe joint and muscle pain. The name chikungunya,...

Advocacy for Animals

Gucci Announces Fur Ban Across Fashion Line

Here's proof that progress occurs, albeit ever so slowly: fashion powerhouse Gucci has declared it will go fur-free beginning with the release of its 2018 spring/summer line.

Alain Elkann Interviews

Alain has been writing a weekly interview column for the Italian newspaper La Stampa since 1989. His interviews celebrate some of the best known and successful personalities of the present day.

Encyclopedia Britannica by Category

×