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Encyclopedia Britannica

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BEHIND THE NEWS
Influenza Epidemic
"More than a dozen children have died from complications of the flu in the U.S., prompting the CDC to declare that the virus has become an epidemic."
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FEATURED TOPIC
Remembering King Camp Gillette
The traveling salesman who became an inventor and a household name
Benjamin J. Falk/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.(LC-USZ62-103167)
Editor Picks: 9 Britannica Articles That Explain the Meaning of Life
Written by Richard Pallardy The articles in this list don’t have all the answers. However, they serve as a useful primer on the basics—what we know about the universe and how our species evolved, how we perpetuate ourselves, and how we die, and the logical tools we use to understand our world. You’re just a click away from understanding.
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Test your knowledge with four new quizzes.
Try again as often as you'd like; there are many different versions of each. Name That Thing
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Leon Davidovich Trotsky
Leon Davidovich Trotsky
Leon Trotsky on Lenin
 Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
Dayton Accords
 Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille on cinema
 Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein on Space-Time
 Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell on relativity
 Ted Turner
Ted Turner
United Nations Foundation
 Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa (TRC)
 Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud on psychoanalysis
FAMOUS CONTRIBUTORS
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BEHIND THE NEWS

  • Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
    AirAsia Plane Debris Found
  • Philip A. McDaniel/U.S. Navy
    Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004: Hope and Remembrance
  • Kyodo/Landov
    North Korea Threatens U.S. for Sony Hack Accusation
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    Sony Pictures Cancels Film Release
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    United States and Cuba to Restore Relations
  • Mohammad Sajjad/AP Images
    Pakistani Taliban Attack Peshawar School
  • © Ann and Steve Toon/Alamy
    Only 5 Northern White Rhinos Left in the World
  • Mikael Eriksson/iStock—Thinkstock
    Plastic Pollution Plagues Oceans
  • Paul Morse/The White House
    CIA Torture Report
  • NASA Goddard’s MODIS Rapid Response Team
    Typhoon Hits the Philippines
  • Jason DeCrow/AP Images
    "I Can't Breathe"
  • Tsering Topgyal/AP Images
    Bhopal Disaster 30th Anniversary Observed
  • Pete Souza—Official White House Photo
    Charges Against Mubarak Dismissed
  • The Newberry Library, Louis H. Silver Collection, 1965
    Rare Shakespeare Volume Found in France
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AirAsia Plane Debris Found
"After days of searching, rescue teams recovered debris and bodies from an AirAsia flight that had crashed into the sea on December 28. The cause of the crash remained unknown."
  • Java Sea Portion of the western Pacific Ocean between the islands of Java and Borneo. It is bordered by Borneo (Kalimantan) on the north, the southern end of Makassar Strait on the northeast,...
  • Surabaya Kota (city), capital of East Java (Jawa Timur) propinsi (or provinsi; province), Indonesia. Situated on the northeastern coast of Java, it lies along the Surabaya Strait opposite...
Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004: Hope and Remembrance
"The world looked back on December 26, 2004, when a magnitude-9.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, triggering tsunami waves that killed more than 225,000 people. Ten years later, many devastated areas have recovered."
  • Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 Tsunami that hit the coasts of several countries of South and Southeast Asia in December 2004. The tsunami and its aftermath were responsible for immense destruction and loss on...
  • tsunami Japanese “harbour wave” catastrophic ocean wave, usually caused by a submarine earthquake, by an underwater or coastal landslide, or by the eruption of a volcano. The term tidal...
  • earthquake Any sudden shaking of the ground caused by the passage of seismic waves through the Earth’s rocks. Seismic waves are produced when some form of energy stored in the Earth’s crust...
North Korea Threatens U.S. for Sony Hack Accusation
"North Korea denied involvement in the cyberattacks against Sony Pictures that revealed confidential data. It responded to its implication by the FBI with threats of attacks on the U.S. for ‘hurting the dignity’ of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Eun."
  • North Korea Country in East Asia. It occupies the northern portion of the Korean peninsula, which juts out from the Asian mainland between the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and the Yellow Sea; North...
  • Kim Jong-Eun North Korean political official who succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, as leader of North Korea (2011–). The youngest of Kim Jong Il ’s three sons, Kim Jong-Eun lived most of his...
  • cybercrime The use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating...
Sony Pictures Cancels Film Release
"A cyber-attack on its computers and threats of violence have led Sony Pictures to cancel the release of The Interview, a movie about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. The FBI has linked North Korea to the attack."
  • cybercrime The use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating...
  • North Korea Country in East Asia. It occupies the northern portion of the Korean peninsula, which juts out from the Asian mainland between the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and the Yellow Sea; North...
  • Seth Rogen Canadian comic actor and screenwriter who won over audiences as a charismatic buffoon in a number of box-office hits, including Knocked Up (2007). Rogen was born to liberal Jewish...
United States and Cuba to Restore Relations
"On December 17, 2014, concurrent with a swap of prisoners between the two countries, the U.S. government announced that it would seek to restore normal diplomatic relations with Cuba, which had been broken in 1961 after the Cuban Revolution."
  • United States Country of North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 contiguous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state...
  • Cuba Country of the West Indies, the largest single island of the archipelago, and one of the more influential states of the Caribbean region. The domain of Taino-speaking American...
  • embargo Legal prohibition by a government or group of governments restricting the departure of vessels or movement of goods from some or all locations to one or more countries. Embargoes...
Pakistani Taliban Attack Peshawar School
"On December 16, Pakistani Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan. More than a hundred people were killed during the eight-hour siege, the vast majority of them children. Dozens more were hospitalized."
  • Taliban Ultraconservative political and religious faction that emerged in Afghanistan in the mid 1990s following the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the collapse of Afghanistan’s communist...
  • Peshawar City, central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northern Pakistan. The city (capital of the province) lies just west of the Bara River, a tributary of the Kabul River, near the Khyber...
  • Pakistan Populous and multiethnic country of South Asia. Pakistan has historically and culturally been associated with India. Since the two countries achieved independence in 1947, Pakistan...
Only 5 Northern White Rhinos Left in the World
"Angalifu, a 44-year-old captive male northern white rhinoceros (NWR) living at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, died on Dec 14, leaving only 5 other members of its subspecies. Attempts to produce a calf from the remaining NWRs have failed in recent years."
  • white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum the largest rhinoceros species and one of two African species of rhinoceros. Historically, the species has been divided into two subspecies, the northern white...
  • extinction In biology, the dying out or termination of a species. Extinction occurs when species are diminished because of environmental forces (habitat fragmentation, global change, overexploitation...
Plastic Pollution Plagues Oceans
"A research study released December 10th by a multinational team of scientists estimated that there are a minimum of 5.25 trillion plastic particles (weighing about 269,000 tons) polluting the oceans today."
  • plastic pollution The accumulation in the environment of man-made plastic products to the point where they create problems for wildlife and their habitats as well as for human populations. In 1907...
  • ocean Continuous body of salt water that is contained in enormous basins on Earth’s surface. When viewed from space, the predominance of Earth’s oceans is readily apparent. The oceans...
  • recycling Recovery and reprocessing of waste materials for use in new products. The basic phases in recycling are the collection of waste materials, their processing or manufacture into...
CIA Torture Report
"A report released December 9th by the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA during the Bush administration produced no actionable intelligence."
  • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) CIA principal foreign intelligence and counterintelligence agency of the U.S. government. Formally created in 1947, the CIA grew out of the World War II Office of Strategic Services...
  • waterboarding Method of torture in which water is poured into the nose and mouth of a victim who lies on his back on an inclined platform, with his feet above his head. As the victim’s sinus...
  • torture The infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for a purpose, such as extracting information, coercing a confession, or inflicting punishment. It is normally committed...
Typhoon Hits the Philippines
"Typhoon Hagupit (locally Ruby) passed through the north-central Philippines on December 6-8, 2014, causing flooding, property damage, and more than 20 deaths, but it was much less powerful than the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan of November 2013."
  • Philippines Island country of Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. It is an archipelago consisting of some 7,100 islands and islets lying about 500 miles (800 km) off the coast of...
  • tropical cyclone An intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain. Drawing energy from the sea surface...
  • Super Typhoon Haiyan Massive and highly destructive storm in the North Pacific Ocean that affected Palau, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China during early November 2013. The tropical cyclone produced...
"I Can't Breathe"
"Protesters gathered in several U.S. cities after a grand jury declined to indict a New York City police officer who put a choke hold on Eric Garner, an unarmed man arrested for allegedly selling loose cigarettes, resulting in Garner's death."
  • grand jury In Anglo-American law, a group that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and, if the evidence warrants, makes formal charges on which the accused persons are...
  • indictment In the United States, a formal written accusation of crime affirmed by a grand jury and presented by it to the court for trial of the accused. The grand jury system was eliminated...
  • asphyxia The failure or disturbance of the respiratory process brought about by the lack or insufficiency of oxygen in the brain. The unconsciousness that results sometimes leads to death....
Bhopal Disaster 30th Anniversary Observed
"The 30th anniversary of the world’s most deadly industrial accident, at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India (December 3, 1984), was observed in India by protestors, who included survivors and relatives of survivors of the disaster."
  • Bhopal disaster Chemical leak in 1984 in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh state, India. At the time, it was called the worst industrial accident in history. On December 3, 1984, about 45 tons...
  • Bhopal City, capital of Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Situated in the fertile plain of the Malwa Plateau, the city lies just north of the Vindhya Range, along the slopes of a sandstone...
  • Union Carbide Corporation Major American manufacturer of chemicals, petrochemicals, and related products. It became a subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company in 2001. The company was formed in 1917 as Union...
Charges Against Mubarak Dismissed
"An Egyptian court dismissed murder charges against Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt, in connection with the killing of protesters in the 2011 uprising that forced him from power."
  • Hosni Mubarak Egyptian military officer and politician who served as president of Egypt from October 1981 until February 2011, when popular unrest forced him to step down. Born in the Nile River...
  • Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Egyptian military officer who became Egypt ’s de facto leader in July 2013, after the country’s military removed Pres. Mohammed Morsi from power following mass protests against...
  • Egypt Country located in the northeastern corner of Africa. Egypt’s heartland, the Nile River valley and delta, was the home of one of the principal civilizations of the ancient Middle...
Rare Shakespeare Volume Found in France
"After lying unnoticed for centuries, a copy of the First Folio—the first published edition of William Shakespeare's plays, dating to 1623—has been discovered in a library in Saint-Omer, France. Only about 230 First Folios are known to exist today."
  • William Shakespeare English poet, dramatist, and actor, often called the English national poet and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time. Shakespeare occupies a position unique...
  • First Folio First published edition (1623) of the collected works of William Shakespeare, originally published as Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies. It is the major...
  • Saint-Omer Town, Pas-de-Calais département, Nord-Pas-de-Calais région, northeastern France. It lies along the canalized Aa River and is 22 miles (36 km) southwest of the Belgian frontier....

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