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Today in context,
December 14, 2020
Weird but True
Unbelievable events and facts from history.
Killed by sex?
One of the greatest painters of the Renaissance, Raphael also had a reputation as a lothario, and biographer Vasari speculated that his early death was caused by a night of excess passion.
“Sweet, sticky death”
In 1919 Boston was attacked by more than two million gallons of molasses.
The world's shortest war
It lasted no longer than 40 minutes.
Unlikely WWII allies
During the Battle for Castle Itter (1945), U.S. and German forces joined together to fight the SS.
Mystery in Siberia
In 1908 central Siberia, Russia, was the site of a still-unexplained explosion that had the force of 15 megatons of TNT.
A cadaver trial
In one of the most bizarre incidents in papal history, the corpse of Pope Formosus was put on trial. And that was just the beginning.
Feline Fine
These cuddly little predators have been sharing space with humans for thousands of years. Join Britannica as we explore our favorite types of cat and answer questions about some of the unusual behaviors of our furry friends.
Podcasts
See All Shows And Podcasts
Botanize!
Botanize! is a podcast that will introduce you to some of the world’s most remarkable plants, fungi, and algae. These overlooked organisms have fascinating evolutionary stories to tell about survival, exploitation, adaptation, and general scrappiness, and every episode will pique your curiosity. From parasitic plants to kelp forests, Botanize! aims to showcase some of Earth’s finest nonanimal life-forms and their brilliant ecologies.
Postcards from the 6th Mass Extinction
So far there have been five notable mass extinctions on Earth. A growing number of ecologists, climatologists, and other scientists argue that we’re now in the midst of a sixth. Postcards from the 6th Mass Extinction is a podcast that attempts to personalize extinction, emphasizing the survival challenges that familiar, often cherished, forms of life currently face, while at the same time considering the pivotal roles they play in their own ecosystems.
On This Day
Hear the stories that propelled us to the present day through insights that lend perspective to our world with a nod to our own humanity. Britannica media editor Kurt Heintz, together with Emily Goldstein and Meg Matthias, is on a mission to spotlight poignant and noteworthy events for every day of the year.
Year in Review
In Memoriam
In a year dominated by concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, some losses hit especially hard. Britannica profiles some of the political luminaries, entertainment legends, and athletic titans who died in 2020.
2020: A Video Review
In 2020 you came to Britannica looking for answers. Here’s what you discovered.
Browse by Category
Entertainment & Pop Culture
Entertainment and leisure activities have been a part of all cultures in one form or another since the ancient times, whether the activity in question involved participating in a dance performance, attending a Broadway show, going to a music festival, or watching a movie.
Featured
- Stringed instrument
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A Study of Musicians
What kind of music was Jelly Roll Morton famous for?...
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High Art in Song
How many dances did Johann Strauss write? Who composed...
Geography & Travel
Planet Earth contains some extraordinarily diverse environments, some of which are easily habitable and some not so much. In different areas of Earth, one might find sweltering deserts, dense tropical rainforests, or bone-chilling tundras. Each biome and habitat comes with its own selection of flora and fauna, and it may include physical features such as canyons, volcanoes, rivers, or caves. Human beings have built homes in many different environments, settling the area and organizing it into units such as cities, states, regions, and countries, each with its own points of interest. Shifting trends in human migration have resulted in a human geography that is profoundly different from that of centuries ago.
Featured
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Native American
indigenous peoples of Canada and United States
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Exploring China: Fact or Fiction?
Does China have about half of the world’s population?...
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The United States: Fact or Fiction?
Containing the "city of big shoulders," and the "city...
Health & Medicine
The study of the human mind and body, how these function, and how they interact—not only with each other but also with their environment—has been of utmost importance in ensuring human well-being. Research on potential treatments and preventive medicine has expanded greatly with the development of modern medicine, and a network of disciplines, including such fields as genetics, psychology, and nutrition, aims to facilitate the betterment of our health.
Featured
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Cancer
disease
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Diagnose This!
Think you know about symptoms of common illnesses?...
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Can You Really Sweat Out Toxins?
Maybe you should turn down the heat.
Lifestyles & Social Issues
It's easy enough to agree that human beings all around the world have certain basic requirements that must be fulfilled in order to ensure their individual and collective well-being. History has shown us, however, that it's not so easy to form societies or communities that fulfill these requirements for all members. The fight over human and civil rights has persisted for hundreds of years and remains alive today, both within the borders of nations and on an international scale. It has led to large-scale social movements and reforms concerning issues such as suffrage, slavery, women's rights, racial discrimination, environmentalism, gay rights, and more.
Featured
- Kinship
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Libya Quiz
What is Omar al-Mukhtar famous for? When were significant...
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Yemen Quiz
Which beverage takes its name from a city in Yemen?...
Literature
With the development of language, the human imagination has found a way to create and communicate through the written word. A literary work can transport us into a fictional, fantastic new world, describe a fleeting feeling, or simply give us a picture of the past through novels, poems, tragedies, epic works, and other genres. Through literature, communication becomes an art, and it can bridge and bond people and cultures of different languages and backgrounds.
Featured
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Short story
literature
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9 LGBTQ Writers You Should Read
Doesn’t matter where you fall on the Kinsey scale.
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5 Good Books That Inspired Bad Deeds
Words gone wild.
Philosophy & Religion
Humans have long pondered not only how we came to be but also why we came to be. The earliest Greek philosophers focused their attention upon the origin and nature of the physical world; later philosophers have theorized about the nature of knowledge, truth, good and evil, love, friendship, and much more. Thus, philosophy involves a methodical assessment of any and all aspects of human existence and experience. The realms of philosophy and religion have sometimes intersected in conducting inquiries such as these. As with philosophy, the study of religion underscores how humankind has long speculated about its origins. The possibility of a higher being (or beings) to which livings things owe their existence has long captived human thought. Many religions also offer their own views on the nature of good and evil, and they may prescribe guidelines and judgment on different kinds of human behavior.
Featured
- Historiography
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World Religions Quiz
What holiday comes before Lent? Where is the holiest...
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Religion: High and Mighty Quiz
Can you name the first book of the Hebrew Bible? What...
Politics, Law & Government
The world today is divided territorially into more than 190 countries, each of which possesses a national government that claims to exercise sovereignty and seeks to compel obedience to its will by its citizens. Governments can be classified in any number of ways. For example, they might be classified by the number of rulers, thus distinguishing government by one (as in a monarchy or a tyranny) from government by the few (in an aristocracy or oligarchy) and from government by the many (as in a democracy). Governments can also be classified by mode of succession; for example, ascension to governmental leadership may follow the rules of hereditary succession, or it may be determined through elections or by force. Governments also vary in terms of the laws and rules of conduct that each political entity follows.
Featured
- Military aircraft
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U.S. Government Departments
This wordsearch challenge will help you identify all...
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43 Questions About Politics (Mostly in the United States) Compiled from Britannica’s Quizzes
This quiz gathers together questions from Britannica’s...
Science
How can the sky be blue one day and stormy the next? Why do heavy objects tend to fall downwards when dropped? How are birds able to fly (and why can’t I do the same?)? Human beings have long been curious about the world in which we live, striving to identify connections among the phenomenons we witness and to understand how it all works. The field of science has developed over many centuries as a way of studying and understanding the world, beginning with the primitive stage of simply noting important regularities in nature and continuing through the rise of modern science. The modern-day sciences cover a vast range of fields, including biology, chemistry, meteorology, astronomy, physics, and much more.
Featured
- Space tourism
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What’s the Difference Between a Psychopath and a Sociopath? And How Do Both Differ from Narcissists?
Know a mentally disturbed person who doesn’t think...
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Chemistry: Fact or Fiction?
Test your knowledge of the fascinating science of chemistry.
Sports & Recreation
Physical contests and recreational games have long played a part in human society. In both team and solo sports, the human body has been pushed to its limits in the name of improving athletic performance and to break record upon record. The ancient Olympic Games are an early example of the contests in which humans have engaged to showcase physical prowess. In modern times, sports and games have evolved into a lucrative and competitive industry, while other leisure activities, such as card and video games, can be competitive or can just be a way to unwind or socialize.
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Boxing
sport
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What Was the Super Bowl’s First Blockbuster Commercial?
Read the story behind Apple’s 1984 Macintosh reveal,...
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Gardening Know-How
Reap a fun harvest with this gardening word search!...
Technology
Humankind has long striven to improve its living conditions through the development of tools, instruments, and transportation and communications systems, all with the goal of making our lives easier, more productive and—why not—more fun, too! Thanks to human curiosity and technological research, many significant inventions have been made throughout history that in turn made a difference in our daily lives.
Featured
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Instrumentation
technology
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6 Signs It’s Already the Future
If you thought future tech was just for sci-fi flicks,...
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10 Inventions That Changed Your World
Things you really can’t live without.
Visual Arts
These are the arts that meet the eye and evoke an emotion through an expression of skill and imagination. They include the most ancient forms, such as painting and drawing, and the arts that were born thanks to the development of technology, like sculpture, printmaking, photography, and installation art, the latter a combination of multiple creative expressions. Though beauty is in the eye of the beholder, different eras in art history have had their own principles to define beauty, from the richly ornamented taste of the Baroque to the simple, utilitarian style of the Prairie School.
Featured
- Modern art
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9 Muses Who Were Artists
Inspirational and inspired.
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Artists & Painters: Fact or Fiction?
Do you think you know Fabergé, Monet, and Jackson Pollock?...
World History
Does history really repeat itself, or can we learn from the mistakes of those who came before us? History provides a chronological, statistical, and cultural record of the events, people, and movements that have made an impact on humankind and the world at large throughout the ages. Investigating the causes and results of past events is critically important in gaining a full understanding and perspective of present-day issues.
Featured
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Genghis Khan
Mongol ruler
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The Vietnam War
Who backed whom? How was the U.S. involved? Which foreign...
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Columbian Exchange: New World or Old World?
Do you know the origins of the crops and livestock...
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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.