Since 1665, when English physicist Robert Hooke coined the term cell to describe the microscopic view of cork, scientists have been developing increasingly sophisticated microscopy tools, enabling them to view ever-smaller details of cellular structure. Far from the poor-quality microscopes that

One of the most important features of the U.S. debt collection process is that debtors—and creditors, too—have well-defined rights. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was first signed into law way back in 1977 (and most recently updated in 2010), precisely because Congress found

Not counting well-known women science Nobelists like Marie Curie or individuals such as Jane Goodall, Rosalind Franklin, and Rachel Carson, whose names appear in textbooks and, from time to time, even in the popular media, how many prominent or pioneering women scientists can you name? If any of

The study of life entails inquiry into many different facets of existence, from behavior and development to anatomy and physiology to taxonomy, ecology, and evolution. Hence, advances in the broad array of fields in the life sciences can be attributed to the work of countless researchers, a small

Ray Kurzweil: Kurzweil also wrote The 10% Solution for a Healthy Life (1993), which details a diet that he had used to help cure himself of diabetes. His book The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) presents a vision of the 21st century as a time when computer technology would have…

Yobes Ondieki: …a world record in the 10,000 metres, an event he had not run on a track in 10 years. At the time, his performance was considered by some as the best distance race ever run.

promethazine, synthetic drug used to counteract the histamine reaction, as in allergies. Promethazine, introduced into medicine in the 1940s, is used in the form of its hydrochloride. It is administered orally in tablets and syrups and intramuscularly in an aqueous solution. Promethazine is

bicycle: The modern bicycle: …the young consumers switched to 10-speeds, so named because two chainwheels and five freewheel sprockets allowed a total of 10 different gear ratios. Young buyers generated a second boom; from 1972 to 1974 annual U.S. sales doubled from 7 million to 14 million. About half of the bicycles sold were…

number symbolism: 100: Because our notational system for numbers is decimal (base 10), the number 100 takes on a significance that it would probably not possess if we employed other systems of notation. It is a round number and holds hints of perfection. The Western calendar is…

Takashi Murakami: …pieces included the multi-paneled painting 100 Arhats (2013)—in Buddhism, an arhat is one who has reached the state of enlightenment—and large-scale sculptures of demons, Embodiment of “A” and Embodiment of “Um” (both 2014).

Henry Koster: Early work: …included Three Smart Girls (1936); One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), recipient of an Academy Award nomination for best picture; and First Love (1939)—proved highly popular and were credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy. It Started with Eve (1941) was the sixth and last of Koster’s films to…

Sheryl Crow: Other albums and projects: …songs and personal reminiscences; and 100 Miles from Memphis (2010), a collaborative effort featuring artists such as Justin Timberlake and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. After the country album Feels Like Home (2013), Crow returned to her earlier work with Be Myself (2017). On

One hundred years ago this month, Albert Einstein published a series of four papers that introduced the theory of general relativity. After the publication of his theory of special relativity in 1905, Einstein realized that special relativity could not be applied to gravity or an object undergoing

Film, theater, and radio director, actor, producer, and writer Orson Welles was born on May 6, 1915. Citizen Kane (1941), his first film, is considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made. spotlight, film, theater, radio, art, anniversary, orson welles,

August 17, 2015, marked the 100th anniversary of the lynching of Leo Frank, an event that shaped the development of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and spurred the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Frank, a Jew living in Georgia, was a factory superintendent who was convicted―by almost all

Roland Matthes: …and 1973, Matthes took the 100-metre backstroke world record from 58.4 to 56.3 seconds and the 200-metre mark from 2:07.9 to 2:01.87.

Usain Bolt: First world record in the 100 meters: …to let him try the 100 meters, and he ran 10.03 sec in his first professional race at the distance. On May 3, 2008, he lowered his best time to 9.76 sec, then the world’s second fastest mark. Four weeks later in New York City, Bolt broke the world record,…

flood: …100 years is called a 100-year flood. The magnitudes of 100-, 500-, and 1,000-year floods are calculated by extrapolating existing records of stream flow, and the results are used in the design engineering of many water resources projects, including dams and reservoirs, and other structures that may be affected by…

1000 Genomes Project, an international collaboration in which researchers aimed to sequence the genomes of a large number of people from different ethnic groups worldwide with the intent of creating a catalog of genetic variations occurring with a frequency of at least 1 percent across all human

Anish Kapoor: …bodies of work such as 1000 Names. Created between 1979 and 1980, this series consisted of arrangements of abstract geometric forms coated with loose powdered pigments that spilled beyond the object itself and onto the floor or wall.

Richard Thompson: …it inspired him to record 1000 Years of Popular Music (2003), a compilation that traced the development of pop music from Early Middle English rounds to Britney Spears. Thompson reunited with the remaining members of Fairport Convention in 2007 for a celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary. His subsequent albums…

Rachid Boudjedra: With Les 1001 Années de la nostalgie (1979; “1,001 Years of Nostalgia”), Boudjedra created a satire of an imaginary Saharan village confronted with what he viewed as the newest symbol of contemporary cultural imperialism, an American film company. After writing his first several novels in French,…

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Human impact: That region—now known as the 1002 Area (for the section name of the 1980 law)—subsequently was assessed, with estimates of petroleum deposits there put in the billions-of-barrels range. The future of the 1002 Area has since been hotly and repeatedly debated between proponents and opponents of further oil exploration and…

The Chicago City Council designated April 4, 2017, as “Chicago Flag Day” in honor of the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the city’s iconic flag. Its design—four six-pointed stars bracketed by two horizontal blue stripes on a field of white—is simple but distinctive. The North American

February 21, 2016, marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Verdun. The 10-month engagement was the apotheosis of attrition warfare, with hundreds of thousands of lives being exchanged for insignificant territorial gains. This single battle was as long as the entire

An annual picnic outing for the employees of the Western Electric Company turned tragic on July 24, 1915, when the boat that was to take them from Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana, capsized. At least 844 people died in what was one of the worst maritime disasters in American history. spotlight,

April 25 marks the 100th anniversary of the Allied/ANZAC landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula during World War I. spotlight, anniversary, gallipoli, anzac, world war i, wwi, australia, new

The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA of America, or more commonly just PGA) was the brainchild of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker, who believed that the creation of a golf organization would increase sales of the sport’s equipment. On January 17, 1916, in New York City he

baseball: Baseball and the arts: Rockwell’s paintings 100th Year of Baseball (1939) and Game Called Because of Rain (also known as Bottom of the Sixth; 1949), first printed on covers of The Saturday Evening Post, now hang in the art gallery of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

1O1, orchestral work by John Cage that premiered in Boston on April 6, 1989, one of the rare large-scale works he composed in order to explore his fascination with aleatory, or chance, music. For much of his career, Cage investigated in various ways the contradiction between standard compositional

One Hundred and One Dalmatians, American animated film, released in 1961, that became a Walt Disney classic, especially known for the villainous character Cruella De Vil. When dalmatians Pongo and Perdita have 15 puppies, Cruella De Vil attempts to buy them from their owners, a composer and his

Ruby McKim: Her only book, 101 Patchwork Patterns, was published in 1931 and remains a classic. McKim was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame in 2002.

logic puzzle: Truths and lies: …was the guilty man? (From 101 Puzzles in Thought and Logic by C.R. Wylie, Jr.; Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1957. Reprinted through the permission of the publisher.)

Amitabh Bachchan: Return to stardom: In 102 Not Out, he played a man trying to break the record for the oldest man alive.

New South Wales Corps, (1789–1818), British military force formed for service in the convict colony of New South Wales. It figured prominently in the early history of Australia. With the arrival of the corps in 1790–92, the colony gained a new dynamic force: officers and soldiers received land

A 1031 exchange refers to the section of IRS code that spells out the law and specific requirements regarding “like-kind” transactions. In short, when selling real property that’s held “for productive purposes,” the IRS says that, as long as the investment proceeds are rolled into a similar

Herschel: …forms of water in Comet Hartley 2 also revealed that the cometary water had the same isotopic signature as the water in Earth’s oceans, which was evidence that Earth’s water may have come from comets. Data gathered by Herschel showed that previous observations had underestimated by a third the amount…

East-West Schism, event that precipitated the final separation between the Eastern Christian churches (led by the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius) and the Western church (led by Pope Leo IX). The mutual excommunications by the pope and the patriarch in 1054 became a watershed in

Kamala Harris: Life after the 2024 election: …Harris published a memoir called 107 Days, which was the length of her 2024 presidential campaign – the shortest in history. She faced criticism in some circles for writing an account that blames others, without taking enough ownership for the campaign’s shortcomings. But she wrote honestly about Biden’s belated decision…

July 7, 2015, marks the 10th anniversary of a deadly terrorist attack on the London transit system. Suicide bombers targeted three subway trains and a double-decker bus during the morning rush hour. The bombings, which came to be known as the 7/7 attacks, killed 52 people and injured more than 700.

vagus nerve, longest and most complex of the cranial nerves. The vagus nerve runs from the brain through the face and thorax to the abdomen. It is a mixed nerve that contains parasympathetic fibres. The vagus nerve has two sensory ganglia (masses of nerve tissue that transmit sensory impulses): the

Aaron Bank: …new Unconventional Warfare unit, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Bank, now a colonel, was selected as the unit’s first commanding officer, and it was activated in June 1952 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a site that would become the centre of U.S. special forces training and tactics. Volunteers were…

number symbolism: 11: Sandwiched between the two auspicious and important numbers 10 and 12, the number 11 generally has negative connotations. Bungus stated that 11 has no connection with the divine, and medieval theology refers to the “11 heads of error.” Because at any time one of…

“No other country in the world has such a high density of art institutions,” says DutchCulture.nl about the Netherlands. “Almost every town or city has a museum of contemporary art. And if there isn’t a museum, there is certain to be a centre for contemporary art, a festival or some other event.”

A church that looks like a grain silo. A spherical building that inspired the discovery of a molecule. Apartments arranged in a pyramid. These are some of the 11 architectural wonders you shouldn’t miss in Canada. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these buildings first appeared in 1001

There are plenty of reasons why a book might be banned. It may subvert a popular belief of a dominating culture, shock an audience with grotesque, sexual, or obscene language, or be thought to promote strife within a society. Whatever the reason, once a book is banned, a sort of aura of mystique is

Belgium declared its independence in 1830, though its history stretches back much further. These 11 unique buildings provide snapshots of the country’s trajectory through time. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these buildings first appeared in 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die,

Caves are simply openings in the earth. They can be natural or human-made. They may be of any size and shape. They often are part of larger systems of caves, and they can be found anywhere. But a select few have taken on greater meaning and significance in human history. Here are 11 of them.

Egypt had one of the largest and most complex pantheons of gods of any civilization in the ancient world. Over the course of Egyptian history hundreds of gods and goddesses were worshipped. The characteristics of individual gods could be hard to pin down. Most had a principle association (for

Ghost, ghouls, and things that go bump in the night. People young and old love a good scare, and the horror genre has been a part of moviemaking since its earliest days. Explore this gallery of ghastly classic movie monsters. list, movies, movie monsters, famous movie monsters, famous movies, film,

The Nile is Africa’s longest river, it and its principal tributaries traversing parts of 10 countries and several different physiographic regions. As such, the river and its environs are home to many fascinating species of plants and animals. Here are some to know. list, Nile River, plants,

Brazil is a very large country: it fills half of South America and is larger, in area, than the continental United States. That means it has a rich and vast architectural heritage. Here are just 11 of its most iconic buildings. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these buildings first appeared

London offers world-class art everywhere you look. The city has superb galleries and institutions that are home to world-class artworks. Sometimes, though, these collections can take a bit of extra work to find. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these paintings first appeared in 1001

Although debates may seem like an essential feature of U.S. presidential campaigns, they are in fact a relatively recent phenomenon. The first debate between presidential candidates occurred on May 17, 1948, when Republican contenders Thomas Dewey and Harold Stassen matched wits. The debate aired

Mexico City was founded in 1521, on the ruins of Tenochtitlán. It is a densely populated city surrounded on three sides by mountains, and at its heart is a gargantuan public square with a long history. These 11 buildings capture the dynamic spirit of Mexico City’s past and present. Earlier versions

World history is often defined by wars. During the 20th and 21st centuries, aircraft came to play increasingly important roles in determining the outcome of battles as well as being deterrents to aggression. Military aircraft came of age during World War II, and their utility for both military and

….or Hotel Chelsea, which looms large on West 23rd Street in Manhattan and in the history of American arts and letters as its greatest unofficial artists’ colony. Given the proliferation of renowned novelists, poets, painters, playwrights, actors, filmmakers, and musicians who put head to pillow at

In late 2013, Sunny Obama, the first family’s second Portuguese Water Dog, created quite a stir when she accidentally knocked over a young guest at a White House Christmas event. This presidential pooch was far from the first executive animal to make headlines, though. Here’s a look at some other

Earlier versions of these questions and answers first appeared in the second edition of The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents) by Gina Misiroglu (2010). list, birds Birds have one major feature that distinguishes them from all other animals: feathers. These strong but lightweight feathers, in

Which plants are useful to humans, and how do they help us? Learn more about how plants enable us to make fabric, spices, paper, and more—and how they preserve the quality of our environment. Earlier versions of these questions and answers first appeared in the second edition of The Handy Answer

September 11 attacks, series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States, the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U.S. history. The attacks against New York City and

rod: …chemical derived from vitamin A, 11-cis-retinaldehyde. Photons of light entering the eye cause the 11-cis-retinaldehyde to undergo isomerization (a change in configuration), forming all-trans-retinaldehyde. This isomerization activates the opsin protein, which then interacts with and activates a small protein called transducin. The association of opsin with transducin couples the external…

Stephen King: Other novels: …Dome (2009; TV series 2013–15); 11/22/63 (2011; TV miniseries 2016); Joyland (2013); Doctor Sleep (2013; film 2019), a sequel to The Shining; Revival (2014); The Outsider (2018; TV miniseries 2020); The Institute (2019); Later (2021); and

September 11 attacks, series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States, the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U.S. history. The attacks against New York City and

Agnes de Mille: …in Pink Tights (1954), and 110 in the Shade (1963). She also arranged dances for the films Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Oklahoma! (1955), directed plays, and choreographed television programs.

Liu Xiang: …2000, finishing fourth in the 110-metre event. He won the same race at the 2001 World University Games and in 2002 set world junior records indoors in the 60-metre hurdles (7.55 sec) and outdoors in the 110-metre hurdles (13.12 sec). In 2003 he earned bronze medals at the indoor and…

Julio Iglesias: …his breakout hit English-language album, 1100 Bel Air Place. The album, which went on to sell some four million copies in the U.S. alone, was an eclectic mix of styles that included duets with popular American artists such as Willie Nelson and Diana Ross. His song with Nelson, “To All…

Charles Ives: His 114 Songs (1919–24) for voice and piano vary from ballads to satire, hymns, protest songs, and romantic songs. In technique they range from highly complex (e.g., with tone clusters, polytonality, and atonality) to straightforward and simple.

American literature: Multicultural writing: …brother’s death from AIDS in 1185 Park Avenue (1999); and Dave Eggers’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000), a painful but comic tour de force, half tongue-in-cheek, about a young man raising his brother after the death of their parents.

human nervous system: Accessory nerve (CN XI or 11): The accessory nerve is formed by fibers from the medulla oblongata (known as the cranial root) and by fibers from cervical levels C1–C4 (known as the spinal root). The cranial root originates from the nucleus ambiguus and exits the…

James Patterson: …series, including 7th Heaven (2008), 11th Hour (2012), 14th Deadly Sin (2015), 16th Seduction (2017), and The 20th Victim (2020), were written with coauthors. Patterson’s other thriller series included one involving Michael Bennett, a detective. The first installment, Step on a Crack, was published in 2007, and later books included…

Leonardo DiCaprio: Other activities: The 11th Hour, an environmental documentary that he wrote and narrated, premiered at the Cannes film festival in 2007. He later produced and narrated Ice on Fire (2019), a documentary that considers the possibility of reversing climate change.

number symbolism: 12: The number 12 is strongly associated with the heavens—the 12 months, the 12 signs of the zodiac, and the 12 stations of the Moon and of the Sun. The ancients recognized 12 main northern stars and 12 main southern stars. There are 24 =…

12 Angry Men, American courtroom film drama, released in 1957, considered a classic of the genre. It marked the feature-film directorial debut of Sidney Lumet. (Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.) The film was adapted from a 1954 television play that aired on the series

Some of the most exciting and prominent authors of the 21st century are also essential contributors to the impressive canon of African American literature. The authors in this list have published award-winning works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Whether you’re a fan of science fiction or

What defines a classic Brat Pack flick? Is it a plot involving teenage rebellion or angsty young adulthood? MTV-style film editing or a screenplay penned by John Hughes, the great bard of 1980s teen movies? Maybe it’s all about the cast. In 1985 journalist David Blum coined the term Brat Pack to

Cruel and fickle, passionate and vindictive, jealous and insecure, petty and insane: the inhabitants of Mount Olympus represent an attempt by the ancient Greeks to explain the chaos of the universe through human nature. Thus, like every deity invented before and since, these gods and goddesses are

Portuguese ships sailed past the Cape of Good Hope and what would become South Africa for the first time in 1488, but European settlements were not established until the 17th century. The British and Dutch, who were responsible for these settlements, arrived in a place that had been inhabited since

Though we might think of today’s influencers as people with millions of followers on Instagram or TikTok, both of which are relatively recent inventions, the role of an influencer is not so specific to the 21st century. In fact, centuries before social media even existed, trendsetters inspired

lü pipes: …open ends, they produced the 12 lü, or fundamental pitches, of the octave. These pipes should not be confused with the panpipe, or paixiao.

Robert Duvall: In 2021 he appeared in 12 Mighty Orphans, a football drama based on a true story from the 1930s.

Literary critics, historians, avid readers, and even casual readers will all have different opinions on which novel is truly the “greatest book ever written.” Is it a novel with beautiful, captivating figurative language? Or one with gritty realism? A novel that has had an immense social impact? Or

When a natural disaster such as a tropical cyclone or an earthquake strikes, it often brings with it additional calamities such as floods, tsunamis, and disease, causing the death toll, damage to property, and economic loss to spiral. These 12 natural disasters destroyed cities and wiped out

There are hundreds of phobias. Most people know about claustrophobia (fear of closed places), xenophobia (fear of strangers), and acrophobia (fear of high places), but what about macrophobia? Or globophobia? Hopefully, you don’t suffer from listophobia and will read on to learn about some

Uncontrollable acne? Brittle nails? Thin and dry hair? Go see a dermatologist! Dermatology is the study of skin and its disorders. This branch of medicine also studies hair and nails, because skin, hair, and nails are made of the same protein: keratin. Earlier versions of these questions and

The universe formed roughly 13.8 billion years ago. We humans have been exploring a small portion of the universe beyond Earth for only the past seven decades. What have we accomplished so far? Lots! This list provides a just a few answers, so be sure to learn much more in Britannica’s article

Vienna has been the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and the empire known as Austria-Hungary. After World War II, it was occupied by multiple countries’ forces. History courses through its streets, as evidenced by these 12 buildings, but revolution does too. Each of these buildings performs its own

Zhang Huan: …experience, as in the piece 12 Square Metres (1994) for which he covered himself in fish oil and honey and sat motionless for several hours in a public latrine while insects crawled over him. He also initiated several group performances, such as To Add One Metre to an Anonymous Mountain…

Chris Hemsworth: Other roles: …in the Afghanistan War story 12 Strong (2018). Hemsworth also played a secret agent handling alien affairs in Men in Black: International (2019) and a heroic mercenary in the action movie Extraction (2020). He reprised the latter role in Extraction II (2023). Hemsworth was almost unrecognizable under a large prosthetic…

12 Years a Slave, American dramatic film, released in 2013, that impressed critics and audiences with its harrowing depiction of slavery in the antebellum South. The movie won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for best picture as well as the Golden Globe Award for best drama. Based on the

Jean de France, duc de Berry: …power by serving on a Council of 12 that he helped create to aid in the administration of France. On the council, Berry worked for peace with England by negotiating with John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, calling for papal mediation, and by helping to postpone an attack on England.

12-hour clock, time convention that splits a 24-hour day into two equal 12-hour periods. The first is referred to as am, which stands for ante meridiem, “before midday” in Latin, while the second is referred to using pm, meaning post meridiem, or “after midday.” This nomenclature is based on the

carboxylic acid: Unsaturated aliphatic acids: Ricinoleic acid, an unsaturated hydroxy acid (i.e., one containing an ―OH group), occurs in castor oil. When this acid is pyrolyzed (heated in the absence of air), it breaks down to give undecylenic acid and n-heptaldehyde.

carboxylic acid: Unsaturated aliphatic acids: Ricinoleic acid, an unsaturated hydroxy acid (i.e., one containing an ―OH group), occurs in castor oil. When this acid is pyrolyzed (heated in the absence of air), it breaks down to give undecylenic acid and n-heptaldehyde.

addiction recovery: Treatments and interventions: …Narcotics Anonymous, which use a 12-step approach to recovery. Sober living homes, which offer substance-free living environments, may serve as a step between treatment and a return to living independently. Individuals can also seek out recovery community centers that offer nonclinical support services, such as advocacy training and social activities.…

12-tone music, large body of music, written roughly since World War I, that uses the so-called 12-tone method or technique of composition. The Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg is credited with the invention of this technique, although other composers (e.g., the American composer Charles

12-tone music, large body of music, written roughly since World War I, that uses the so-called 12-tone method or technique of composition. The Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg is credited with the invention of this technique, although other composers (e.g., the American composer Charles

12-tone music, large body of music, written roughly since World War I, that uses the so-called 12-tone method or technique of composition. The Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg is credited with the invention of this technique, although other composers (e.g., the American composer Charles

bird-of-paradise: The 12-wired bird-of-paradise (Seleucidis melanoleuca, sometimes S. ignotus) is a short-tailed, 33-cm bird with flank plumes elaborated as forward-curving wires.

Netherlands: The Twelve Years’ Truce: The Twelve Years’ Truce, which began in 1609, arose out of political controversies that were to dominate the republic for the next two centuries. The collaboration between the house of Orange and the leaders of the province of Holland, which had thwarted…