Miguel de Cervantes died in Madrid on April 22, 1616. He was buried the next day in a convent. When the convent was rebuilt decades later, Cervantes’s remains were moved, but at some point their exact location became unknown. The grave of Spain’s greatest writer had essentially vanished. But that

Kiss cam is an audience-participation game involving a camera that aims to catch couples and encourage them to share a kiss. The public display of affection is shown on a “jumbotron” or other large screens in the event venue, typically in a heart-shaped frame. It is unclear when the first official

For most of us, the concept of unemployment seems rather simple: Either you’re working or you’re not. If you’re not working, you’re unemployed. In reality, however, the labor market isn’t that black and white. If you’re focused on the longer-term economic horizon, the headline unemployment

As the final show of their American tour, the Rolling Stones held a one-day rock festival at Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California, on December 6, 1969. The free event was intended as a thank-you gesture by the band to their fans and was to feature Santana; the Jefferson Airplane; the Flying

The Ambassadors, oil painting on oak panel created in 1533 by German artist Hans Holbein the Younger. One of the most staggeringly impressive portraits in Renaissance art, this famous painting is full of hidden meanings and fascinating contradictions. The meticulous realism of Holbein’s immaculate

The Annunciation, tempera painting on panel that was created as an altarpiece in 1432–34 by Italian artist Fra Angelico, one of several works that he painted on the same theme. This is the richest and most beautiful of the versions that he painted on panel and was made for the church of the Gesù

On August 29, 2016, the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG)—a special body first convened in 2009 to advise the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) on the possibility of formally adding the Anthropocene as an interval to the official chart of geologic time—concluded a series of fateful

The Arcadian Shepherds, oil painting created by French artist Nicolas Poussin in 1627, possibly inspired by a 1623 painting on the same subject by the Italian painter Il Guercino. Poussin returned to the same theme in a work created in 1639. During the 17th century certain artists sought to emulate

Beyond the Arctic Circle lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s largest secure seed storage. Opened by the Norwegian government in 2008, the facility is built into the side of a remote mountain on Spitsbergen, the largest of the Svalbard islands. Unlike other seed banks, which protect

To reclaim its longtime dominance of Olympic men’s basketball, the United States, beginning with the 1992 Games in Barcelona, put together a succession of “Dream Teams” made up of a clutch of National Basketball Association (NBA) stars destined for the Hall of Fame. In the process of steamrolling

Whether you’re looking to change jobs or switch careers, getting started can feel overwhelming. But there are steps you can take to ease the journey, such as crafting a solid plan. It will take time and persistence, but a detailed road map can help lead you to a more fulfilling role. You can make

Art is made to be seen. In contrast, nature, prodigal and thoughtless, takes no heed of visibility: William Wordsworth celebrates the flowers that “waste their sweetness on the desert air” and the treasures lying hidden in “the dark unfathomed caves of ocean.” But art is diametrically opposed to

The exiled communist theorist and revolutionary Leon Trotsky was attacked by a Soviet agent in Coyoacán, Mexico, on August 20, 1940, and died of his injuries the following day. Trotsky, one of the chief architects of the Russian Revolution, had at one time been regarded as the most likely successor

On December 7, 1941, more than 2,300 U.S. military personnel were killed, more than 1,100 were wounded, and eight battleships were damaged or destroyed when the American naval base at Pearl Harbor was, in the words of U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, “suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval

We may conceive of ourselves as “modern” or even “postmodern” and highlight ways in which our lives today are radically different from those of our ancestors. We may embrace technology and integrate it into daily life. We may point to new attitudes about religion or stress spirituality and

The Ballet Class, oil painting created between 1873 and 1876 by French artist Edgar Degas. This painting, one of two of the same scene, shows dancers waiting to be assessed by ballet master Jules Perrot. The first part of the 1870s saw Degas defining his style, and the dance pictures he painted at

The Barber of Seville, comic opera in two acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (libretto in Italian by Cesare Sterbini) that was first performed under the title Almaviva o sia l’inutile precauzione (Almaviva; or, The Useless Precaution) at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on February 20, 1816.

On February 20, 1816, one of the best-loved and most-performed comic operas of all time, Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, had its premiere at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. The libretto is based on the play Le Barbier de Séville (1775) by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, which is the

I want to see a world free from poverty. Poverty does not belong in a civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum. The Grameen Bank and affiliated institutions are dedicated to providing opportunities that can help improve the socioeconomic condition of people who live in abject

The Battle of San Romano, three tempera paintings on panel created between about 1435 and 1455 by Florentine artist Paolo Uccello, one of the great early masters of Renaissance perspective. This series of paintings are the artist’s best-known work and exhibit both Gothic and Renaissance elements.

Encyclopædia Britannica strives to be an authoritative source on subjects from Aa to ZZ Top, but which movies are the best of all time is, obviously, a personal aesthetic judgment and not one that we at Britannica could comfortably pass on to our readers. Therefore listed here are attempts by some

Many student loan borrowers were excited in August 2022 when the Biden administration announced a plan to forgive between $10,000 and $20,000 in student loan debt for millions. However, the plan was put on hold while the Supreme Court heard arguments, and then scuttled in July 2023 once the court

Credit reporting agencies exert a major influence on consumers’ lives in the United States. The big three credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax—and the credit scores they calculate affect your economic fate in numerous ways, including which loans and bank accounts you can get, and

This essay was originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year for 2013. It was subsequently updated. The year 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the year that the Beatles emerged from being the object of affection of a few hundred teenagers in a provincial English town to becoming a

Nerd and geek have similar etymologies, with neither originally having much positive association. According to Benjamin Nugent, author of American Nerd: The Story of My People, the word nerd first appeared in the Dr. Seuss book If I Ran the Zoo, in which one of the zoo creatures, an angry little

The Black Madonna, painting and icon in the chapel of the Virgin Mary in the fortified Baroque Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra, in Częstochowa, Poland, that has been venerated by Christians for some 600 years. The Black Madonna is an exceptionally beautiful symbolic painting of the Virgin Mary

The Blue Boy, oil painting created by English artist Thomas Gainsborough about 1770. The full-length portrait is one of the most recognized paintings in art history. This dazzling portrait won great acclaim when it was first exhibited in 1770, cementing Gainsborough’s reputation as one of the

The Book of Mormon, comedic and deliberately offensive stage musical by Robert Lopez, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone that satirizes religious belief in general and the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in particular. The show premiered on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill

Located at 1619 Broadway in New York City, the Brill Building was the hub of professionally written rock and roll. As the 1960s equivalent of Tin Pan Alley, it reemphasized a specialized division of labour in which professional songwriters worked closely with producers and artists-and-repertoire

Brokers help you access exchanges. In order to invest in the stock market, you’ll need a broker to get your orders to the stock exchange. The same goes if you want to trade on the futures market or buy and sell options—the broker is your intermediary. Traditional exchanges are similar to what you

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, large and luminous oil painting that was created between 1586 and 1588 by the Greek-born artist El Greco. This painting, commissioned for and located in the church of Santo Tomé in Toledo, Spain, is widely considered to be El Greco’s masterpiece. El Greco was

The Canadian Football League (CFL) did not officially come into being until 1958, but Canadian teams have battled annually for the Grey Cup, which became the championship trophy of Canadian professional football, for more than a century—sometimes in snow, famously in fog, and always in a festive

the Cars, American rock band that merged 1960s power pop, 1970s glam rock, and music video innovation to become one of the iconic acts in new wave music. The Cars was formed in 1976 in Boston, Massachusetts, by vocalist and guitarist Ric Ocasek, vocalist and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot

The Cat in the Hat, iconic children’s picture book written and illustrated by Theodor Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss and published in 1957. Using simple words written in rollicking and repetitive rhyme, the book features a mischievous talking cat who attempts to entertain two siblings on a

In the early 1960s Liverpool, England, was unique among British cities in having more than 200 active pop groups. Many played youth clubs in the suburbs, but some made the big time in cellar clubs such as the Cavern Club (on Mathew Street) and the Jacaranda and the Blue Angel (on opposite sides of

ProCon Debate: Should Recreational Marijuana Be Legal? ProCon Issue in the News: In a July 24, 2025, report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned health care providers to “be alert to the possibility of mass THC intoxication events via food.” The warning comes after an October

Paul Adam: …his being prosecuted; his second, Le Thé chez Miranda (1886), written with Jean Moréas, is an early example of Symbolism. Adam also founded two literary reviews in 1886: Led Carcan, with Jean Ajalbert, and the short-lived Le Symboliste, with Moréas and Gustave Kahn. In 1899, with La Force, Adam began…

Explore other Botanize! episodes and learn about plant reproductive systems, aspens, and Armillaria fungi. Hello and welcome to Botanize! I’m your host, Melissa Petruzzello, Encyclopædia Britannica’s plant and environmental science editor. For today’s episode, we’re going to be talking about some

The Comedians, Op. 26, incidental music composed by Dmitry Kabalevsky in 1938 to accompany a stage play called Inventor and Comedian at the Central Children’s Theatre of Moscow. The play, centred on a group of traveling entertainers, is seldom seen today, but the lighthearted and energetic songs,

Female genital cutting (FGC) is a procedure that is performed on the genital tissue of a female ranging in age from infancy to adulthood. It can be as little as a small nick or as much as the removal of all the tissue. The practice is viewed by some as a traditional rite of passage and by others as

Unless you went to business school—or at least took an accounting or finance course—you’ve probably never given much thought to financial statements such as balance sheets, income statements, or statements of cash flow, right? But now you’ve got some money to invest, you’re looking at a few

In 1822 and 1823 hundreds of people departed England and Scotland on voyages to the promising new country of Poyais. Clutching Poyaisian currency and filled with hope for a prosperous future, the would-be settlers were shocked to find that the bustling harbor, elegant capital city, and readily

the Cure, English post-punk rock group known for its innovative new-wave style, which rests largely on creating moody songs laced with Gothic imagery that embrace melancholic and lovesick themes. The Cure was formed in 1978 and has had various lineup changes. The group’s only constant remains

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, two of the 19th century’s most enduring thinkers and figures, share more than a place in history. They also share a birthday: Feb. 12, 1809. To mark the bicentennial of their births, Adam Gopnik, longtime staff writer for The New Yorker and a New York Times

The Day the Music Died, February 3, 1959, when an airplane crash resulted in the deaths of American musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), as well as pilot Roger Peterson. The plane crashed in a cornfield outside Clear Lake, Iowa. The tragedy was memorialized

The Death of General Wolfe, oil painting created in 1770 by American-born artist Benjamin West, depicting the death of British Major General James Wolfe during the 1759 Battle of Quebec. The monumental Neoclassical painting is one of the artist’s best known works as well as one of the most famous

The Death of Marat, oil painting (1793) by French artist Jacques-Louis David depicting the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, a radical activist of the French Revolution, by Charlotte Corday, a supporter of the opposing political party. With The Death of Marat, David transformed traditional history

The Death of Sardanapalus, oil painting created in 1826/27 by French Romantic artist Eugène Delacroix. The massive canvas explodes onto the senses with wild movement and sumptuous colour, an orgy of indulgent exoticism. The violence and chaos of the scene shocked contemporary viewers, but the work

On April 23, 1616, English poet and playwright William Shakespeare died in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon at the age of fifty-two. His death occurred on or near his birthday (the exact date of his birth remains unknown), which may have been the source of a later legend that he fell ill and

Unless you’re independently wealthy, major purchases—like cars and homes—will involve taking on some type of debt. However, that debt is going to follow you around. Every time you apply for a loan in the future, whether it’s a small personal loan or a large mortgage, the lender will want to know

Less than two weeks after being sworn in as president, Harry S. Truman received a long report from Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. “Within four months,” it began, “we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history.” Truman’s decision to use the

The Devil Wears Prada, 2006 American dramedy directed by David Frankel, known at the time for working on episodes of Sex and the City in 2001 and 2003, and adapted by Aline Brosh McKenna, who had scripted such rom-coms as Three to Tango (1999) and Laws of Attraction (2004), from Lauren Weisberger’s

Although many indigenous peoples, particularly those of Canada, have adopted the word nation in order to emphasize their sovereign political status, others continue to use the words tribe and band. Are all these terms interchangeable, or do they have specific meanings? To some extent, the answer to

Amelia Earhart is one of history’s most prominent figures in aviation, having inspired numerous movies, books, and plays. Born in 1897 in Kansas, Earhart rose to fame because of her trailblazing accomplishments as a female aviator. At the time, being both a woman and a pilot meant being met with

With the growing movement to legalize marijuana in the United States, the drug is in the news more than ever before. But how much do you really know about it? Here we offer the 411 on 420. list, marijuana, drug, THC, Cannabis, drugs, getting high, 420, bongs, blunts, racism, music, moviesMarijuana

In honor of his birthday, Britannica explores the life of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, who sold only one painting during his lifetime but whose work later sold for millions. spotlight, art, artists, painter, painting, vincent van

No one marvels at the ballpoint pen or overhead projector as a powerful “learning technology.” In short order, most of today’s educational technology apps and Chromebooks may cease to be cool gadgets, too, settling into the background of established tools that help students learn. But the greatest

The one-child policy was a program that was implemented nationwide by the Chinese government in 1980 in order to limit most Chinese families to one child each. The policy was enacted to address the growth rate of China’s population, which the government viewed as being too high. In late 2015 the

The Effects of Good Government in the City, fresco painted in 1338–40 by Italian artist Ambrogio Lorenzetti. By far one of his most important works, it is part of a cycle of paintings generally known as the Allegories of Good and Bad Government, which were commissioned to adorn the walls of the

Build an emergency fund, they say. It’s one of the basic bits of personal finance advice almost every expert offers. But how much do you need in your emergency fund? As with all things personal finance, how much you should set aside for a rainy day is, well, personal. The short answer is that you

Long ago in a century far away, “Jane Austen” referred simply to “THE AUTHOR OF ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE,’ &c. &c.,” as the title page of Emma (1815) identified that novel’s anonymous writer. Today the name, repurposed as an adjective, usually signifies dressy, teasingly chaste, self-conscious period

The energy market powers homes, businesses, and entire economies, offering investors a way to invest in the resources the world depends on. Whether you’re trading crude oil, buying utility stocks, or betting on solar and wind, energy is one of the most dynamic and far-reaching sectors investors can

The Entombment of Christ, oil painting created in about 1602–04 by Italian artist Caravaggio. The work was commissioned for a chapel in the Chiesa Nuova (“new church”) in Rome and now is held by the Vatican’s Pinacoteca. The Entombment of Christ, in addition to being one of Caravaggio’s most

The Episcopal Church (TEC), autonomous, mainline Protestant church in the United States and member of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church was formally organized in Philadelphia in 1789 as the successor to the Church of England in the American colonies. In points of doctrine, worship, and

The “Epstein files” is how the world has come to know the thousands of pages of documents related to two criminal investigations into sex trafficking by financier and friend to the rich, famous, and powerful Jeffrey Epstein. What’s in those files, who is named and in what context, and whether they

When we think about pirates, there is a nearly universal image that comes to mind, which has been perpetuated throughout pop culture. Pirates have developed quite the reputation for saying things such as “Shiver me timbers!” and “Arrr!” and for having a peg leg—maybe even sporting a parrot on their

Also known as a “green roof” or “landscaped rooftop,” a rooftop garden is a cultivated garden on top of a building. From humble container gardens on flat-top houses to impressive spreads on city skyscrapers, rooftop gardens have an illustrious history and offer topside tranquility with a myriad of

Want to see the future of an options trade? That’s essentially what a risk profile (or “payoff diagram”) offers. This simple-looking graph helps you visualize all the possible outcomes of an options position: how much you might gain, how much you could lose, and what price the underlying needs to

In the animal kingdom, speed can mean the difference between life and death. Predators use their speed to overtake and overpower their prey, while animals with few other defenses rely on speed to avoid becoming dinner. Here are some of the fastest animals in the world. list, animals, fastest

The Fault in Our Stars, young-adult romance novel by American writer John Green known for its exploration of meaning in life and death through the perspective of two teenage cancer patients. The title is a reference to Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, wherein the Roman general Cassius says to the

On a clear night, staring up at the stars induces a sense of simultaneous wonder and insignificance. Humanity time and time again finds itself lost amid the vastness of a universe that we are still struggling to understand. There are many questions we ask ourselves when looking toward the heavens,

Diwali (also spelled Divali), the festival of lights, is one of the major holidays of Hinduism and is also celebrated in Jainism and Sikhism. The five-day festival marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year and occurs during the final three days of the “dark half” of the lunar month Ashvina and the

The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up, 1838, oil painting created by English Romantic artist J.M.W. Turner in 1839. Turner loved this work and wrote: “No considerations of money or favour can induce me to loan my Darling again.” His scene is a poignant memorial to the

This infographic explains how the U.S. government created, tested, and used the first atomic bombs during the 1940s. The following text provides a detailed description of the infographic. The first atomic bomb was built in Los Alamos, New Mexico, during World War II under a top secret U.S.

On May 30, 1911, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” was born with the inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500. Upward of 90,000 spectators packed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to see 40 cars speed around a 2.5-mile track 200 times. Bands played, and people bought ham sandwiches and lemonade

On March 18, 1965, cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov rocketed into Earth orbit and exited his spacecraft, becoming the first man to walk in space. He floated for an exhilarating 10 minutes. spotlight, science, history, technology, space, astronomy, cosmonaut, space walk, firsts, russia, space

How exciting! Your first full-time job! Whether you just got out of high school, college, or grad school, your first job is a big milestone. You’ll soon be earning your first paycheck and your money worries are over! Or are they? Do you have enough funds to get started on your new adult journey, or

The following “special report” appeared in the Britannica Book of the Year published in 1968. Sometimes you see them standing beside the highway, their long hair blowing in the wind, army surplus jackets hanging sloppily from their shoulders, rumpled sleeping bags at their feet, hitchhiking to New

Although many of the Founding Fathers acknowledged that slavery violated the core American Revolutionary ideal of liberty, their simultaneous commitment to private property rights, principles of limited government, and intersectional harmony prevented them from making a bold move against slavery.

For some time the question of the religious faith of the Founding Fathers has generated a culture war in the United States. Scholars trained in research universities have generally argued that the majority of the Founders were religious rationalists or Unitarians. Pastors and other writers who

For most of human history, work has been largely hunting and gathering, agrarian, and hand-based (cobblers, smiths, and the like), and work schedules have depended on demand, seasons, weather, and daylight hours. The Industrial Revolution (beginning in the 18th century) introduced social and

The Fourth Industrial Revolution heralds a series of social, political, cultural, and economic upheavals that will unfold over the 21st century. Building on the widespread availability of digital technologies that were the result of the Third Industrial, or Digital, Revolution, the Fourth

Somewhere along the path toward becoming a franchisee, you’ll come across a comprehensive document that outlines almost everything you need to know about the business you’re looking to purchase. It’s called the franchise disclosure document, aka the FDD. The FDD is a legal disclosure

Les Murray: In 2002 he published The Full Dress, which pairs poems with selections of art from the National Gallery of Australia, and Poems the Size of Photographs, a collection of short-form verse. His 2010 collection, Taller When Prone, celebrates ordinary Australians, often with a healthy dose of humour. The poems…

For centuries, education has consisted primarily of students sitting before an instructor in a classroom setting, learning via lecture and rote memorization from textbooks. It wasn’t a perfect system, but it served its purpose as a generally effective way to educate the masses. In recent years,

The Gherkin, skyscraper in London that was designed by the architecture firm Foster and Partners and completed in 2004. Formally known as 30 St Mary Axe, the building has become better known by its colloquial name “The Gherkin,” which comes from its shape being similar to a gherkin fruit. It was

the Go-Go’s, American all-female post-punk rock band that emerged during the late 1970s, known for mixing pop melodies and punk rhythms and for pioneering the establishment of women in new wave and in the music industry at large. The Go-Go’s were remarkable for being the first commercially

If the economy were a house, then production, consumption, investment, and savings would be the juices flowing through its pipes to make things run. And the economy—just like the pipes in your home—needs knobs and gauges to control and monitor the temperature and flow. In the U.S., those knobs and

Apple. Microsoft. IBM. Amazon. The legends of American business are pretty much all publicly traded companies—and at one time, they were all quite small. The traditional way for companies to get listed and begin trading on a stock exchange is via an initial public offering (IPO), a process that

Growth versus value: It’s the ultimate argument among stock investors, and over long time periods, they duke it out for market dominance. Those in the growth stock camp happily pay up for stocks with low but fast-growing earnings, with the expectation that earnings will accelerate in the years to

History abounds with descriptions of deadly earthquakes, storms, plane crashes, and other terrible occurrences. History also provides stories of truly strange things. Sometimes truly absurd and astounding things just happen, and other times mundane natural forces combine with misfortune to produce

So reads part of the first installment of what would later be called the Great Moon Hoax. The series of six articles, which New York City’s daily newspaper The Sun began to publish on August 25, 1835, purported to describe research of real-life English astronomer Sir John Herschel (son of Sir

The Great Train Robbery, American silent western film, released in 1903, that is historically significant for its innovative approach to film editing and narration. The Great Train Robbery is acknowledged as the first narrative film to successfully establish continuity of action (the process of

The infographic presents an overview of World War I, also called the Great War, which lasted from 1914 to 1918. As the main map shows, this international conflict embroiled most of Europe along with the Middle East and other regions around the world. It pitted the Central Powers—mainly Germany,

Suppose a stock that’s been hyped on social media goes viral, infecting the social trading space with a severe case of FOMO (fear of missing out). Now, everyone’s talking about it, and soon people begin buying in droves, clogging up the digital order flow space with a frenzied folly of bids. The

Say “Group of Seven,” and most folks will assume you are referring to the organization of the world’s leading industrialized countries, whose annual summit provides the mother of all photo opportunities for the leaders of the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and, until its

Scottish food, drink, and verse are celebrated on January 25, the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. Burns is regarded as Scotland’s national bard. He composed hundreds of songs and poems in both Scottish and English. Burns Night celebrations run the gamut from simple gatherings of friends

The Hay Wain, oil painting created in 1821 by English landscape artist John Constable. It is not only the best known work by Constable, it is also one of the most popular English paintings. The son of a prosperous miller, Constable was born in rural Suffolk, England, an area of idyllic scenery to

Bronson Howard: The Henrietta (1887), a satire on business, and Shenandoah (1889), which established Charles Frohman as a producer and made a fortune for both producer and author, were also great successes. Howard’s other plays include The Banker’s Daughter (1878), first produced in 1873 as Lillian’s Last…

First and foremost, we should fight for the universalization of the Ottawa land mine ban treaty. The Ottawa Convention, which became international law in March 1999, prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, and transfer of antipersonnel mines. Member states must also destroy existing