Search results
Explore the fact-checked online encyclopedia from Encyclopaedia Britannica with hundreds of thousands of objective articles, biographies, videos, and images from experts.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. is the company known for publishing the Encyclopædia Britannica, the world's oldest continuously published encyclopaedia. The company also owns the American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster.
The Encyclopædia Britannica (Latin for 'British Encyclopædia') is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The encyclopaedia is maintained by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 contributors.
For more than 250 years, Britannica has kindled the spark of curiosity with stories of discoveries, people and events that changed the world.
Encyclopaedia Britannica is the oldest English-language general encyclopedia. The Encyclopaedia Britannica was first published in 1768, when it began to appear in Edinburgh, and its first digital version debuted in 1981. In 1994 Britannica released the first Internet-based encyclopedia, and Britannica.com was launched in 1999.
We are researchers, editors, technologists, designers, and quizmasters united in our commitment to tell stories, to teach, and to never lose sight of the fact that learning is one epic, lifelong journey.
Today’s Britannica is a dynamic, continuously updated, rigorously fact-checked information source for students, teachers, and lifelong learners. Whether you need historical context for the latest evolving world crisis, want an engaging biography of someone in the news, or just would like to test your knowledge of world capitals, Britannica is ...
Unlimited, ad-free access to the full Britannica database of information. The premier online learning resource for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners. Thousands of articles and scholarly resources written by trusted and world-renowned experts.
The Britannica was the idea of Colin Macfarquhar, a bookseller and printer, and Andrew Bell, an engraver, both of Edinburgh. They conceived of the Britannica as a conservative reaction to the French Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot (published 1751–1766), which was widely viewed as heretical.
Encyclopaedia, reference work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or that treats a particular branch of knowledge in a comprehensive manner. For more than 2,000 years encyclopaedias have existed as summaries of extant scholarship in forms comprehensible to their readers.
