Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Kenny Chmielewski
Kenny Chmielewski
Encyclopædia Britannica Editor
BIOGRAPHY

Kenny Chmielewski is Art Department Manager and Cartographer at Encyclopædia Britannica. He supervises all map, illustration, and interactive content and creates maps, infographics, and interactives as well.

EDUCATION

Kenny holds a Graduate Certificate of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from the University of Colorado at Denver. He also graduated from Northern Illinois University with a B.S. in meteorology, a Certificate of GIS, and a minor in applied mathematics.

IN KENNY’S WORDS…

I really enjoy creating new and interesting content, and Britannica allows me to do just that. While I’ve always been drawn to maps, lately I’ve enjoyed creating infographics and data visualizations that tell stories and help readers visualize an article. My work also allows me to inspire new ideas. 

Dunkirk Evacuation

Doolittle Raid

Chicago Fire

 

Primary Contributions (121)
March Madness Mascot Challenge
March Madness mascot challenge
It’s March Madness! But don’t forget about the mascots. Since Yale University introduced the first collegiate mascot, a bulldog named Harper (followed by Handsome Dan), in the 1890s, other colleges and universities have adopted their own symbols and monikers to draw attention to their…
READ MORE
Washington, D.C., Triumphal Arch
Second Cabinet of Donald Trump
Which team has won the most World Series?
Warsaw Ghetto
current U.S. governors
How to Fold an American Flag
Which team has won the most NBA titles?
What Is the Bible Belt?
History of U.S. Land Acquisitions
Who has won the most NCAA men’s basketball championships?
Who has won the most NCAA women’s basketball championships?
Gender Pay Gap Across the United States
From Sport to Spectacle: The History of the Super Bowl
mass shooting
What Is the Deadliest Wildfire in History?
What’s the Loudest Sound in History?
Timeline of the Apollo Space Missions
Selma March Timeline
A Timeline of the World in 8 Maps
Facts and Figures About the Landings on Omaha Beach During the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944
How the Normandy Invasion Happened: Infographic Overview
Attack on Pearl Harbor Timeline
Sinking of the Lusitania Timeline
The Great War Infographic of Deaths and Milestones
Timeline of the Dunkirk Evacuation
U.S. Death Toll During Major Events
Current and Historical Droughts Around the World
How Many Electoral College Votes Does Each U.S. State Have?
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki: Infographic
History of Women in the U.S. Congress
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima: Infographic
Water Scarcity Facts and Statistics
Influenza Pandemic of 1918–19 Chart
Navajo Code Talkers Infographic
Timeline and Map of the Panama Canal
How the 1815 Eruption of Mount Tambora Produced the “Year Without a Summer”
The First Atomic Bombs Tested and Used During World War II
10 Infographics that Explain the Normandy Invasion During World War II
Timeline of the Holocaust
casualties of World War II
Baseball Positions and Roles
Who’s won the most NASCAR Cup Series championships?
The Holocaust: Facts and Figures
Napoleon’s major battles
Who’s won the most Stanley Cups?
Who’s won the most Super Bowls?
Speed skating rinks, skates, and strides Speed skating rinks, skates, and strides
AFCON winners AFCON winners
AFCON winners AFCON winners
Illustration of two soccer players in action, with labeled arrows highlighting common soccer injuries: knee ligament and meniscal tears, muscle strains, concussions, ankle sprains, and overuse injuries such as shin splints and stress fractures. Common soccer injuries
Super Bowl champions Super Bowl champions
Population-density map of Pacific island countries and territories, with darker shading indicating more people per square kilometer. Naoero is the most densely populated, while many larger island groups, including Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and French Polynesia, have lower densities. Pacific Islands: Population Density
The first slide in a slideshow of the guide to Homer's epic, What is the Odyssey about? What Is the Odyssey About?
Infographic titled Pirates Throughout History showing a world map with highlighted regions of major pirate activity and a timeline of significant piracy events from ancient times to the 2010s, including notable pirates and key historical moments. Pirates Throughout History
Myanmar earthquake Myanmar earthquake
Inside Operation Absolute Resolve: The U.S. military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro Inside Operation Absolute Resolve: The U.S. military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro
Slideshow cover for Who's Who in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026), showing a Matt Damon as Odysseus, wearing ancient Greek armor and helmet with red plume, standing against a painted wall. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey cast
Map of Africa highlighting countries where English is an official language, including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and others across West, East, Central, and southern Africa; Sudan is marked as having English as an official working language. African countries with English as an official language
Map of Africa highlighting countries where French is an official language, concentrated in West and Central Africa and including Senegal, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, both Congos, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Comoros, and Madagascar. African countries with French as an official language
Three maps display the shifting borders between the United States and Mexico from 1835 to 1848. The 1835 map shows a large Mexico and Territories region and the United States and Territories. The 1844 map marks the Republic of Texas, a disputed area between Texas and Mexico, and the remaining Mexico and Territories. The 1848 map, after the Mexican-American War, shows the United States expanded to Changes to the United States–Mexico border from 1835 to 1848
This graphic compares the proposed Washington D.C. memorial arch's height to other landmarks, showing it would be taller than the Arc de Triomphe, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, and the MLK statue, but shorter than the Capitol dome and Washington Monument. Size comparison
A new skyline A new skyline
World map highlighting the territories of the United States, including areas in the Pacific Ocean such as Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and several minor islands and atolls, as well as Caribbean territories like Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Navassa Island. The mainland United States and Alaska are also shaded, with exclusive economic zones marked in light blue. Map of territories of the United States
Map of the United States with triangles marking the highest point in each state, including Alaska and Hawaii shown in separate boxes below the main map. Interactive map showing the highest point in each U.S. state
Map of the Los Angeles area showing locations and names of major wildfires that occurred in January 2025, including Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Kenneth, Lidia, Hughes, Auto, Laguna, and Sunset fires. Burn areas are shaded in orange, and a bar chart below lists each fire's ignition date and acres burned, with the Palisades, Eaton, and Hughes fires having the largest burn areas. Los Angeles wildfires of 2025
World map showing participation in the Paris Climate Agreement as of January 2026. Most countries are shaded green for ratified, with the United States in dark blue for withdrawn, and a few countries in gray for neither ratified nor signed. Paris Agreement adoption status
2026 U.S. Congress results: House has 256 Democrats, 169 Republicans, and 10 uncalled seats; Senate has 53 Democrats, 44 Republicans, 2 independents, and 1 uncalled seat. Interactive seat map of U.S. congressional election results for the House and Senate
Map showing the track of Hurricane Helene from September 23 to 28, 2024, as it moves from the western Caribbean Sea near Belize northward through the Gulf of Mexico, making landfall in the southeastern United States, and continuing inland through Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The storm's path is color-coded to indicate changes in intensity from tropical storm to category 4 hurricane, with key dates, times, and wind speeds labeled at several points along the route. Hurricane Helene
Infographic summarizing Super Bowl history with charts and icons showing the teams with the most wins and losses, MVPs by position, most frequent host cities, a U.S. map of host locations, and notable Super Bowl statistics. Analysis of Super Bowl game results
Stacked bar chart and map of North American championship titles by city and league. New York City leads with 55 titles, followed by Boston 40, Los Angeles 29, Montreal 25, Detroit 21, and Chicago and San Francisco 20 each. Sports Titles by City
World map with pins marking the highest mountain on each continent, titled "The highest mountain on each continent." Continents and pins are labeled for interactive selection. Map of the Seven Summits: the highest mountain on each continent
Map of Upper New York Bay showing Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and the New Jersey-New York boundary running through the Hudson River. Liberty Island and most of Ellis Island lie on the New Jersey side, near Liberty State Park and Jersey City, opposite Manhattan. Map of Ellis Island, Liberty Island, and the New York–New Jersey boundaries
Interactive treemap ranking the smallest countries and dependencies by area in square kilometers, from Vatican City at 0.44 to Sao Tome and Principe at 387. Smallest countries and dependencies by area
Infographic showing a world map with locations of major ongoing and historical droughts, including California, the Dust Bowl, and the Ethiopian famine, plus visible signs, economic effects, and social impacts of drought. Major present-day and historical droughts
Map of the United States showing the Mississippi River and its major tributaries flowing south from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. A shaded area marks the Mississippi River basin, and New Orleans is labeled near the river's mouth. Map of the Mississippi River and its basin
Infographic depicting the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, with an illustration of a massive volcanic explosion and ash plume. Key statistics are highlighted, including 24 cubic miles of ash and 60 megatons of sulfur expelled, 10,000 immediate deaths, and 80,000 regional deaths from starvation and disease. Additional facts detail the volcano's dimensions, the global temperature drop in 1816, and a map showing the eruption's location on Sumbawa Island. Mount Tambora: 1815 eruption
Map highlighting major U.S. land acquisitions, with regions colored in orange to show areas gained through the Louisiana Purchase, Alaska Purchase, Gadsden Purchase, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Florida Purchase, Danish Virgin Islands, and the Philippines. Inset labels provide each acquisition's year, seller, acreage, and cost at the time and in 2024 dollars. History of U.S. land acquisitions
Locator map for O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, showing an aerial view of the airport's runways and terminals. Insets highlight the airport's location within the city of Chicago and its position in northeastern Illinois near Lake Michigan. O'Hare International Airport
Snowboarding: Big Air Snowboarding: Big Air
History of U.S. Land Acquisitions: Map of the United States, with acquisition areas highlighted and captioned with it cost, year, and square mileage. History of U.S. Land Acquisitions
World map illustrating the generalized weather effects of El Nino from December through February. Regions are labeled and shaded to show conditions such as warm in parts of North America, Asia, and South America; wet in the southern United States and eastern South America; dry and warm in southern Africa and Southeast Asia; wet and cool in the northern United States; and wet and warm across central and eastern equatorial Pacific. El Niño is associated with substantial changes to established weather patterns between December and February
Infographic titled Pirates Throughout History showing a world map with highlighted regions of major pirate activity and a timeline of significant piracy events from ancient times to the 2010s, including notable pirates and key historical moments. piracy
Infographic showing a world map with locations of ongoing and historical droughts marked by colored squares, along with timelines for each event. The image defines drought as a prolonged period without rain causing water imbalance and lists major visible signs, economic impacts like crop loss and increased costs, and social impacts including health risks and migration. A legend indicates ongoing droughts in red and historical droughts in brown, with additional notes on belowground signs such as Drought Infographic
September 11 attacks with text describing the 2001 hijackings, and a photo of the World Trade Center with smoke billowing from one tower. Arrow buttons are visible below. Britannica's guide to the September 11 attacks
Infographic depicting the death toll from the September 11 attacks, showing the number of people killed on each hijacked flight and at each location. Icon rows represent individuals, with hijackers shown in gray. Totals are 87 on American Airlines flight 11, 60 on United Airlines flight 175, 59 on American Airlines flight 77, and 40 on United Airlines flight 93. Location totals are 2,753 in New York City (including 343 firefighters), 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania. Death toll of the September 11 attacks
Instructional infographic showing step-by-step visuals and text on how to properly fold an American flag, ending with a triangular fold displaying only the blue field of stars. Infographic showing how to properly fold an American flag
Infographic and map depicting the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, showing the projected flight path from London to New York City and the explosion location over Lockerbie, Scotland. The map highlights the approximate debris area, while an inset graphic notes 259 fatalities among passengers and crew and 11 people killed on the ground. Map of Pam Am flight 103
Map of Yemen before 1990 unification, showing South Yemen in purple from Aden east through Abyan, Shabwah, Hadhramaut, and Al-Mahra, including Socotra, beside the green Yemen Arab Republic of North Yemen. Yemen before unification (1967–90)
Map of the tropical Pacific Ocean highlighting the four ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) regions: Niño 4, Niño 3.4, Niño 3, and Niño 1+2. The regions are marked as colored rectangles along the equator from near Australia to the coast of South America, illustrating key zones used to monitor El Niño and La Niña climate events. Monitoring regions for the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Map of the Blues Highway, U.S. Route 61, marked in pink with music note icons highlighting key blues cities, including off-route cities like Chicago and Nashville. Map of the Blues Highway (U.S. Route 61)
Map of the United States highlighting the Bible Belt region in orange, which covers much of the South and parts of the Midwest, including states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and parts of Virginia and West Virginia. Major cities like Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Abilene, Nashville, Jackson, and Greenville Map of the Bible Belt of the United States
Snowboarding: Slopestyle Snowboarding: Slopestyle
Snowboarding: Half-pipe Snowboarding: Half-pipe
History of Women in the U. S. Congress History of Women in the U. S. Congress
Infographic titled Corn Sweat explains how corn increases humidity through evapotranspiration, showing that U.S. corn releases billions of gallons of water into the air. Includes a map highlighting the Corn Belt states and a corn illustration for scale. An infographic showing how corn sweat, that is, evapotranspiration from corn tissues, can add substantial amounts of water vapor to the atmosphere.
Operation Absolute Resolve: A Step-by-Step Breakdown Operation Absolute Resolve: A Step-by-Step Breakdown
World map shaded by country to show the number of UNESCO biosphere reserves, with darker green indicating more reserves and gray indicating no reserves. biosphere reserves
World map showing participation in the Paris Climate Agreement as of January 2026. Most countries are shaded green for ratified, with the United States in dark blue for withdrawn, and a few countries in gray for neither ratified nor signed. 2015 Paris Agreement
Map of northern Venezuela showing the locations and effects of two major earthquakes that occurred on June 24, 2026. Map showing areas affected by the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, 2026.
Map of Australia highlighting the location of the Pinjarra Massacre site in southwestern Western Australia, near Perth. The map shows state boundaries and major geographic features for context. Pinjarra Massacre site
A compass-style diagram titled How to read wind direction shows arrows and labels for northerly, southerly, easterly, westerly, and intermediate wind directions, helping illustrate how winds are named based on their origin. Wind direction near the surface is typically described from the perspective of the observer relative to the position of the source.
Map showing the path of Super Typhoon Sinlaku in the Western Pacific Ocean from April 9 to 20, 2026. The storm's track is color-coded to indicate its progression from tropical storm to typhoon to super typhoon, with key points marked for changes in intensity and landfalls near Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which crossed the western Pacific Ocean in April 2026, struck the Northern Mariana Islands on April 15, with winds measured at 145 miles (233.4 km) per hour.
World map illustrating the generalized weather effects of La Nina from December through February. The map highlights regions experiencing wet, dry, cool, or warm conditions, such as wet and cool in southeastern Africa and Australia, dry in equatorial Africa, cool in northern North America and parts of South America, and dry and cool across the central Pacific. La Niña is associated with substantial changes to established weather patterns between December and February
Bar chart titled Deadliest Hurricanes in the United States shows hurricane names, years, and death tolls, with color-coded bars for wind categories from 1 to 5. Galveston Hurricane of 1900 ranks highest. Deadliest hurricanes in the United States (North Atlantic basin), 1875–2026
Infographic showing a world map with locations of major ongoing and historical droughts, using colored markers for each. It defines drought, lists visible signs, and summarizes economic and social impacts such as crop loss, increased costs, health risks, and migration. drought
Map showing the Chernobyl nuclear accident exclusion zone in northern Ukraine and southern Belarus. The initial 30-kilometer radius exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is marked with a red circle, while the present-day exclusion zone is shaded in orange, covering a larger, irregular area that includes the towns of Prypyat and Chernobyl. An inset map highlights the affected region within Ukraine and Belarus. Chernobyl disaster
Instructional infographic showing step-by-step visuals and text on how to properly fold an American flag, ending with a triangular fold displaying only the blue field of stars. Diagram that shows how to properly fold an American flag
Map showing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, with surrounding countries Yemen to the northeast, Djibouti to the south, and Eritrea to the northwest. The map labels key locations including Mokha, Dhubab, Ta'izz, and Aden in Yemen; Djibouti city in Djibouti; Assab in Eritrea; and features islands such as Perim (Mayun), Greater Hanish, Lesser Hanish, and Jabal Zuqar. A small inset globe shows the strait's location at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Guide to Curling Guide to Curling
NWSL winners NWSL winners
World map shaded by country to show population density per square mile, with darker reds indicating higher density in regions such as South Asia, East Asia, and Western Europe. Population density of the world
Vintage-style map of India and surrounding regions labeled Monuments of the Mughal Empire, highlighting sites like Shalimar Bagh, Akbari Fort, Allahabad Fort, and Bibi Ka Maqbara. Interactive map of Mughal monuments and heritage sites across the Indian subcontinent
Map of the United States showing locations of Unabomber bombings, marked with orange stars and annotated with dates, victims, and outcomes in states including California, Utah, Washington, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, Tennessee, and Virginia. The map also indicates the Unabomber's cabin location in Montana. Unabomber map: Ted Kaczynski's bombing locations & dates
Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Population-density map of Pacific island countries and territories, with darker shading indicating more people per square kilometer. Naoero is the most densely populated, while many larger island groups, including Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and French Polynesia, have lower densities. Pacific Islands: Population density
Infographic map of the United States-Canada border, totaling 5,525 miles or 8,890 kilometers: 1,538 miles with Alaska and 3,987 miles across the contiguous United States. U.S.-Canada border