Lists and Stories

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  Don’t Know Where to Visit in Poland? Check Out These 10 Fascinating Destinations Poland is a place of many modern and historical monuments of architectural and historical importance. Some of them are UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Malbork Castle. Learn why you should visit these 10 buildings in this list. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these buildings first...
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  Dwarfism in Cats: It’s Only Cute ‘til Someone Gets Hurt Once upon a time, Lil BUB met Grumpy Cat. It was not love at first sight for two of the most-famous Internet cats: Lil BUB’s ears flattened, while Grumpy Cat sniffed the air suspiciously. But within days they were napping together. The resulting photos, videos, tweets, and memes of the two...
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  Economic Inequality One remarkable consequence of the Great Recession of 2007–09, the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression, was the emergence of economic inequality as a major political issue in many countries, particularly the United States. Created in part by reckless speculation in...
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  Eid al-Fitr The festival of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is celebrated all over the world. Muslims observe Ramadan by reading the Qur’an, emphasizing charity (zakat), abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours, and concentrating on prayer and study to increase...
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  Elizabeth II: A Life in Pictures Born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, she was in many ways a woman of her time: a wife and mother with abiding affections for dogs, horses, and long walks in the country. Except that she was born a princess and fate made her a queen. Few people of any era—male or female—have led more storied or complex...
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  Endangered Species Day Earth is home to more than 16,000 species of plants, animals, fungi, and algae that are currently listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the U.S. alone, nearly 700 species of animals and 900 species of plants are considered threatened or endangered. Given that...
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  Estimated Battle Casualties During the Normandy Invasion and Campaign to Liberate Paris (June–August 1944) This graph provides a comparison of the estimated battle casualties during the Normandy Invasion, which began on D-Day (June 6, 1944), and the subsequent Allied campaign that liberated Paris several months later, in August—a crucial period that helped bring World War II to an end in Europe the...
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  Eurasian Magpie: A True Bird Brain There is a fair amount of superstition surrounding the Eurasian magpie (also called the common magpie), a bird known for its jet black and white feathers and purple-, green-, and blue-streaked wings. An old British rhyme predicts a person’s fate on the basis of the number of magpies they’ve seen:...
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  Events of the Ancient Olympic Games The Olympic Games began in Olympia, Greece, in 776 BCE and took place every four years until 393 CE. They were held in honor of Zeus. At the first Games, athletes competed in only one running event held on a single day. However, over the years other events were added, and the Games eventually were...
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  Everyday Stuff Developed by NASA Over the decades the American space program has put 12 men on the moon, landed rovers on Mars, and sent numerous probes into the outer reaches of our solar system. The science behind these and other projects has provided countless products and innovations that benefit the world—including some that...
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  Facts and Figures About the Landings on Omaha Beach During the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944 This infographic shows facts and figures about the landings on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, during World War II. The following text, which is taken from a lightly edited narrative description of this infographic, provides more details and background. Spotlight, Omaha Beach, Normandy Invasion,...
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  Explore the Beauty of Oil Paintings with These 5 Works by Rembrandt According to Ernst van de Wetering, in his biography of Rembrandt van Rijn in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Rembrandt was “an artist who favoured an uncompromising realism that would lead some critics to claim that he preferred ugliness to beauty.” What was never ugly, however, was Rembrandt’s mastery...
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  Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Training montages, victories snatched from the jaws of defeat, plucky underdogs, wizened but wise coaches, Big Races, Big Fights, and Big Games…lots and lots of Big Games: This is the stuff of sports movies, or at least the clichés. But there is often more to movies about sports than first meets...
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  Exploring 7 of Earth’s Great Mountain Ranges Like hiking? Then come and explore the plants and animals of seven of the world’s major mountain ranges! From the towering Himalayas to the austere Atlas Mountains, mountain ecosystems are chock full of interesting organisms. Often considered biological hotspots, many of these regions feature life...
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  Extinct in the Wild but Still Around: 5 Plants and Animals Kept Alive by Humans Extinction signifies the permanent loss of an organism from the planet. A "functionally extinct" organism is one that may have a few individuals still living but will never recover (think Martha the passenger pigeon or Lonesome George the Pinta Island tortoise). Some organisms are "extinct in the...
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  Facts and Statistics about the Normandy Invasion The Normandy Invasion, also called Operation Overlord or D-Day, was the Allied invasion of western Europe during World War II, which was launched on June 6, 1944 (the most celebrated D-Day of the war), with the simultaneous landing of U.S., British, and Canadian forces on five separate beachheads...
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  The Time a Law Clerk Successfully Forged a New Shakespeare Play to Impress His Dad The trove of documents was astonishing. A deed was the first to emerge—a dull legal agreement made nearly 200 years earlier. Its paper and ink and wax seals were authenticated by people who knew these things. Enthusiasm followed, and so did more documents, all of about the same vintage: a receipt...
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  Falling Far from the Tree: 7 Brilliant Ways Seeds and Fruits Are Dispersed It’s tough for a little seed to make it in the big world. Not only must a seed land in a suitable place to grow, but it must also compete with existing plants for water, nutrients, and sunlight. Rough! Given that both the parent plant and its offspring are usually at a disadvantage if they must...
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  Famous Mustaches in History Since antiquity, the wearing of mustaches, like the wearing of beards, has reflected a wide range of customs, religious beliefs, and personal tastes. It was usual in the past to make no distinction between a mustache and other types of facial hair, such as a beard or whiskers, as these were usually...
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  Famous West Indians in Sports and Entertainment The islands of the West Indies have given the world an incredible range of talented people who have excelled in sports and entertainment. Here are just 12 of them. list, cricket, world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, Sidney Poitier, Rihanna, Barbados, JamaicaThe Caribbean has produced more than its...