Lists and Stories

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  Gold Fever It was one of the most-significant events in U.S. history, and it all began with a water-powered sawmill. In 1848 Swiss immigrant John Sutter was building the structure along the American River in Coloma, California. On January 24, his carpenter, James W. Marshall, found something that made his...
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  Gorilla gorilla, Sula sula, and Other Animals Whose Names Are Tautonyms—the Same for Genus and Species Among scientists, all species are uniquely identified using a system of two parts composed of each organism’s genus and species names. This system was established in the 1750s by Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus to overcome the confusion caused by the use of vague diagnostic phrases and...
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  Gravity: From Apples to the Universe Why do objects fall to the ground? “Because of gravity,” you say. But what is gravity? The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said that objects fall because each of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) had their natural place, and these elements had a tendency to move back toward their...
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  How and Where Coral Bleaching Is Affecting the Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is one of Earth’s most magnificent natural monuments. This complex of coral reefs, shoals, and islets in the Pacific Ocean off Australia’s northeastern coast stretches for more than 1,250 miles, or 2,000 kilometers, over an area of some 135,000 square miles, or 350,000 square...
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  Griswold v. State of Connecticut Turns 50 On June 7, 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Griswold v. State of Connecticut affirmed the constitutional right of married persons to use birth control. At the time, Connecticut state law deemed it illegal for a person to use any drugs or devices to prevent conception, and it was also...
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  Gun Control in the U.S. “Gun control” refers to any legal measure intended to prevent or restrict the possession or use of guns, particularly firearms. (In a broader historical sense, the term also refers to legal limits on the possession or use of other arms, including those that predate the invention of gunpowder.) In...
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  Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights Hanukkah falls on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev and lasts eight days. That lands it somewhere in December on the Gregorian calendar (though in 2013 it fell on Thanksgiving in November, an extremely rare occurrence). Also called the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah celebrates events...
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  Happy 100th Birthday, Beverly Cleary! Beloved children’s author Beverly Cleary turned 100 on April 12, 2016. Once a children’s librarian, she turned her hand to writing in the 1940s, and her first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950. That book, and her subsequent body of work as a whole, became classic favorites of American...
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  Happy 100th Birthday, National Park Service! While Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park is now considered a treasured U.S. landmark, in the 1800s some people viewed it quite differently—as a laundromat. Explorers and soldiers reportedly placed their clothing in Old Faithful, which would clean the garments when it erupted. In addition,...
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  Happy Groundhog Day! All eyes and ears turn to the furry forecaster. spotlight, holiday, american, tradition, groundhog, animal, superstition,...
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  Happy Halloween While now associated with costumes, trick-or-treating, and scary movies, Halloween wasn’t always a time of fun and games. The holiday had its origins in Samhain, one of the most-sinister festivals on the Celtic calendar. The ancient Celts believed that on November 1 the souls of those who had died...
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  Harmful Algal Blooms Algal blooms, or water blooms, are a common summertime occurrence in many places. They occur when a species of phytoplankton suddenly flourishes in a body of warm, shallow water. A bloom can appear in salty or fresh water, and a number of microscopic organisms, including cyanobacteria, diatoms, or...
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  Harriet Tubman Day, March 10 Britannica celebrates the extraordinary courage of Harriet Tubman, who endured great hardship and danger to free hundreds of slaves. spotlight, harriet tubman, history, society, slavery,...
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  Harry Potter and the Much-Anticipated Return In 1997 novelist J.K. Rowling introduced readers to Harry Potter, a lonely orphan boy who discovers he’s a wizard. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (also called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) launched one of the most-successful book series in the history of publishing and a...
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  Harry Potter Turns 18 If books were people, the Harry Potter series would be all grown up. The first installment, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released 18 years ago on June 26, 1997. If that makes you feel old, hold on to your sorting hat—the boy wizard himself, born July 31, 1980, would be 35 this...
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  Has Pink Always Been a “Girly” Color? If you see newborn babies at a hospital in the U.S., you’ll most likely see them in pink or blue outfits to mark their sex (often conflated with gender identity). Has the U.S. always used colors to signify boys or girls? The short answer is no. Pastel colors for baby clothing—including blue and...
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  Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term? “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president,” Lyndon B. Johnson told a shocked national television audience on the evening of March 31, 1968, thus becoming one of several U.S. presidents who decided not to run for a second elected term....
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  Hell in a Handbag An earlier version of this article was published on the Britannica blog Advocacy for Animals. Thorstein Veblen, in his 1899 volume The Theory of the Leisure Class, lists lap dogs prominently among possessions symptomatic of what he termed “conspicuous consumption.” That observation has enjoyed...
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  History of Technology Timeline Learn more about the history of technology from the first tools to the computer age. Companion, technology, invention, inventions, inventors, tools, fire, telegraph, steam engine, electricity, automobile, computers The history of technology begins even before the beginning of our own species. Sharp...
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  History of Women in the U.S. Congress This infographic highlights 10 Congresses that are notable in the history of women’s fight for equal representation in the United States. Spotlight, women, U.S. Congress, Senate, House of Representatives, Nineteenth Amendment, Nancy Pelosi, elections, gender parity, Jeanette Rankin, Rebecca Latimer...