Lists and Stories

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  How Was Instant Ramen Invented? Instant ramen was invented by Momofuku Ando in 1958. In his biography, “The Story of the Invention of Instant Ramen” (2002), Ando recalls walking through the streets of Ōsaka after the end of World War II and seeing a long line of people shivering in the cold, waiting for a bowl of ramen. Food...
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  How was Ulysses S. Grant involved in the Civil War? When American Civil War hostilities broke out in April 1861, Ulysses S. Grant quickly rose up the Union ranks, advancing from recruitment officer to brigadier general by August of that year. In January 1862 he voiced his concerns about his force’s primarily defensive role and received permission...
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  How Were Viruses Discovered? Scientific understanding of viruses emerged in the 1890s, with the work of Russian microbiologist Dmitry I. Ivanovsky (1892) and Dutch microbiologist and botanist Martinus W. Beijerinck (1898). Both scientists were studying a disease of tobacco plants. Ivanovsky used a filtering method for...
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  How Would a Cashless Society Work? There’s a place today where a rapidly decreasing number of people rely on cash: Sweden. It’s the developed Western country that, today, is probably closest to being a cashless society. Even though an overwhelming majority of businesses accept cash, a very small percentage of consumers actually want...
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  Human Ancestors Modern human beings—that is, the species Homo sapiens—emerged relatively recently, only about 315,000 to 150,000 years ago. However, the human lineage has survived a long and arduous journey. Over millions of years, our genetic path followed numerous twists and turns. Here’s a glimpse at...
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  In the Sea-Language: Sailing Terms in Britannica’s First Edition The following is a small list of sailing terms included in the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, originally published in 1768–71. If you are a particular fan of sailing, you may recognize some of these as terms still in use today, although some of them are a bit more obscure. If you’ve...
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  Incredible Facts About Bees Did you know that there are more than 20,000 species of bees in the world? Unlike the iconic honeybee, most bees do not live in hives, make honey, or even sting! Learn more about these diverse and amazing buzzing beauties. Companion, bee, bees, honeybees, bumblebees, biodiversity, conservation,...
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  Influential Computer Programming Languages A computer programming language is a medium through which a problem is broken down into its component parts that are then placed into an ordered list of instructions for a computer to execute. Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century English mathematician, is often called the first computer programmer....
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  Influenza Pandemic of 1918–19 Chart This infographic explains what influenza and pandemics are and how the influenza pandemic of 1918–19 spread. That pandemic was the most severe influenza outbreak of the 20th century and, in total number of deaths, among the most devastating pandemics in history. The infographic uses graphs to...
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  Infographic: Mass Shootings in the United States, 1982-Present A mass shooting, also called an active shooter incident, is defined by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an event in which one or more individuals are “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Implicit in this definition is the shooter’s use of a...
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  6 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of the world’s greatest mathematicians. His life story, with its humble and sometimes difficult beginnings, is as interesting in its own right as his astonishing work was. Companion, mathematics, Srinivasa Ramanujan, India, pi, numbers, math,...
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  Inventions that Helped Shape How We Interact with Knowledge and Information Over the course of human history, a variety of novel inventions have helped facilitate and advance the dissemination of knowledge across the world. Those outlined in the list below are some of the most important. Spotlight, inventions, knowledge, history of knowledge, knowledge keeping, knowledge...
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  Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution (1750–1900) forever changed the way people in Europe and the United States live and work. These inventors and their creations were at the forefront of a new society. list, Industrial Revolution, textiles, cotton, wool, thread, yarn, spinning jenny, water frame, spinning...
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  Investigating Therapeutic Uses for Hallucinogens Hallucinogens are a class of psychoactive drugs that produce temporary mental changes that include distorted sensory perception and dreamlike states of consciousness. For thousands of years, hallucinogenic substances have been linked with profound mystical experience; the Rigveda mentions a plant...
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  Ireland Has It All, Including These 12 Incredible Feats of Architecture The 18th-century Castletown House is Ireland’s most notable country house, not least because it reportedly influenced the design of the White House in Washington, D.C. It’s just one of these 12 examples of significant buildings that are worth a visit in Ireland. Earlier versions of the descriptions...
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  Ireland’s Same-Sex Marriage Referendum Same-sex marriage has been legalized in jurisdictions around the world, but Ireland is the first country to put the matter to a popular vote. spotlight, same-sex marriage, ireland, referendum, gay...
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  Is 27 an Especially Deadly Age for Musicians? It’s long been said that 27 is a particularly dangerous age for musicians. Legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, Rolling Stones cofounder Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Big Star cofounder Chris Bell, Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse are all members of the...
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  Is a Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable? The age-old question actually has an answer—it’s both! Tomatoes are fruits that are considered vegetables by nutritionists. Botanically, a fruit is a ripened flower ovary and contains seeds. Tomatoes, plums, zucchinis, and melons are all edible fruits, but things like maple “helicopters” and...
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  Is African American Vernacular English a Language? In December 1996, national attention in the United States turned to a new resolution passed by the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The controversial resolution defined what it called “Ebonics” as a language separate from English, so as to better meet the needs of the district’s African...
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  Is Australia an Island? At about 3 million square miles (7.7 million square km), Australia is the smallest continent on Earth. In fact, it’s closer in size to Greenland than it is to South America. Does that make Australia an island like Greenland? Although Australia is sometimes called an “island continent,” most...