Lists and Stories

• 
  What Is the Difference Between Criminal Law and Civil Law? In the United States, there are two bodies of law whose purpose is to deter or punish serious wrongdoing or to compensate the victims of such wrongdoing. Criminal law deals with behavior that is or can be construed as an offense against the public, society, or the state—even if the immediate victim...
• 
  What is the Difference Between Daoism and Confucianism? The two great indigenous philosophical and religious traditions of China, Daoism and Confucianism, originated about the same time (6th–5th century BCE) in what are now the neighboring eastern Chinese provinces of Henan and Shandong, respectively. Both traditions have permeated Chinese culture for...
• 
  What Is the Difference Between DNA and RNA? Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are complex molecular structures that control all hereditary characteristics of cells and thus of organisms. DNA is the master blueprint for life and constitutes the genetic material in all free-living organisms. RNA uses DNA to code for the...
• 
  What Is the Difference Between Hemp and Marijuana? Hemp and marijuana plants are usually understood to be varieties of the same species, Cannabis sativa, though some botanists and growers contend that there are multiple species or subspecies. The term marijuana generally refers to the varieties of cannabis cultivated for their psychoactive...
• 
  What Is the Difference Between Influenza and COVID-19? Influenza and the coronavirus disease COVID-19 appear to be very similar. After all, both are respiratory diseases, and they are transmitted via contact with infectious respiratory droplets. Beyond that, however, they differ in important ways. What are some of these differences, and why do they...
• 
  What Is the Difference Between Primary and Secondary Ecological Succession? Ecosystems are not static things. Wetlands and grasslands, patches of forests, and even whole landscapes (which may contain several ecosystems) constantly evolve in response to changing temperatures, moisture levels, light availability, rates of nutrient inflow and outflow, and activities of...
• 
  What Is the Difference Between South America and Latin America? Christopher Columbus thought that he had found a shortcut to Asia when he reached terra firma in the Caribbean in 1492, but 10 years later Amerigo Vespucci realized the lands in question constituted a New World, at least for Europeans. As a result, the bulk of the Western Hemisphere was named in...
• 
  What Is the Emoluments Clause? The emoluments clause, also called the foreign emoluments clause, is a provision of the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 8) that generally prohibits federal officeholders from receiving any gift, payment, or other object or service of value from a foreign state or its rulers,...
• 
  What Is the History of Juneteenth? On January 1, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, United States President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The document ostensibly freed all enslaved people in the Confederacy, the former U.S. states that had taken the election of an antislavery president as reason to secede...
• 
  What Is the “Ides” of March? You may have heard the phrase “beware the Ides of March,” but what is an Ides and what’s there to fear? The Ides is actually a day that comes about every month, not just in March—according to the ancient Roman calendar, at least. The Romans tracked time much differently than we do now, with months...
• 
  What Is the Legacy of ABBA in Popular Culture? By the time ABBA quietly disbanded in 1982 due to rising interpersonal tensions, they had already secured a legendary spot for themselves in the history of popular music and were set to remain a fixture in global pop culture at large. Longtime fans of ABBA, British synth-pop group Erasure covered...
• 
  What Is the Most Widely Practiced Religion in the World? The world’s primary religions fall into two categories: Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam; and Indian religions, which include Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and others. Of the world’s major religions, Christianity is the largest, with more than two billion followers....
• 
  What Is the Newest Country in the World? New countries don’t pop up every day. And even if a territorial entity does declare itself to be an independent country, it is not always recognized as such by the rest of the world. The newest internationally recognized country in the world is the African country of South Sudan, which declared...
• 
  What Is the Origin of the Term Holocaust? Human history has few tragedies that rival the magnitude and moral bankruptcy of the Holocaust, the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. For the anti-Semitic Nazis who met...
• 
  What Is the Origin of the Term “Jim Crow”? From the late 1870s until the triumphs of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s, regimented racial segregation blighted America’s water fountains, restrooms, restaurants, lodging, and transportation, along with “separate but equal” schools. All of these were legally sanctioned by the U.S....
• 
  What Is the Significance of the #OscarsSoWhite Hashtag? Twitter user and activist April Reign first tweeted “#OscarsSoWhite they asked to touch my hair” on January 15, 2015, in immediate response to all 20 acting nominations for the year’s upcoming Academy Awards being given to white actors. Within that day, the hashtag became viral and was trending on...
• 
  What jobs did Sir Walter Scott have? In addition to the time he spent writing, Sir Walter Scott had a variety of occupations during his lifetime. He was appointed sheriff depute to the county of Selkirk in his late 20s, and he was also a partner in a printing firm owned by the Ballantyne brothers. This partnership led to financial...
• 
  What Led to France’s Reign of Terror? On September 5, 1793, a group of Parisian radicals petitioned the National Convention to place “terror on the order of the day.” Seizing that mandate, the Committee of Public Safety in Paris responded with ruthless efficiency to real and perceived threats to its rule. By the time the Reign of...
• 
  What Makes a Species Endangered? Over 7,000 species around the world are considered endangered. That number doesn’t even include the plants, animals, and other life-forms that are listed by some scientists as vulnerable, critically endangered, or extinct in the wild—all rankings that mean a species is inching closer and closer to...
• 
  What Makes a Wave Go Rogue? Many a tall tale has been inspired by the world’s oceans, from stories of mysterious sea monsters to legends about ghost ships like the Flying Dutchman. While all are capable of inducing “ocean aversion” in even the most intrepid terrestrial explorer, no maritime legend strikes fear into the...