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Videos
Britannica Explains
Britannica Explains
In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.
The true story of Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
What is a midterm election?
How a tax increase helped spark the Civil War
Why is Diwali called the festival of lights?
Cancer: the zodiac sign explained
What is National Hispanic Heritage Month?
What do the melting clocks mean in Salvador Dalí's
The Persistence of Memory
?
What is everyone looking at in
Las Meninas
?
Francisco Goya's
Saturn Devouring His Son
, explained
Why do twins represent Gemini?
Did
The Night Watch
cause Rembrandt's downfall?
What and when is Yom Kippur?
Earth, heaven, and hell: Hieronymus Bosch's
The Garden of Earthly Delights
What are the different types of extinction?
Michelangelo's
The Last Judgment
, explained
What are the laws of thermodynamics?
What is net neutrality?
What is compound interest?
What was the Boston Tea Party?
What does Juneteenth celebrate?
Edvard Munch's
The Scream
, explained
What is the history of same-sex marriage?
Why is Pride Month in June?
Who actually invented rugby?
How Marie Tharp mapped the ocean floor
Who created Mother's Day?
Why is the symbol of Taurus a bull?
How Rosalynn Carter redefined the role of first lady
How the polio vaccine changed the world
What does Bastille Day celebrate?
How to watch a solar eclipse
How do credit scores work?
Who was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Congress?
Why is AAPI Heritage Month in May?
How did Pope Francis choose his name?
Aries: the legend behind the zodiac sign
Why did Henry VIII form the Church of England?
What and when is Passover?
Is overpopulation a problem?
Discover how Camilla overcame controversy to become queen consort
Dungeons & Dragons
, explained
Who created Transgender Day of Visibility?
The difference between good debt and bad debt
Why is International Women's Day on March 8?
What is the inspiration behind the diner in
Nighthawks
?
How March Madness made college basketball America's favourite pastime
How did Volodymyr Zelensky become president of Ukraine?
What makes
American Gothic
so popular?
Who created the colour wheel?
Will cloning bring the woolly mammoth back to life?
What makes the
Birth of Venus
so beautiful?
What makes the history of Valentine's Day so complicated
Find out why each Super Bowl is numbered with Roman numerals
Discover the myth behind the Chinese zodiac
Why is Black History Month in February?
Mikhail Gorbachev's legacy: What are glasnost and perestroika?
Why is the 20th Amendment called the Lame Duck Amendment?
The origin and traditions of the Lunar New Year, explained
Find out why Eid al-Fitr is also called the Festival of Breaking Fast
Learn about the customs and significance of Ramadan.
What does Raphael's
School of Athens
mean?
Who was Sitting Bull?
The life and legacy of Vampire Chronicles author Anne Rice
The life and legacy of Paul Farmer
Who was the first woman in Congress?
How talkies replaced silent films
Discover why the European Union developed its own currency
Discover what Times Square, red envelopes, and 12 grapes all have in common
Explore the phases of the moon and their effectiveness in tracking time
Learn more about blockchain technology.
Explore the history of Irish soda bread and its importance to Irish culture
Learn about the Japanese American internment camp Heart Mountain
Find out what happened after the Japanese American internment camps closed
What makes Serena Williams one of the greatest tennis players in history?
Find out how Princess Diana earned the nickname “the People's Princess”
How long did Prince Charles wait to become King Charles III?
Who was the first African American senator?
How did “Fighting Shirley” Chisholm earn her nickname?
Hear Sam Mihara discuss the lack of medical care in Japanese American internment camps
How was the Internet invented?
Who was the first woman in the U.S. cabinet?
What made the design of Benjamin Banneker''s clock special?
Why Tecumseh dreamed of a Native American confederacy
The life of iconic talk-show host Larry King
Why did George Custer fail at the Battle of the Little Bighorn?
Explaining Nikola Tesla''s inventions...and his obsession with pigeons
Find out why we celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day
The difference between sex and gender explained
What do the four horsemen of the apocalypse represent?
Explore which countries won the most men's World Cup titles over time
How did
Loving
v.
Virginia
legalize interracial marriage in the U.S.?
How Elizabeth Martínez organized the Chicano movement
How Sigmund Freud founded psychoanalysis
Cloris Leachman: Miss America contestant to Emmy Award winner
Who created the periodic table?
What was the Stono rebellion?
Georges Seurat''s
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884
Explained
How did Phillis Wheatley become a poet?
What is inflation?
What was the first novel ever written?
Discover more about the huge solar explosions called coronal mass ejections
Discover the mystery behind one of the most famous legends in history
How did Ida B. Wells-Barnett become an activist?
The life of beloved children''s author Beverly Cleary
Who was the first African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives?
Why was Mother Jones called “the most dangerous woman in America”?
The life of poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Discover the Enlightenment's influence on biologic categorization, encyclopedias, and literature
Why was Robert Bly controversial?
What were the Stonewall uprising?
Learn about Allied and Axis leaders, the Allied invasion of Normandy, and the dropping of atomic bombs
Learn how Kepler's laws analyze ellipses, eccentricity, and angular momentum as part of the physics of the solar system
Explore five questions about Shakespeare's life
Five famous “firsts” accomplished by women
Explore the roles of Marie Curie, Mabel St. Clair Stobart, and Aileen Cole Stewart in World War I
Study the causes of and fallout from the
Titanic
's striking an iceberg and sinking in the Atlantic Ocean
Following Kobe Bryant''s career trajectory
Discover the history of Carnival, also called Mardi Gras
What was the Hundred Years' War?
Where did the term Manifest Destiny come from?
Who were the Sons of Liberty?
What does the Virgo sign of the zodiac mean?
What was the Black Death?
Remembering the 9/11 attacks
How did Elizabeth I become queen?
Who are the Hazara people of Afghanistan?
Has anyone actually seen Bigfoot?
How the Progressive era changed child labour in the U.S.
How Frederick Douglass became an abolitionist
Did the Seven Wonders of the World actually exist?
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
How Susan B. Anthony became a suffragist
The Great Chicago Fire and the deadly Peshtigo firestorm started on the same day
What is the scientific method?
Is Mount Rushmore on sacred Native American land?
Who built the Pyramids of Giza?
How the McCormick reaper changed farming forever
Is there a difference between a suffragist and a suffragette?
Mary Wollstonecraft''s
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
explained
How Henry Ford''s assembly line revolutionized factory production
Who really invented the lightbulb?
Why Sojourner Truth changed her name
What were the 13 major dynasties of China?
The groundbreaking art of Kerry James Marshall
How Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in the modern MLB
Why labour activist Cesar Chavez''s birthday is an American holiday
What was Elizabeth Cady Stanton's role in the women's rights movement?
Joe Biden''s path to the U.S. presidency
Meet key women writers of the Harlem Renaissance
What really happened at the Boston Massacre?
How Walt Disney became an American icon
Remembering Betty White''s extensive career
Why did bell hooks spell her name in lowercase?
Who was John Wayne?
How Karl Marx went from student to revolutionary
Remembering Joan Didion''s life and legacy
How Stephen Sondheim became a Broadway legend
How did Sparta become a Grecian superpower?
How Sequoyah invented the Cherokee writing system
How do countries choose their capital cities?
Who is Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut?
What are constellations?
Why was Galileo persecuted for his discoveries?
The
Amistad
mutiny: What happened?
How Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation
Listen to Sam Mihara's account of his internment during World War II
Hear the story of a Japanese American's internment during World War II
Learn about the dispossession and internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s
How did Bernie Madoff''s Ponzi scheme work?
How José Rizal became the face of the Philippine independence movement
The life and legacy of beloved author and illustrator Eric Carle
Know about Queen Anne, monarch of Great Britain and Ireland
Learn about the British East India Company
Learn about the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong
Discover the life of Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, scientist, and historian
Understand the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic
Learn about Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland
Know about the causes and effects of the Reign of Terror
Learn about the history and importance of the Black Panther Party
Learn about the Golgi apparatus and its structure
Discover the purpose and importance of the Monroe Doctrine
Discover the purpose and importance of the Monroe Doctrine
Discover the life of Malcolm X role and his role in the Civil Rights Movement
Examine the First and Second Opium Wars, fought between China and Western countries
Four key questions about Harper Lee's novel
To Kill a Mockingbird
Discover the origins of liberalism, its relation to democracy, and how modern liberalism differs from classical liberalism and conservatism
Understand the history and ideology of nationalism
Learn about democracy, its history, and advantages over other forms of government
Know about Saint Peter, one of the 12 apostles
Learn about the life of Saint Augustine of Hippo
Understand the concept and significance of the Open Door policy
Learn about the life of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the father of Mexican independence
Discover the life of Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate
Know about the life of the greatest composer Ludwig van Beethoven
Top Questions: Jacques Cartier
Learn about the life of Mohammad, the founder of Islam
Learn what caused the Meiji Restoration
Learn about the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
View and learn about the life and achievements of Jackie Robinson
Learn about the Viking chieftain Ivar the Boneless
Learn about Benito Mussolini, his rise to power, and role in World War II
Learn about Abraham, the first Hebrew patriarch
Know about the history of the women's suffrage movement
Know about the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis
Learn about the history and importance of the Hagia Sophia
Learn about the life of Frederick Douglass and his role in the American Civil War and Reconstruction
Know about the role of Adolf Eichmann during the Holocaust and his trial
Learn about the life and career of the mathematical genius Carl Friedrich Gauss
Learn about the Mughal emperor Akbar and his accession to the throne
Learn about Cyrus the Great and the Achaemenian Empire
Know about genetically modified organisms, their importance, and impact on the environment
Learn about the life and work of the French mathematician and philosopher, René Descartes
Learn about the life and works of George Orwell
Know about Subhas Chandra Bose and his role in India's independence movement
Learn about the life and philosophy of Confucius
Know about the philosophy and teachings of Daoism
Know about the life of Louis XIV, king of France
Learn about the life of the English navigator and explorer Henry Hudson
Learn about the life of the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin
Examine the Salem witch trials and their legacy
Learn about the life of Maximilien Robespierre
Know about Saint John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus
Hear a discussion about the impact of coronavirus on the environment
What and when is Memorial Day?
Witness the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing with U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins
Discover some facts about the Great Depression
Learn about the history of the Armenian genocide during World War I
Learn about some key points on the Gulf of Tonkin incident leading to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, 1964
Know about the life of Hippocrates
Learn about the life of German philosopher Immanuel Kant
Learn about the life and works of Italian Renaissance architect and engineer Filippo Brunelleschi
Learn about the Asian Giant Hornet and how they are a threat to honeybees
How did LGBTQ Pride Month get its start?
Learn about Space X, the future of space travel, and the future goals of NASA
Know about the effects of coronavirus on parenting, school education, and the digital divide
ocean temperature increase
Discover the history of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States
Know about the solar phenomena of the summer solstice in the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere
Discover the life and works of Duke Ellington
Know about the life of Leon Trotsky and his role in the October Revolution
Know about the life and significance of Toussaint Louverture
Understand why various weather phenomena such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, and typhoons form during the summer
Uncover five historical facts about the Fourth of July
Know about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its devastating aftereffects, 1945
Know about the history and context of the Declaration of Independence
Top Questions: Oscar Wilde
Top Questions: Genghis Khan
Top Questions: Jane Austen
Discover five strange reasons why women were not allowed to vote
Is Columbus Day still celebrated?
Learn about India's Independence Day and know how the day is celebrated
Top Questions: David Hume
Top Questions: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Top Questions: John Milton
Top Questions: Pullman Strike
Hear about the Apollo 11 landing on the moon and its return to earth
View to learn about renewable energy, its types, and also how the coronavirus pandemic has changed energy consumption and production patterns
What is the origin of Halloween?
Uncover the history behind the celebration of Labor Day
When was the first Oktoberfest?
Know about the winter solstice in the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere
Hear about V-J Day, the Potsdam Conference, and the end of World War II
Learn with infographics about the Allied invasion of Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion
Learn about the Allied invasion of Utah Beach during the Normandy Invasion
Hear researchers talk about the challenges in the ALS research therapy in the time of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic
How is Christmas Eve celebrated?
Christmas traditions explored
When was the first Thanksgiving?
Hear Dr. Colleen Shogan talk on the 19th Amendment and the history of the women's suffrage movement
What if the Cold War was not so cold?
Learn about the Allied invasion routes used in the Normandy Invasion of World War II
Hear about the Allied landings on Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches during the Normandy Invasion
Confront the obstacles faced by the Allies at Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion, 1944
Know about the German military chain of command in western Europe, 1944
Discover the life and career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Know about the hurricanes, its formation, and the challenges in forecasting
Explore the Allies' landing craft of World War II with this infographic
Find out more about the catastrophic impact of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II
View to understand the different ways to measure biodiversity
Learn about the U.S. Supreme Court and how a Supreme Court judge is appointed
Learn the details of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, and its consequences
Understand the role of the U.S. Electoral College and how the president and vice president is elected
Know about the importance of voting, the franchise, and the expansion of the electorate
Understand the issue of voter turnout in the 2020 U.S. election, focusing on the younger generations
Britannica World War II Infographic Explainer: Battle of Midway
Who Was F. Scott Fitzgerald?
A Brief History of German Music
EB Insights: Curiosity Day
Whisky Tasting with Scots!
Britannica Insights: Beethoven's 250th Birthday
What Pop Culture Got Wrong About Catherine the Great
What Pop Culture Got Wrong About Abraham Lincoln
Britannica's 2020 Year in Review
What Pop Culture Got Wrong About F. Scott Fitzgerald
What Pop Culture Got Wrong About Marie-Antoinette
Explore what happened at the Battle of Midway
Hear a discussion about holiday food and cooking culture
explore lines of latitude and longitude
Explore the programs of FDR's New Deal during the Great Depression
Learn about the life and career of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Learn about depictions of Coco Chanel in pop culture
The Aftereffects of War: Vietnam War
How accurate is
Judas and the Black Messiah
?
Major types of pollution explained
How did Helen Keller learn to communicate?
What happened when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated?
fun facts about ostriches
What was the purpose of the Voyager space probes?
What is the history of Presidents'' Day?
What pop culture got wrong about Pocahontas
What happens at the International Space Station?
What were Jim Crow laws?
Explore the career of educator and reformer Booker T. Washington
How accurate is
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
?
The life and legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois
Discover the Underground Railroad and harrowing escapes from slavery
Explore the history of Irish soda bread and its importance to Irish culture
Explore Irish genealogy and the Irish history of Chicago
Discover Irish music, dance, and food at the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago
Visit Chief O'Neill's pub and learn about Irish culture and cuisine
Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos scandal explained
What did the Viking space probes find on Mars?
Explore technological innovations of the Cold War
What is the origin of St. Patrick''s Day?
Who was the real St. Patrick?
The Monroe Doctrine explained
Why didn''t the Articles of Confederation work?
How the United States changed after the Civil War
What we can learn from Frederick Douglass today
How Frederick Douglass learned to read and write
Why Frederick Douglass wrote three autobiographies
The photographs of Frederick Douglass explained
What was the impact of the Harlem Renaissance?
How Joseph Stalin rose to power
Explore food history and learn how to make a German Black Forest cake
Revisit the legend of the feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families
Take a one-of-a-kind museum tour with Chicago Scots President Gus Noble
Explore the fascinating history of Amish quilts
Get a taste of 20th-century life on the plains through Frank Sadorus's photos
Learn everything you need to know about having Scottish heritage
Learn about the conservation efforts that saved bald eagles
Explore our favorite facts about bears
Memorize this song and never forget a fact about ferrets again
Find out why all frogs are poisonous
How did April Fools'' Day start?
Why the Dred Scott decision is one of the worst U.S. Supreme Court rulings in history
How amputation saved lives during the American Civil War
What was Manifest Destiny?
The Lincoln-Douglas debates explained
Kamala Harris''s path to the U.S. vice presidency
How Audrey Tang became Taiwan''s youngest cabinet minister
What is the theory of continental drift?
How Elizabeth II became queen
How did Prince William and Kate Middleton meet?
What if the
Titanic
hadn''t sunk?
Did ancient Greeks believe their myths were real?
How Billie Holiday protested racism with her songs
How old are the Academy Awards?
How do cicadas know when to go aboveground?
The problem with climate change explained by Bill McKibben
Why are superheroes so popular?
How World War II led to the end of the British Empire
How World War II led to the invention of the slinky
How did World War II affect China?
When is the Indy 500 not on TV in Indiana?
Who are notable winners of the PGA Championship?
Why did people think Alexander the Great was a god?
Britannica Study Guide: The Crisis of the Union
What happened during the Iran-Iraq War?
How earthquakes cause seismic waves
What was Jewish life in Germany like after World War II?
How the Industrial Revolution changed the world
Enrique Salmón explains the threat of biodiversity loss
Who was Achilles?
Why are North and South Korea divided?
What was the Parthenon used for?
The history behind the FIFA World Cup
Explore milestones in human brain development
Discover the power of play in human development
Learn about technology and modern childhood
Find out the importance of social and emotional learning
What if Richard Nixon hadn't resigned?
The transition to renewable energy explained by Phil the Fixer
What happened to the
Mayflower
after Plymouth?
A brief guide to meditation
How William Shakespeare used audition sides
How the Compromise of 1850 led to the American Civil War
How the American Whig Party fell apart
The ancient history of encaustic painting
What was the Manhattan Project?
How does photosynthesis work?
Claude Monet's water lilies, discussed
Explaining the High Gothic art style of Sainte-Chapelle
How the Cold War contributed to antibiotic resistance
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida''s
Otra Margarita
Explained
See the night view of Boston city
When was the Coca-Cola Company founded?
What were Abraham Lincoln''s Spot Resolutions?
What does Juneteenth celebrate?
Fourth of July questions and answers
Key innovations of the Ming dynasty
What is the relationship between Israel and Palestine?
How antibiotics saved lives during World War II
Uncover the history of the zodiac
How Internet Explorer won the first “browser war”
How FDR''s New Deal changed the U.S.
How does pollination work?
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
How the U.S. Army used fake poop during the Vietnam War
Gitanjali Rao explains the fight for clean drinking water
The real serial killer who inspired
Psycho
How the Roman Empire was founded
The spooky science behind carnivorous plants
What is nitrogen fixation by bacteria?
What is organic farming?
Jack Kerouac''s
On the Road
Explained
Explaining Bob Dylan''s “Blowin'' in the Wind”
What is critical race theory?
How frozen blood saved lives during the Vietnam War
How Allen Ginsberg''s
Howl
describes the Beat movement
What was the Reconstruction era?
When are Roman numerals used?
How the Eyjafjallajökull volcano stopped air travel in Europe
What is a simple machine?
What caused the Russian Revolution?
What was China''s one-child policy?
Why is the symbol of Leo a lion?
What happened at the Battle of the Alamo?
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, mission and process.