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  Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor 　　 　　Franz LisztHungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, the second and most famous of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies composed for piano by Franz Liszt between 1846–53. Originally composed in 1851 for solo piano, the work was soon converted into orchestral form by Liszt’s colleague, Franz Doppler, who also added a piano duet version more than two decades after the...
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  How have the Olympics changed? 　　While many associate the modern Olympics with tradition, the quadrennial sporting event is continually changing. There’s the size of the Games: at the Athens Olympics in 1896, 241 athletes competed in 43 events, while the 2020 Tokyo Games (delayed until 2021 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic) featured 11,420 competitors and 339 events. And then there’s the pageantry. Notably, the opening...
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  The Home Depot, Inc. 　　The Home Depot, Inc. is the largest retail home improvement and construction supply company in the world, with more than 2,300 stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company was established in 1978, and today employs nearly 475,000 workers. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. 　　Founding and early growth The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Arthur...
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  history of Indonesia 　　history of Indonesia, a survey of notable events and people in the history of Indonesia. Located off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia in the Indian and Pacific oceans, Indonesia was formerly known as the Dutch East Indies (or Netherlands East Indies). Although Indonesia did not become the country’s official name until the time of independence, the name was used...
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  history of Côte d’Ivoire 　　 　　Côte d'Ivoirehistory of Côte d’Ivoire, a survey of notable events and people in the history of Côte d’Ivoire. The country, located on the coast of western Africa, is also known as the Ivory Coast. It is made up of four natural regions: the coastal fringe, the equatorial forest zone, the cultivated forest zone, and the northern savanna. The Akan,...
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  GoodFellas 　　 　　GoodFellas(From left) Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Paul Sorvino, and Joe Pesci in GoodFellas (1990).(more)GoodFellas, is a critically acclaimed American gangster film, released in 1990, that is regarded as one of the finest works of director Martin Scorsese’s career. Its creative cinematography and outstanding performances by actors including Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, and Lorraine Bracco give...
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  Ghostbusters 　　 　　GhostbustersActors (left to right) Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson in the film Ghostbusters (1984).(more)Ghostbusters, American comedy film, released in 1984, that was produced and directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Combining elements of science fiction and horror, Ghostbusters brought together the irreverent sensibility of the late-night sketch-comedy television show...
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  Gandhi’s Phoenix Settlement 　　 　　Gandhi's Phoenix SettlementSarvodaya, Mahatma Gandhi's home at Phoenix Settlement, near Durban, South Africa.(more)Gandhi’s Phoenix Settlement, the first ashram-like settlement established by Mahatma Gandhi, near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Gandhi and his family made their home at the settlement from its founding in 1904 until his return to India in 1914. 　　Gandhi studied law in England in his youth before...
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  Freedom Caucus 　　 　　Freedom Caucus founding memberRepublican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is one of nine lawmakers who helped found the Freedom Caucus.(more)The Freedom Caucus is a group of lawmakers within the U.S. House of Representatives made up of the most conservative wing of the Republican Party’s congressional members. The caucus, an outgrowth of the 2009 Tea Party movement, represents a shift...
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  esotericism 　　esotericism, a category encompassing a diverse range of religious traditions that are typically included together because of their shared cultural marginality or their focus on imparting teachings to a select group. The concept emerged largely in 19th-century western Europe as a means of categorizing various traditions with a much longer history in European societies, including Hermetism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, ceremonial magic,...
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  dissidents in the Soviet Union and Russia 　　 　　Andrey SakharovAndrey Sakharov, 1978.(more)dissidents in the Soviet Union and Russia, critics of the regimes in the Soviet Union and 21st-century Russia. Intellectuals and artists who criticized the Soviet system were subjected to persecution, imprisonment, or exile. Opponents of the “managed democracy” of Russian leader Vladimir Putin have faced lengthy jail terms and, often, assassination attempts that have met with...
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  Contact 　　 　　Carl SaganCarl Sagan (1934–96), American astronomer and science writer.(more)Contact, science-fiction novel by Carl Sagan, published in 1985. 　　(Read Carl Sagan’s Britannica entry on extraterrestrial life.) 　　 　　Britannica Quiz Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz Sagan, an astronomer at Cornell University who was inextricably tied to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (the SETI program), was one of the most famous popular...
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  Cloud Atlas 　　 　　David MitchellBritish author David Mitchell at the Frankfurt Book Fair October 10, 2007. ©Torsten Silz—DDP/AFP/Getty Images(more)Cloud Atlas, novel by David Mitchell, published in 2004. 　　Cloud Atlas is a polyphonic compendium of interlacing but nonlinear parables. Divided into six different accounts spanning several centuries, Mitchell ranges from the journal of a 19th-century American notary to the post-apocalyptic memoir of a...
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  Chris Evert: A Life in Pictures 　　 　　Chris EvertChris Evert is the first tennis player—male or female—to win 1,000 singles matches.(more) From her first professional match at age 15 until her retirement 20 years later, Chris Evert had a tennis career that was nothing short of remarkable. Here are just a few of her accomplishments: 　　55-match winning streak before she turned 21 years old18 Grand Slam...
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  Castellammarese War 　　Castellammarese War, conflict between the Castellammarese and Masseria organized crime families in New York City from 1930 to 1931 that ultimately led to the reorganization of the Mafia. The Castellammarese family was led by Salvatore Maranzano, who was born in the Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo. The Masseria family was led by Giuseppe (Joe) Masseria. 　　During Prohibition, bootlegging was...
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  capital punishment in the United States 　　Capital punishment is legal in some U.S. states and not legal in others. In some states it has been officially or effectively put on hold as a result of gubernatorial actions. The map and table below indicate the legal or effective status, methods, and recent history of capital punishment in each of the 50 U.S. states and the District of...
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  Cabaret 　　Cabaret, acclaimed stage musical by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb that explores the decadence of Berlin during the Weimar Republic amid the rising threat of Nazism. Set in a seedy cabaret called the Kit Kat Klub in 1929–30, the innovative musical tells the story of two doomed romances set against the emergence of anti-Semitism and fascism in Germany....
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  Brat Pack 　　 　　St. Elmo's FireActors (from left) Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Mare Winningham, and Andrew McCarthy in the film St. Elmo's Fire (1985), directed by Joel Schumacher. An interview with Estevez, Lowe, and Nelson shortly before the film's release led to them being dubbed (along with several other actors) “the Brat Pack.”(more)Brat Pack, the name...
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  Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions 　　Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, (BDS), decentralized Palestinian-led movement of nonviolent resistance to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The movement advocates punitive measures against the state of Israel, including boycotts, divestment, and economic sanctions. BDS initiatives demand an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights, the granting of full equality to Palestinian...
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  Blue Mosque 　　 　　Blue MosqueBlue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey.(more)Blue Mosque, 17th-century mosque that is one of the most magnificent structures of the Ottoman Empire, set next to the Byzantine Hippodrome and across from the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Known for having six minarets (rather than the standard four) and for its many domes and semidomes, the building became known as the Blue...

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