Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. is the company best known for publishing the Encyclopædia Britannica, the world's oldest continuously-published encyclopedia. The company was founded in Edinburgh in the 18th century, in the atmosphere of the Scottish Enlightenment. A printer, Colin Macfarquhar, and an engraver, Andrew Bell, formed a partnership to create a new book that would embody the new spirit of scholarship. William Smellie was engaged to edit the original three-volume work, published one volume at a time beginning in 1768. 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt - look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelt with æ, the ae-ligature) is the oldest English-language general encyclopedia. ... 1913 advertisement for Encyclopædia Britannica. ... Edinburgh viewed from Arthurs Seat. ... The Scottish Enlightenment was a period of intellectual ferment in Scotland, running from approximately 1740 to 1800. ... Colin Macfarquhar (1745? - April 2, 1793) was a Scottish printer. ... Andrew Bell (1726 - 1809), Scottish printer; co-founded Encyclopaedia Britannica with Colin Macfarquhar. ... William Smellie (1740-1795) was a Scottish encyclopedist and naturalist and the editor of the first edition of Encyclopædia Britannica (1768-1771). ...

As the Encyclopædia Britannica's reputation grew throughout its subsequent volumes, the company moved its principal operations to America. This had happened by the time the (thoroughly revised) fourteenth edition of the Britannica had been published in 1929. By the mid-1930s the company headquarters had moved to Chicago, and several editorial changes had taken place. The editorial staff was now no longer disbanded after the completion of a new edition, but kept on as a permanent editorial department. This was done for the sake of keeping pace with the rapid increase in knowledge at the time.

The trademark and publication rights were sold after the 11th edition to Sears Roebuck and it moved to Chicago, Illinois, United States. Starting in 1936 a new printing of the encyclopedia was published each year, incorporating the latest changes and updates. In 1938, the first edition of the Britannica Book of the Year appeared. This yearbook is still published today. The Bass Red Triangle, was the first trademark registered in Britain in 1876. ... Sears, Roebuck and Company (NYSE: S) was founded in Chicago, Illinois as a catalog merchandiser in 1886 by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... State nickname: The Prairie State Other U.S. States Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Governor Rod Blagojevich Official languages English Area 149,998 km² (25th)  - Land 143,968 km²  - Water 6,030 km² (4. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ...

Sears Roebuck offered it as a gift to the University of Chicago in 1941. Britannica Inc. extended its publishing ventures by purchasing Compton's Encyclopedia and G. & C. Merriam in the 1940s. In 1952 Britannica published the landmark set Great Books of the Western World, a 54-volume set of the "great books" of Western culture. William Benton figured as publisher from 1943 to his death in 1973, followed by his widow Helen Hemingway Benton until her own death in 1974. In January 1996 it was purchased by billionaire Swiss financier Jacqui Safra. The University of Chicago is a private co-educational university located in Chicago, Illinois. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the V1 flying bomb and the first ballistic missile, the... The Great Books of the Western World is a series of books originally published in the United States in 1952 by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. ... William Burnett Benton (April 1, 1900 - March 18, 1973) was a U.S. senator from Connecticut (1949-1953) and publisher of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1943-1973). ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Switzerland-based billionaire financier Jacqui Safra, nephew of Lebanese banker Edmund who died in a mysterious fire in Monaco in 1999, is owner of Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. ...

The company was one of the first to offer encyclopedia content online (in association with LexisNexis in the 1980s), and currently publishes in several mediums, including DVD and through its website. It has several international projects to develop educational materials in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Italy, France, Spain, Latin America, Turkey, Hungary, and Poland. LexisNexis is a popular searchable archive of content from newspapers, magazines, legal documents and other printed sources. ... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Official language Japanese Capital Tokyo Largest City Tokyo Emperor Akihito Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 60th 377,835 km² 0. ... Korea (occasionally spelled Corea) is a formerly unified country, situated on the Korean Peninsula in northern East Asia, bordering on China to the west and Russia to the north. ... The Great Wall of China, stretching over 6,700 km, was erected beginning in the 3rd century BC to guard the north from raids by men on horses. ... Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, but gradually transitions to gently sloping plains in the west (satellite photo by NASA). ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... The Republic of Turkey is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part of its territory (3%) in southeastern Europe. ... The Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság) or Hungary (Magyarország) is a landlocked country in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. ... The Republic of Poland, a democratic country with a population of 38,626,349 and area of 312,685 km², is located in Central Europe, between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and...

Under Safra's ownership the company has experienced some financial woes with freelance contributors waiting up to six months for checks and staff going years without raises, according to a report in the New York Post. Cost-cutting measures have included mandates to use free photos. Britannica in December 2002 told employees it would raise the contribution paid into their 401(k) accounts, then eliminated them entirely. A company spokesperson said, "We've had some cost reductions and belt-tightening but we're not going into details… We're a privately held company." The first edition of The New York Post of July 6, 2004 incorrectly declared that U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry would choose U.S. Representative Dick Gephardt to be his vice-presidential running mate that day (in reality, Kerry chose John Edwards). ... 2002 : January _ February _ March _ April _ May _ June _ July _ August _ September _ October _ November _ December _ → A timeline of events in the news for December, 2002. ...

External link

• Company website (http://www.eb.com)