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Encyclopædia Britannica is proud to celebrate FIRST, the international organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to help young people pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math. FIRST is holding its national championship in Atlanta this week. Go here to learn more.
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Photograph:Virtual world avatar Anshe Chung.

Virtual Reality: Big Bucks!

There was nothing “virtual” about the billions of real dollars generated by the virtual world of online gaming last year. The most popular game, World of Warcraft, attracted seven million subscribers, five million from China alone. The games can be so addicting that some game companies even funded private counseling centres, and some players died from exhaustion. Learn more from Britannica. Features Archive

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Biography of the Day

Nikita Khrushchev, 1960.Soviet Premier Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, born this day in 1894, guided the U.S.S.R. (and the communist movement) out from under the shadow of former premier Joseph Stalin and into closer orbit with the capitalist West.

This Day in History

The Canada Act, also known as the Constitution Act, took effect on this day in 1982, establishing certain individual rights, preserving parliamentary supremacy, and making Canada a wholly independent, fully sovereign state.
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Identify this natural structure.

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Quizmaster: Geography

What are “the Broads” of Norfolk, England?

Quote of the Day

It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
Muhammad Ali, quoted in New York Times
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This Day in History
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On This Day in 1961: Cuban leader Fidel Castro's forces repelled the Bay of Pigs invasion.
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Contributor's News

Sudoku The number-and-logic puzzles known as Sudoku are an international craze, captivating young and old alike. In How to Solve Sudoku: A Step-by-Step Guide, mathematician and best-selling author Robin Wilson, author of Britannica’s entry on Sudoku, offers tips and tricks and practice grids for honing your Sudoku skills. Appropriate for beginners as well as the most seasoned fans of Sudoku.

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Sudoku

AuschwitzWhy didn’t the Allied countries of World War II bomb Nazi Germany’s concentration camps? What did they actually know about the camps? Historian Michael Berenbaum , who authored a significant amount of Britannica’s coverage of the Holocaust, is coeditor of this engaging volume--The Bombing of Auschwitz: Should the Allies Have Attempted It?--that asks and answers these very questions.

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Michael Berenbaum