Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. facts for kids

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. is a famous company that publishes the Encyclopædia Britannica. This is the world's oldest encyclopedia that has been published without stopping! The company also owns Merriam-Webster, which makes dictionaries. Even though it started in Britain, the company is now based in Chicago, USA.

History of Britannica

The Early Years

Front page of volume 3 of the 1778 Encyclopædia Britannica

The company began in Edinburgh, Scotland, way back in the 1700s. This was a time of new ideas called the Scottish Enlightenment. Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell started the very first edition in 1768. They hired William Smellie, who wrote most of the articles for that first book.

The second edition came out in 1784. After Macfarquhar passed away in 1793, Bell became the only owner. He then published the third and fourth editions.

Later, Archibald Constable, another publisher from Edinburgh, released the fifth and sixth editions. When Constable died in 1827, a company called A & C Black Ltd. bought the rights to the encyclopedia. They continued publishing it for the next 70 years.

Starting with the ninth edition in 1875, Britannica began to include many more topics. They asked writers, social scientists, and scientists to contribute. This ninth edition is still known as one of the best collections of knowledge ever made.

In 1901, Horace E. Hooper and Walter M. Jackson bought all the rights to the encyclopedia. They created companies in both the United States and England. Hugh Chisholm became the editor for the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth editions.

Sears Roebuck Takes Over

Shipping box for the fourteenth edition

In 1915, Sears, a big retail company, agreed to sell a cheaper version of the eleventh edition. This was made for everyday families. In 1920, Sears bought Britannica completely. But after only three years, Sears lost a lot of money, about $1.8 million.

In 1923, Sears sold the company back to Hooper's widow and her brother, William Cox. They published the twelfth and thirteenth editions. When Cox couldn't find enough money for the fourteenth edition, Sears stepped in to help. They ended up owning Britannica again in 1928.

In 1932, Sears changed how Britannica sold its books. They stopped selling them in their stores. Instead, they used sales people who went door-to-door and set up booths in shopping centers. In 1938, Britannica started publishing a yearly book called the Britannica Book of the Year. This book summarized important world events.

The Benton Family Era

In 1941, Sears gave Britannica to the University of Chicago. However, the university felt they couldn't manage the company. William Benton, who was a vice president at the university, offered to invest his own money. This would protect the university from any losses. Benton bought two-thirds of the company's shares. Later, he bought the rest.

In 1952, Benton began planning for the fifteenth edition. Britannica also bought Merriam-Webster in 1964. They also acquired Compton's Encyclopedia in the early 1960s.

Benton passed away in 1973, before the fifteenth edition was published in 1974. This new edition was called Britannica 3. It had a ten-volume Micropædia (for quick facts) and a 19-volume Macropædia (for longer articles). It also included a one-volume guide called Propædia. In 1985, a two-volume index was added, along with other improvements.

Robert P. Gwinn took over from Benton in 1974. He split the company into Britannica USA and Britannica International. In 1990, nearly 120,000 encyclopedias were sold in the United States. Sales for the year reached $650 million. But by 1994, sales dropped to $453 million, with only 51,000 sets sold in the US. Sales kept falling after 1994. This forced the company to close more than 70 percent of its sales offices.

Safra Takes Over

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.'s current headquarters, the Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building in Chicago

In 1996, Britannica was sold to a group of investors led by Jacob E. Safra. He was a financier from Switzerland. He reorganized the company, letting go of many employees, including top staff. Safra also ended the home sales team, causing more job losses.

In 1999, they launched Britannica.com, a website with the full encyclopedia. The website crashed on its first day because too many people tried to visit it. About ten million users tried to access the site. After several days of problems, it was shut down. It restarted a few weeks later with better capacity. Even so, Britannica.com laid off 20 percent of its workers a year later.

In 2009, the Britannica Global Edition was printed. It had 30 volumes, over 40,000 articles, and 8,500 photos. In 2012, after 244 years, Britannica stopped printing paper editions. The 2010 set was the last one on paper. Future editions have been published only online since then.

In 2018, the company released Britannica Insights. This is an extension for the Chrome web browser. It adds accurate information to Google's search results. In 2019, Britannica partnered with Binumi to create a video product. This product lets schools use millions of free video clips. They can create digital stories about topics they are teaching.

In 2020, Encyclopædia Britannica released a new encyclopedia for younger readers. It was called Britannica All New Children's Encyclopedia: What We Know and What We Don't. This book covered major topics. It was praised for bringing back the print format. It was Britannica's first children's encyclopedia since 1984. Also in 2020, Encyclopædia Britannica acquired ProCon.org.

See also

In Spanish: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. para niños