|  Share | Cite
 
Winter Holidays
Winter Holidays

Read about the history and traditions of the major winter celebrations.

View More

Infoplease Tools

Most Popular

2016 Calendar
Look ahead to 2016 and check out the dates of all the major holidays.
Conversion Tool
Use this interactive metric conversion tool to convert between various units of measurement: area, volume, length/distance, cooking, time, and more.
World's Most Populous Countries
China tops the list with a population of more than 1.3 billion. See which countries round out the top 50.
Campaign 2016
The first primary is months away, but the presidential campaign is in full swing. Find election history and statistics, candidates, the issues, and party politics.

Have Your Say

When should people start putting up Christmas decorations?

  • Pick choice 1 After Halloween
  • Pick choice 2 After Thanksgiving
  • Pick choice 3 December 24th
  • Pick choice 4 Bah Humbug—never!
  • Pick choice 5 I'm supposed to take them down?
View Results

Infoplease Sources

Almanacs
A vast compendium of statistics and up-to-date facts and figures, on everything you need to know.

Atlas
An atlas featuring maps and detailed profiles of all 193 countries and the 50 U.S. states.

Dictionary
An unabridged dictionary from aalii to zymurgy, including a pronunciation guide.

Encyclopedia
A current and comprehensive encyclopedia covering all the major branches of knowledge from astrophysics to Zimbabwe.

Daily Almanac

This Day in History
Let's have a Tea Party

Today's Birthdays
Ludwig van Beethoven

What Does It Mean?
quid pro quo

Did You Know?
The custom of sending Christmas cards developed in Victorian England.

View More

Biographies

Click to read today's biography

Biography of the day

Dag Hammarskjold
1905–1961

Search Biographies . . .
More than 30,000 biographies, from Mother Teresa to Mussolini, Tiger Woods to Wordsworth.

Just For Fun

Quiz: Famous Quotations by Women

Top Ten: Highest Earning Dead Celebrities

Fact Monster: Kids' references, games, quizzes

Infoplease's Games for Grownups: Sudoku, Solitaire, Hangman, and more