Posted on December 13, 2018 at 4:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Talk about taking throwback Thursday seriously.

The Digital Reader alerted us to how the National Library of Scotland is celebrating the Encyclopedia Britannica’s 250th anniversary: by scanning and sharing the very first edition.

Scholars should absolutely not cite the version that hit presses on December 10, 1768, which includes these tidbits:

  • Humans are divided into five categories: European, American, Asiatic, African, and Monstrous.

  • The Spanish colony of “California” is “a large country of the West Indies. Unknown whether it is an island or a peninsula.”

  • The solar system has six planets.

However, history buffs and anyone just nostalgic for the days of physical encyclopedia volumes should certainly browse this landmark publication here.

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: History, Just for fun

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