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The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2021
#1 New York Times Bestseller! Get thousands of facts at your fingertips with this essential resource: business, the arts and pop culture, science and technology, U.S. history and government, world geography, sports, and so much more.
The World Almanac® is America’s bestselling reference book of all time, with more than 83 million copies sold. For more than 150 years, this compendium of information has been the authoritative source for school, library, business, and home. The 2021 edition of The World Almanac reviews the biggest events of 2020 and will be your go-to source for questions on any topic in the upcoming year. Praised as a “treasure trove of political, economic, scientific and educational statistics and information” by The Wall Street Journal , The World Almanac and Book of Facts will answer all of your trivia needs effortlessly.
Features include:
The World Almanac® is America’s bestselling reference book of all time, with more than 83 million copies sold. For more than 150 years, this compendium of information has been the authoritative source for school, library, business, and home. The 2021 edition of The World Almanac reviews the biggest events of 2020 and will be your go-to source for questions on any topic in the upcoming year. Praised as a “treasure trove of political, economic, scientific and educational statistics and information” by The Wall Street Journal , The World Almanac and Book of Facts will answer all of your trivia needs effortlessly.
Features include:
1008 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2020
172 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Janssen
44 books12 followersSarah Janssen is the senior editor of The World Almanac and Book of Facts, The World Almanac for Kids, and other diverse titles. She is the co-author of Under the Covers and between the Sheets, a book of facts and trivia about the world’s greatest books. Sarah lives in Brooklyn, NY.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 8, 2021
Can't do without this book! Even though I update every year, I still can't dispose of the old editions!
It's a first-class reference guide to world events and all relevant data. As proof of its relevance and reliability and the fact that's it's been published for more 150 years in various formats, must say something about its importance and longevity in today's news saturated world.
But be warned - this is a dangerous book! Once you pick it up and start flicking through the pages absorbing the unlimited facts and figures, you won't be able to put it down!
As you can ascertain, I love this type of book. An invaluable compilation of statistics, even some which you may not be particularly interested in but will find absolutely fascinating. And although heavily slanted towards U.S. data, still more than enough information for those who live outside the United States to appreciate as an essential reference work.
It's a first-class reference guide to world events and all relevant data. As proof of its relevance and reliability and the fact that's it's been published for more 150 years in various formats, must say something about its importance and longevity in today's news saturated world.
But be warned - this is a dangerous book! Once you pick it up and start flicking through the pages absorbing the unlimited facts and figures, you won't be able to put it down!
As you can ascertain, I love this type of book. An invaluable compilation of statistics, even some which you may not be particularly interested in but will find absolutely fascinating. And although heavily slanted towards U.S. data, still more than enough information for those who live outside the United States to appreciate as an essential reference work.
September 19, 2021
I get this book annually. I'm a little crazy and actually fully READ some sections immediately each year.
- The 30 page Chronology of the prior year (brings back memories)
- The 4 pages of prominent obituaries (very sad part - I was reminded that 2020 had Terry Jones from Monty Python pass away in January)
- The 20 pages of astronomy, stating upcoming events for 2021
Nice sections this year:
- The Pandemic
- The 2020 election
Sure, I could ask "Siri, what is the deepest point in the Pacific?" and get individual facts.
But this book has table after table of data. It is when you see data sitting next to similar data types that you can see trends and draw conclusions.
And these nearly 1,000 pages are non-debatable facts.
The font size is rather small, and on rare years I have bought the larger size book at about 2x the price. But I usually go back to my standard 5.5" x 8" classic version.
I will go ahead and give my annual 5* score and mark this book 'read', but it is a reference book that I keep extremely handy and pull out regularly throughout the year.
Random highlights:
p4: 4th top-10 topic of 2020: George Floyd (short story)
p45: election results by each county in each state
p103: Dow Jones historical averages
p118: Passenger car production in the US by make/model
p133: US Occupation employment projections
p165: Casualties in all wars of the U.S.
p203: Sexual behavior w Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex partners statistics
p245: the year in pictures
p283: Longest Running Broadway shows (Phantom, Chicago, Lion King, Cats, Wicked, Le Mis)
p318: basic laws of physics
p341: Largest trees in the US
p377: Beginnings of the Universe
p413: US Public High School Graduation Rates
p471: US History Chronology of events
p592: States of the US summary
p629: US Population by Race, Hispanic Orgin, and age
p659: World History
p706 World Adherents of Religions by Contenental Area
p719: Most popular US First Names by Decade (latest: Noah and Olivia)
p752: Nations of the world
p860-p959: All the sports stats you need to know
Great Index!
- The 30 page Chronology of the prior year (brings back memories)
- The 4 pages of prominent obituaries (very sad part - I was reminded that 2020 had Terry Jones from Monty Python pass away in January)
- The 20 pages of astronomy, stating upcoming events for 2021
Nice sections this year:
- The Pandemic
- The 2020 election
Sure, I could ask "Siri, what is the deepest point in the Pacific?" and get individual facts.
But this book has table after table of data. It is when you see data sitting next to similar data types that you can see trends and draw conclusions.
And these nearly 1,000 pages are non-debatable facts.
The font size is rather small, and on rare years I have bought the larger size book at about 2x the price. But I usually go back to my standard 5.5" x 8" classic version.
I will go ahead and give my annual 5* score and mark this book 'read', but it is a reference book that I keep extremely handy and pull out regularly throughout the year.
Random highlights:
p4: 4th top-10 topic of 2020: George Floyd (short story)
p45: election results by each county in each state
p103: Dow Jones historical averages
p118: Passenger car production in the US by make/model
p133: US Occupation employment projections
p165: Casualties in all wars of the U.S.
p203: Sexual behavior w Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex partners statistics
p245: the year in pictures
p283: Longest Running Broadway shows (Phantom, Chicago, Lion King, Cats, Wicked, Le Mis)
p318: basic laws of physics
p341: Largest trees in the US
p377: Beginnings of the Universe
p413: US Public High School Graduation Rates
p471: US History Chronology of events
p592: States of the US summary
p629: US Population by Race, Hispanic Orgin, and age
p659: World History
p706 World Adherents of Religions by Contenental Area
p719: Most popular US First Names by Decade (latest: Noah and Olivia)
p752: Nations of the world
p860-p959: All the sports stats you need to know
Great Index!
February 1, 2021
So this is how to win on Jeopardy...
Memorize this book and you are well om your way to winning many of the categories on any trivia contest
Memorize this book and you are well om your way to winning many of the categories on any trivia contest
July 26, 2025
The best of 2020, the pandemic year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2021
The greatest edition ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2021
Fascinating! I actually read it cover to cover, except for the Sports sections. I guess I'm weird like that!
December 10, 2021
Continuing my long-held tradition of treating almost like a daily devotional, reading just a little bit each day throughout the year. Another great reference for history and facts.
October 29, 2021
Many of the events are presented in a bland or non-controversial way. It requires digging deeper to find out the intensity of the issues casually mentioned in this 979 page summary of nearly everything historical. Some sections go back dozens of years. Other sections cover thousands of years of history. Thus, rather than being an in-depth treatment, it gives an outline.
The pop down TOC has much finer navigation than the active TOC at the front of the book. I like the more detailed navigation.
I rather look forward to the 2022 edition, although it seems like a great deal of it will be identical to this one.
The pop down TOC has much finer navigation than the active TOC at the front of the book. I like the more detailed navigation.
I rather look forward to the 2022 edition, although it seems like a great deal of it will be identical to this one.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews