Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, the oldest English-language general encyclopaedia. The Encyclopædia Britannica was first published in 1768, when it began to appear in Edinburgh, Scotland.

How old is the first encyclopedia?

Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years, although even older glossaries such as the Babylonian Urra=hubullu and the ancient Chinese Erya are also sometimes described as "encyclopedias".

How many years ago was the first encyclopedia published?

On this day in 1768, publication began in Edinburgh Scotland of the first version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. A full 225 years after, (25 years ago today), the encyclopedia first went digital, hopping on the eb.com universal resource location of the World Wide Web.