The Encyclopedia Americana was the first encyclopedia published in the United States. It first volume appeared in 1829, and it has continued as a standard general reference work for 153 years. Many American and European intellectuals contributed to the first edition. For example, Justice Joseph Story of the U.S. Supreme Court wrote more than 120 pages of legal articles. The encyclopedia quickly gained acceptance for its authoritativeness and readability. By 1850 its 13 volumes were prominent among Abraham Lincoln's scanty store of books. The Americana's continuing reputation as one of the world's top-ranking reference sets is partly the result of the firm foundation built by its early editors. Equally important has been a program of constant rebuilding and updating. The first edition of the Americana recorded the beginnings of the great industrial developments of the 19th century. The present edition reports the great technological and scientific achievements that have grown out of these beginnings, including the landings of men on the moon and of space laboratories on Mars and spacecraft probes that have sent back photographs and data from Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. This new edition expands the encyclopedia's strong coverage of science and technology and carries forward additions to its already outstanding coverage of the history of the American people, their institutions and their leaders.