Reference work you'd like to see online/interactive? (not the Kama Sutra)

[Bossy Monkey]

I think I'm coming out of the closet as a meganerd again here. Me, I'm all for The Timetables of History http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/067174271X/002-9070285-8548007?v=glance with which I've been obsessed since I first encountered it 10-odd years ago. Wouldn't it be the coolest?

Note: Fun fact from the book: Last year in which nothing happened: 1476.

So what are yours?

[eyesroll]

1. OED

It's online, but it's super expensive. (Less expensive than the print version, of course.)

I've developed a bit of interest in linguistics these days, and I like the etymology.

[trackfan]

3. I have the photo-reduced Compact version

which retails for about $300. (I got it as a freebie). It has the whole thing reduced to about 12 pages per page, and comes with a super magnifying glass. I can actually read it without the magnifying glass, for which feat my wife considers me some sort of freak.

[JVS]

2. An interactive histortical atlas would be nice

So that one can see the borders changing over time. It would also be good for watching migrations into Europe from the steppes.

[Bossy Monkey]

4. Exactly! This would be my academic discipline, if I had one

Girlfriend wants me to go get a PhD on human migration, since I'm so obsessed with it. I think I'd have to invent it, though...

[grannylib]

5. Another vote for the OED here, best. dictionary. ever.

Although the Timetables of History would be awesome as well; I have the book and pick it up constantly, never fails to interest and amuse!

Once had an assignment in college to write a five-page paper on any word we chose, from the OED. Other 'meganerds' would agree that it would be a fun task; I loved it! I think every other classmate I had at the time groaned out loud though...
I picked 'metamorphosis' as my word.