  Cosmic ray story begins at the beginning of XX century. More then 100 years
later, most of the main issues are still open questions, as sources,
acceleration mechanism, propagation and composition. There is a continuing
fascination with the studies of cosmic radiation mostly from the several
contradictions connected to its observation. The radiation has an energy
spectrum ranging from $\sim$ 1 GeV to beyond 10$^{20}$ eV with a flux going
from 1 particle per m$^2$ per $\mu$s to less then 1 particle per km$^2$ per
century, and so very different experimental techniques are needed to perform
cosmic ray measurements in the different energy intervals. In this contribution
the actual experimental status of cosmic ray knowledge will be reviewed.
