From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)

HTML 5 tag

Definition and Usage

The tag inserts a single line break.

The tag is an empty tag (means that it has no end tag - the following is wrong: ).

Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML 5

None

Tips and Notes

Note: Use the tag to enter blank lines, not to separate paragraphs.

Example

Source	Output
This text contains<br />a line break	This text contains a line break

Standard Attributes

class, contenteditable, contextmenu, dir, draggable, id, irrelevant, lang, ref, registrationmark, tabindex, template, title

For a full description, go to Standard Attributes in HTML 5.

Event Attributes

onabort, onbeforeunload, onblur, onchange, onclick, oncontextmenu, ondblclick, ondrag, ondragend, ondragenter, ondragleave, ondragover, ondragstart, ondrop, onerror, onfocus, onkeydown, onkeypress, onkeyup, onload, onmessage, onmousedown, onmousemove, onmouseover, onmouseout, onmouseup, onmousewheel, onresize, onscroll, onselect, onsubmit, onunload

For a full description, go to Event Attributes in HTML 5.

Try-It-Yourself Demos

Line breaks
How to insert line breaks in an HTML document.