Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

283,122 active editors
7,153,931 articles in English

From today's featured article

The Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City, is used by the First Department of the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division. The original three-story building, at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 25th Street, was designed by James Brown Lord in 1899. A six-story annex to the north, designed by Rogers & Butler, was completed in 1955, as was a renovation of the original structure. The courthouse's facade, made primarily of marble, originally had 21 sculptures, of which one was removed in 1955. The building's roof also contains the sculpture NOW by Shahzia Sikander, and its annex includes a Holocaust memorial by Harriet Feigenbaum. The courthouse was renovated in the 1980s and the 2000s; its architecture has received largely positive commentary. The Appellate Division Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its facade and interior are both New York City landmarks. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

FRA DOTX 219

... that data collected by FRA DOTX 219 (pictured) have been used in investigations of train derailments?
... that an eight-track EP lasting less than nine minutes was re-released ten years after the death of its performer in a fire?
... that shortly after the publication of Women Without Men in Iran, it was banned and its author imprisoned?
... that when Canada's Star Channel closed with three hours' warning, some cable companies resorted to pirating a competitor's signal?
... that Stephanie Scott's favourite colour became a symbol of national remembrance across Australia following her murder in 2015?
... that the families of the neighboring Benjamin Hammar House and Samuel Dyer House shared both meals and tools while they restored their historic homes?
... that "Now all the woods are sleeping" is an 1865 Catherine Winkworth translation of a 1647 evening song once mocked as foolish by Frederick the Great?
... that the Fuente de Petróleos includes self-portraits of its architect and sculptor as oil workers?
... that Bum was known to club other dogs with his leg stump?

In the news

Maikel García

The World Baseball Classic concludes with Venezuela defeating the United States for the championship (MVP Maikel García pictured).
At the Academy Awards, One Battle After Another wins six Oscars, including Best Picture.
German philosopher Jürgen Habermas dies at the age of 96.
Chilean architect Smiljan Radić Clarke is awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
In cricket, the Men's T20 World Cup concludes with India defeating New Zealand in the final.

On this day

March 18: Feast day of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (Christianity)

House with Chimaeras

1608 – Susenyos I was formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
1793 – Andreas Joseph Hofmann proclaimed the Republic of Mainz, becoming the first republican state in Germany.
1901 – The construction of the House with Chimaeras (pictured) commenced in Kyiv.
1921 – Russian Civil War: Bolshevik forces suppressed a rebellion of sailors and civilians in Kronstadt.
2015 – Gunmen attacked the Bardo National Museum in Tunisia, killing 24 people.

Matthew III Csák (d. 1321)
Charlotte Elliott (b. 1789)
William H. Johnson (b. 1901)
Mike Quackenbush (b. 1976)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

The Smiths

Seventy-four songs were recorded by the English rock band the Smiths during their five-year career from 1982 to 1987, comprising seventy originals and four covers. The Smiths were formed in Manchester in 1982 and signed a one-off recording contract with the independent record label Rough Trade Records, releasing their debut single, "Hand in Glove" in May 1983. The next year saw the release of their debut album, The Smiths, and the band's popularity increased with Meat Is Murder (1985), their only UK number-one studio album. Several more albums were released prior to the Smiths' breakup in 1987, including The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987), as well as the live album Rank in 1988. The majority of the Smiths' songs were written by the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr. Since their breakup, the Smiths have been considered to be one of the most influential bands of the 1980s. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The Zumwalt-class destroyer is a class of large guided-missile destroyers of the United States Navy. First commissioned in 2016, the ships have a distinctive appearance, with an inward-sloping tumblehome hull designed to reduce their radar cross section. The Zumwalt class uses an integrated electric propulsion system that can distribute electricity from turbo-generators to drive motors or other ship systems and weapons. With a research-and-development cost of $9.6 billion, the ships were designed to require a smaller crew and to be less expensive to operate than comparable warships. The program was originally planned to include thirty-two ships, but cost overruns led to successive reductions and only three vessels were ultimately built. This photograph shows the lead ship of the class, USS Zumwalt, transiting the Atlantic Ocean in 2016 during acceptance trials with United States Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey.

Photograph credit: United States Navy

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – The central hub for editors, with resources, links, tasks, and announcements.
Village pump – Forum for discussions about Wikipedia itself, including policies and technical issues.
Site news – Sources of news about Wikipedia and the broader Wikimedia movement.
Teahouse – Ask basic questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
Help desk – Ask questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
Reference desk – Ask research questions about encyclopedic topics.
Content portals – A unique way to navigate the encyclopedia.

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is written by volunteer editors and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other volunteer projects: