Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

277,683 active editors
7,186,275 articles in English

From today's featured article

Capital Indoor Stadium

The figure skating team event at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held between 4 and 7 February at the Capital Indoor Stadium (pictured) in Beijing, China. It consisted of competitions in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters and teams earned points based on their placements in each event; medalists were determined based on their total points. The team representing the Russian Olympic Committee originally finished in first place, while the team from the United States finished second, and the Japanese team third. The medal ceremony was postponed when a positive test confirming the presence of a banned substance was received for Kamila Valieva of Russia. After nearly two years of litigation, Valieva's scores were stricken and the newly tabulated results placed the American team first, the Japanese team second, and the Russian team third. The American and Japanese teams received their medals at a ceremony held at the Jardins du Trocadéro in Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympics. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Semois Valley National Park

... that the Semois Valley National Park (pictured) and the National Park Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse together form part of one of the largest forested areas of Western Europe?
... that Eorcengota had a vision predicting her own death in which she was symbolically represented as a gold coin?
... that quarterback Bart Houston was named after quarterback Bart Starr?
... that HMS Solebay and HMS Derwent were the first ships assigned to suppress the Atlantic slave trade?
... that the Chinese dinosaur Chilantaisaurus is only known from a few giant bones including a huge hand claw?
... that a statue at a baseball stadium has been criticized for connections to racial segregation?
... that Cambridge won all but one of the eight events at the 2026 Boat Race, the exception being the Oxford women's team, who broke their streak of eight consecutive losses?
... that a critic scored Angine de Poitrine's album Vol. II a perfect 10 despite calling it "pretentious and performative"?
... that Nicholas McKay formed the Helmac Products Corporation in 1956 to manufacture and sell his invention: the lint roller?

In the news

Francisco Carvalho

In golf, Aaron Rai wins the PGA Championship.
The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Francisco Carvalho (pictured), wins the most seats in the parliamentary election.
Bulgaria, represented by Dara with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
Protests erupt in Bolivia against the government of Rodrigo Paz, causing clashes between the protesters and the police.

On this day

May 24: Aldersgate Day (Methodism)

Bottle of 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay

1667 – Led by King Louis XIV, the French army invaded the Spanish Netherlands, beginning the War of Devolution.
1830 – The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.
1976 – In a wine competition in Paris (wine bottle pictured), French judges shocked the wine industry by rating California wines higher than French ones.
1986 – A stationary front began over the central Caribbean Sea, leading to severe floods that over two weeks killed dozens of people in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.
2022 – An 18-year old gunman shot and killed nineteen students and two teachers in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley (b. 1576)
Marek Sobieski (b. 1628)
Carmine Infantino (b. 1925)
Beverly White (d. 2021)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Nephila pilipes is a species of golden orb-web spider found across Asia and parts of Oceania. It is commonly found in humid forests and coastal areas, near surface water and against buildings. The species shows extreme sexual dimorphism, with females among the world's largest orb-weaving spiders, reaching 50 mm (2 in) in body length, while males are typically only 5–6.5 mm (0.2–0.25 in). Nephila pilipes preys mainly on flying insects and can alter web structure depending on prey type. Its asymmetrical golden webs are made from exceptionally strong silk that has been studied in materials science. The spider rarely bites humans, and its bites are generally mild. In parts of Vietnam, it is also eaten as a traditional food source. This photograph shows an N. pilipes female and male (on the female's abdomen) on the Wu Kau Tang, Hong Kong.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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: