Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

275,696 active editors
7,169,011 articles in English

From today's featured article

Biopsy of small intestine with coeliac disease

Coeliac disease is a chronic, autoimmune disease mainly affecting the small intestine, caused by an abnormal immune system response to gluten. The disease's classic form can affect any age group, causing symptoms of malabsorption. Non-classic coeliac disease is more common in adults, characterised by vague abdominal symptoms and complications in organs outside the gastrointestinal tract. To those with a genetic predisposition to the condition, eating gluten causes inflammation in the small intestine, damaging its lining and leading to malabsorption. Diagnosis is based on symptoms, blood tests, and biopsies of the small intestine. It is treated by implementing a gluten-free diet; symptoms can improve within days. Diagnoses have increased due to increased awareness and availability of blood testing, but it is still thought to be underdiagnosed. Most people develop the disease before the age of ten; it is slightly more common in women than in men. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Cruz de Clavos

... that the original Cruz de Clavos (replica pictured), which included 260 nails representing women killed in Chihuahua, was later stolen despite being anchored to the ground?
... that People in Trouble was based on Sarah Schulman's experiences of the AIDS crisis, Donald Trump, and having an affair with a married woman?
... that medieval sources disagree on exactly how Count Henry II of Champagne died in a fall, variously blaming a broken window bar, a carpet, or even a falling dwarf?
... that one archaeologist suggested that the shape of the Baptistery of Bekalta facilitated multiple baptisms at the same time?
... that Jessie Catherine Couvreur became so famous for her public lectures about Australia that she was invited to a private meeting with King Leopold II of Belgium?
... that the first Sokoban video game featured text-based graphics and only five levels, until a salesman saw it and suggested that it had commercial potential?
... that Sophie Tea once paid for accommodation by painting a cow?
... that Docip provided a computer room for indigenous peoples' representatives in international negotiations?
... that Indonesian diplomat Triyono Wibowo attempted to bring Komodo dragons and orangutans to Slovenia?

In the news

Romuald Wadagni

Romuald Wadagni (pictured) wins the Beninese presidential election.
In golf, Rory McIlroy wins the Masters Tournament.
The Tisza Party, led by Péter Magyar, wins the Hungarian parliamentary election, ending sixteen years of rule by Viktor Orbán's Fidesz.
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is re-elected for a sixth consecutive term in the Djiboutian presidential election.

On this day

April 15: Universal Day of Culture; Day of the Sun in North Korea; Jackie Robinson Day and Tax Day in the United States

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

769 – The final session of the Lateran Council, convened to rectify abuses in the papal electoral process that had led to the elevation of the antipopes Constantine II and Philip, was held in Rome.
1191 – Henry VI, King of Germany (pictured), was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
1755 – A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson was first published, becoming one of the most influential dictionaries in the history of English.
1802 – English poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy encountered a "long belt" of daffodils near Ullswater, inspiring him to pen his best-known work, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".
1989 – The death of former Chinese General Secretary Hu Yaobang triggered a series of events that led to the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
2021 – A mass shooting at a FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killed nine and injured seven.

Mary Grant Roberts (b. 1841)
Joe Davis (b. 1901)
Soichi Noguchi (b. 1965)
Greta Garbo (d. 1990)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Curtis Granderson

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 20–20–20 club is the group of batters who have collected 20 doubles, 20 triples, and 20 home runs in a single season. Frank Schulte was the first to achieve this, doing so in 1911. The last players to reach the milestone – Curtis Granderson (pictured) and Jimmy Rollins – attained 20–20–20 during the 2007 season. This marked the first time that two players accomplished the achievement in the same season. In total, seven players are members of the 20–20–20 club. Of these, five were left-handed batters, one was right-handed, and one was a switch hitter, meaning he could bat from either side of the plate. Two players – George Brett and Willie Mays – are members of the 3,000-hit club, and Mays is a member of the 500 home run club. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The Baspa Valley is the river valley of the Baspa River, which is fed by Himalayan glaciers and flows through the district of Kinnaur, in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, until it meets the Sutlej. This photograph shows a panoramic view of the Baspa Valley covered in snow in March 2025. The town of Sangla is on the right-hand side of the image.

Photograph credit: UnpetitproleX

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: