Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

126,324 active editors
6,949,809 articles in English

From today's featured article

Civic reception for Notts County after their 2009–10 League Two victory

During the 2009–10 English football season, Notts County F.C. competed in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Shortly before the season began, Notts County was subject to a high-profile takeover by Munto Finance, which was controlled by a convicted fraudster. The club had been acquired as part of an elaborate scheme to list a fake mining company on the stock exchange. The scheme collapsed and Notts County was left deeply in debt. A further takeover prevented bankruptcy and saw the team winning the League Two championship (reception pictured) and being promoted to Football League One. The team also fared well in the FA Cup, reaching the last sixteen of the competition. The season saw four different owners, three permanent first-team managers and two spells of interim management. In total, the team played 54 competitive matches, winning 31, drawing 14 and losing 9. Notts County continued to experience off-field problems and the team were relegated to non-League football in 2019. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Woljeonggyo

... that Woljeonggyo (pictured) was an 8th-century bridge that was recreated in 2018?
... that Fatima Payman is the first elected woman to wear a hijab in Australia’s parliament?
... that Turkey approved the expansion of a coal-fired power station while also bidding to host the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference?
... that the Yiddish poet Shmuel Hurvits quit his job as a teacher to become a street paver due to an ideological appreciation for manual labor?
... that the majority of extrasolar planets in fiction are inhabited by native species?
... that Wu Yun wrote a treatise on immortality but apparently declined to discuss the subject with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?
... that Notre Dame's win in the 2025 Orange Bowl American football game made Marcus Freeman the first Asian and first Black head coach to earn a spot in an FBS national championship game?
... that Panchiko released their first studio album, Failed at Math(s), more than 20 years after the band's formation?
... that Scrat, who appears in many films in the Ice Age franchise, was originally intended to be killed in the introduction of the first film?

In the news

Fireball from the Learjet crash

Eleven people are killed in a mass shooting at an adult education centre in Örebro, Sweden.
A Learjet 55 crashes (explosion pictured) into multiple buildings in Philadelphia, United States, killing at least 7 people and injuring 22 others.
A Beechcraft 1900 crashes in Unity State, South Sudan, killing 20 of the 21 people onboard.
Ahmed al-Sharaa is appointed president of the Syrian transitional government.
American Eagle Flight 5342 collides with an army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., United States, killing all 67 people on board both aircraft.

On this day

February 5: Constitution Day in Mexico (1917)

Painting of the twenty-six

AD 62 – Pompeii was severely damaged by a strong earthquake, which may have been a precursor to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town 17 years later.
1597 – As part of enforcing Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Christianity in Japan, twenty-six Catholics, a mix of European missionaries and Japanese converts, were executed (depicted) near Nagasaki by crucifixion and impalement.
1861 – In a speech before the U.S. Congress, Representative John Edward Bouligny refused to join his fellow Louisiana congressmen in heeding the state's secession convention and resigning.
1967 – Cultural Revolution: The January Storm revolt in Shanghai reached its apogee as Maoist rebels proclaimed the establishment of the Shanghai People's Commune, a move the previously supportive Mao Zedong criticized.
2000 – Second Chechen War: As the Battle of Grozny came to a close, Russian forces summarily executed at least 60 civilians in Grozny's Novye Aldi suburb.

Elizabeth Ryan (b. 1892)
Queen Mary (b. 1972)
Michalina Wisłocka (d. 2005)
Marisa Del Frate (d. 2015)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree, (c. 1797 – 1883) was an American abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and alcohol temperance. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. This cabinet card of Truth was produced around 1864, and is now in the collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden

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: