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The Wikipedia Main Page

Welcome to the Wikipedia tour. My name is Denis, and I will be your guide. This trip will show you the diversity of the content on Wikipedia, some of its most unusual articles, the inner workings of the project, its policies and debates, and everything you need to know to become a contributor. Don't worry about getting lost - I will be with you during the whole trip.

What you see below is the Main Page of Wikipedia. You've probably seen it before, but pay a closer look. Much of the content below is updated daily by our open community of editors. The featured article, for example, is picked from the list of featured articles. These are pages which have undergone a community review process. The Did you know section in the lower right comes exclusively from our latest article additions. Also take a look at all the other languages Wikipedia is available in!

Welcome to Wikipedia

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the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

6,935,666 articles in English

From today's featured article

Cyfeilliog (died c. 927) was a bishop in south-east Wales. The location and extent of his diocese is uncertain, but lands granted to him are mainly close to Caerwent, suggesting that his diocese covered Gwent, possibly extending into Ergyng (now south-west Herefordshire). He is recorded in charters dating from the mid-880s to the early tenth century. In 914 he was captured by the Vikings and ransomed by Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons, for 40 pounds of silver. Edward's assistance is regarded by historians as evidence that he inherited the overlordship of his father, Alfred the Great, over the south-east Welsh kingdoms. Cyfeilliog is probably the author of a cryptogram (encrypted text) which was added as a marginal note to the ninth-century collection of poetry known as the Juvencus Manuscript. The twelfth-century Book of Llandaff records his death in 927, but some historians are sceptical as they think that this date is late for a bishop active in the 880s. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Nicolaas van Wijk

... that Nicolaas van Wijk (pictured), after helping to provide humanitarian aid during World War I, called the Partitions of Poland "an offense against God"?
... that the Rescatemos a David y Miguel memorial was installed seven years ago today in response to a kidnapping that occurred thirteen years ago today?
... that Carol and Eric Hafner ran for five United States House of Representatives seats for states in which they did not live, and mostly had not visited?
... that the first modern Chinese play was based on an American novel and staged in Tokyo?
... that ketchup chips were introduced in the 1970s along with other flavours such as grape and orange?
... that the military glider Tsybin Ts-25 was considered for use as a civilian airliner?
... that the futurist novel Man of Smoke, according to a scholar, contains a hidden legal code for readers to piece together?
... that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet became the lowest-rated mainline entries in the franchise's history due to performance issues at launch?
... that Mirza Ebrahim Khan Sahhafbashi opened the first commercial movie theater in Iran, only for it to be banned within a month?

In the news

Luke Littler

Luke Littler (pictured) wins the PDC World Darts Championship.
A spree shooter in Cetinje, Montenegro, kills 12 people and injures 4 others.
Romania and Bulgaria become full members of the Schengen Area.
In New Orleans, an attacker rams a truck into a crowd and opens fire, killing at least 14 people and injuring 35 others.

On this day

January 5: Twelfth Night (Western Christianity)

Harry S. Truman

1757 – King Louis XV survived an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who later became the last person in France to be executed by drawing and quartering.
1869 – Te Kooti's War: After surviving a five-day siege in the pā at Ngātapa, Māori leader Te Kooti escaped from New Zealand's Armed Constabulary.
1919 – The German Workers' Party, the precursor of the Nazi Party, was founded by Anton Drexler.
1949 – In his State of the Union speech, U.S. president Harry S. Truman (pictured) announced: "Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal."
2003 – The Metropolitan Police arrested six people in conjunction with an alleged terrorist plot to release ricin on the London Underground, although no toxin was found.

al-Mu'tasim (d. 842)
Joseph Erlanger (b. 1874)
Edmund Herring (d. 1982)
Pierre Boulez (d. 2016)

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Today's featured picture

Holger Drachmann (1846–1908) was a Danish poet, dramatist and painter. He was a member of the Skagen artistic colony and became a figure of the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Movement. Born in Copenhagen, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, going on to achieve fame for his painting of seascapes and ships in storms. He began writing poetry in 1872; his most famous work is the 1877 collection of poems Sange ved Havet (Songs of the Sea).

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: