Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

287,060 active editors
7,148,085 articles in English

From today's featured article

Luisa Capetillo (1882–1922) was a Puerto Rican labor organizer, writer, and cigar factory reader—a person whose job is to read aloud to cigar factory workers. She began writing for her local paper in 1904. In 1905, she became involved with a local anarcho-syndicalist union, organizing an agricultural strike in her hometown of Arecibo and eventually becoming a leader in the union. Starting in 1912, she journeyed across the Atlantic and Caribbean, organizing workers, and in 1915, she was arrested in Cuba for wearing trousers. She was deported back to Puerto Rico but continued to travel and organize until her death. Capetillo published four books in her lifetime, covering a wide variety of forms, genres, and topics. She advocated for free love, universal education, and women's liberation. Interest in her life surged in 1990 with the publication of a biography by journalist Norma Valle Ferrer. Capetillo is considered one of Puerto Rico's earliest feminists. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Halloween Martin

... that Halloween Martin (pictured) became one of the first modern DJs at a time when radio widely discriminated against women?
... that the editors of a dictionary of women's quotations were motivated to create it when they observed that mixed-gender volumes were 90% men?
... that Ruth Wagner, the minister of culture in Hesse from 1999 to 2003, was nicknamed Mother Courage of Hesse?
... that there is an Irish-language parody of Mean Girls?
... that Carla Williams got into self-portraits in part due to the poor representation of Black women in her photography history class?
... that Brigitte Bardot's "Harley Davidson" has been described as "an ode to freedom and female liberation"?
... that Matilda Jane Evans' novels presented women's proper management of their homes as essential to maintaining civilisation in the Australian colonies?
... that the first female president of Ireland helped unveil one of New Zealand's first women's suffrage memorials?
... that Valerie Pitt campaigned for the ordination of women by the Church of England for 25 years before wondering why any woman would want to be a priest?

In the news

Paralympic torch relay

The Winter Paralympics (torch relay pictured) open in Milano and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Israel and the United States launch strikes on Iran, killing its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and other senior officials, and sparking a wider conflict.
A Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the Bolivian Air Force crashes into a road in El Alto, killing more than 20 people.
A military conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalates as the countries exchange cross-border strikes.

On this day

March 8: International Women's Day; Aurat March in Pakistan

Io with two volcanic plumes

1576 – A Spanish colonial officer wrote a letter to King Philip II containing the first mention of the Maya ruins of Copán in present-day Honduras.
1910 – French aviator Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to receive a pilot's licence.
1963 – The Ba'ath Party came to power in a coup d'état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council for the Revolutionary Command.
1979 – Images taken by Voyager 1 proved the existence of volcanoes on Io (pictured), a moon of Jupiter.
2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, with aircraft debris subsequently washing ashore a few years later in the Indian Ocean.

Adela of Normandy (d. 1137)
Louie Nunn (b. 1924)
Alfons Rebane (d. 1976)
Haseeb Ahsan (d. 2013)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Lilly Walleni (1875–1920) is the stage name of Swedish mezzo-soprano Sanna Klara Vallentin. Known for her powerful voice and dramatic stage presence, she performed major Wagnerian roles – including Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre – at leading opera houses in Germany and at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. From 1911 to 1916 she was engaged by the Court Opera in Hanover, where she received cultural honours from the principalities of Lippe and Schaumburg-Lippe. This photograph shows Walleni in the title role of the opera Daria at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1907.

Photograph credit: Anton Blomberg; 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: