First page

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.

117,824 active editors
6,941,911 articles in English

From today's featured article

Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh was a comedy show broadcast from 1944 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1954 by BBC Radio, and from 1950 to 1951 by Radio Luxembourg. It was written by and starred Richard Murdoch and Kenneth Horne as officers in a fictional Royal Air Force station coping with red tape and the inconveniences and incongruities of life in the Second World War. After the war the station became a country club and, for its last season, the show became the chronicle of a newspaper, The Weekly Bind. Among the supporting cast were Sam Costa as the officers' batman, Maurice Denham in a multitude of roles, Dora Bryan and Nicholas Parsons. Singers in the show's musical interludes included Gwen Catley, Maudie Edwards, Binnie Hale and Doris Hare. Among those appearing as guest stars were Phyllis Calvert, Richard Dimbleby, Glynis Johns, Alan Ladd and Jean Simmons. The show followed It's That Man Again as the most popular British radio comedy and was succeeded by Take It from Here and The Goon Show. After the show ended, its two stars returned to radio in several long-running series. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Desert paintbrush

... that the flowers of the desert paintbrush (example pictured) are small, green, and unremarkable?
... that all sporting events in Djibouti were banned for three days after the death of Abdoulkader Waberi Askar?
... that the 1925 Tri-State tornado was the deadliest in United States history?
... that Annilese Miskimmon directed a choose-your-own-ending production of Mozart's Così fan tutte?
... that more than 60 student athletes were involved in an academic dishonesty scandal at Florida State University between 2006 and 2007?
... that Malik Ambersley escaped homelessness by making TikTok Live content in which he pretended to be a non-player character version of the superhero Miles Morales?
... that Polish prisoners of war in World War II were held not only by Nazi Germany but also by the Soviet Union?
... that the death of child monarch Kerekorio Manu Rangi in 1867 ended the ancient dynasty of Easter Island, which according to local belief "went back to the gods themselves"?
... that a widespread violin performance scam was described by radio host Scott Simon as "one more raindrop in the storm of schemes that blur our view of what's right in front of us"?

In the news

David Lynch in 1990

American filmmaker David Lynch (pictured) dies at the age of 78.
South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol is arrested after his declaration of martial law.
Joseph Aoun is elected president of Lebanon after a two-year vacancy, and Nawaf Salam is nominated as prime minister.
An attack on the presidential palace in N'Djamena, Chad, results in 19 deaths.

On this day

January 19

Iva Toguri

1419 – Hundred Years' War: The siege of Rouen ended with English troops capturing the city from Norman French forces.
1909 – A deed was recorded for David Hanbury to sell Island No. 2 in northern California to his brother John for $10 ($339.00 in 2023).
1977 – Iva Toguri (pictured), convicted of treason for broadcasting Japanese propaganda, was granted a full pardon by U.S. president Gerald Ford.
1996 – A tank barge and a tug grounded on a beach in Rhode Island, causing a spill of an estimated 828,000 U.S. gallons (3.13 million litres) of home heating oil.
2006 – In the deadliest aviation accident in Slovak history, an Antonov An-24 operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in northern Hungary, killing 42 of the 43 people on board.

Giuseppe Millico (b. 1737)
Sophie Taeuber-Arp (b. 1889)
Choor Singh (b. 1911)
Sarah Burke (d. 2012)

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Today's featured picture

The roadside hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) is a relatively small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found from Mexico through Central America and in most of South America east of the Andes. With the possible exception of dense rainforests, the roadside hawk is well adapted to most ecosystems in its range. It is also an urban bird, and is possibly the most common species of hawk seen in various cities throughout its range. This roadside hawk of the subspecies R. m. griseocauda was photographed feeding on a speckled racer in Orange Walk District, Belize.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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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: