Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Liftoff of Apollo 16

Apollo 16 (April 16–27, 1972) was the tenth crewed mission in the United States Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and next-to-last to land on the Moon. The mission was crewed by John Young, Commander; Charles Duke, Lunar Module Pilot; and Ken Mattingly, Command Module Pilot. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 16, 1972 (pictured), Apollo 16 experienced a number of minor glitches en route to the Moon. These culminated with a problem with the spaceship's main engine that resulted in a six-hour delay in the Moon landing. Young and Duke explored the Descartes Highlands, a site thought volcanic, although this proved to be not so. Mattingly orbited the Moon in the command and service module, taking photos and operating scientific instruments. During the return trip to Earth, Mattingly performed a one-hour spacewalk to retrieve several film cassettes from the exterior of the service module. Apollo 16 returned safely to Earth on April 27, 1972. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Anaea aidea

... that butterflies of the genus Anaea (example pictured) are said to have "commanded the admiration of even the most gold-mad conquistadores"?
... that Artem Datsyshyn, the National Opera of Ukraine's principal dancer in ballets such as Swan Lake and La Bayadère, is said to have danced with "romantic sublimity" and "psychological depth"?
... that the freighter Emperor is the most visited shipwreck in Isle Royale National Park?
... that Ciceruacchio, a cart driver, was described as "Rome's first citizen"?
... that Russia's Unfriendly Countries List includes the United States, the European Union, and San Marino?
... that Eric Sbraccia made his professional wrestling debut at the age of fourteen as a "junior member" for Tony Rumble in International Championship Wrestling?
... that the island of Poilão, within the João Vieira and Poilão Marine National Park, supports five percent of the world's green sea turtle nests?
... that Paddy Morgan conceded the final of the 1976 Australian Professional Championship rather than play with Eddie Charlton's balls?

In the news

Russian cruiser Moskva

Russia's Black Sea Fleet flagship, the cruiser Moskva (pictured), sinks after an explosion off the coast of Ukraine.
Flooding across KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, leaves at least 300 people dead.
Shehbaz Sharif is elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan after Imran Khan is removed in a no-confidence motion.
Tropical Storm Megi kills at least 130 people in the Philippines.

On this day

April 16: First day of Passover (Judaism, 2022)

Harriet Quimby

1520 – Citizens of Toledo, Castile, opposed to the rule of the foreign-born Charles I, revolted when the royal government attempted to unseat radical city councilors.
1847 – New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief was accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in the settlement of Whanganui on New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Whanganui campaign.
1912 – American pilot Harriet Quimby (pictured) became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
1963 – In response to an open letter written by white clergymen, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail in defence of the strategy of nonviolent resistance against racism.
2001 – India and Bangladesh began a six-day conflict over their disputed border, which ended in a stalemate.

Tabinshwehti (b. 1516)
Farran Zerbe (b. 1871)
Johnny Peirson (d. 2021)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Richèl Hogenkamp (born 16 April 1992) is a professional tennis player from the Netherlands. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 94, which she reached on 24 July 2017. On the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, she has won 16 singles and 14 doubles titles. This photograph depicts Hogenkamp competing at the 2015 Madrid Open.

Photograph credit: Carlos Delgado

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:

Commons
Free media repository
MediaWiki
Wiki software development
Meta-Wiki
Wikimedia project coordination
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikispecies
Directory of species
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Wikipedia languages

This Wikipedia is written in English. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.

1,000,000+ articles
- العربية
- Deutsch
- Español
- Français
- Italiano
- Nederlands
- 日本語
- Polski
- Português
- Русский
- Svenska
- Українська
- Tiếng Việt
- 中文
250,000+ articles
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Bahasa Melayu
- Bân-lâm-gú
- Български
- Català
- Čeština
- Dansk
- Esperanto
- Euskara
- فارسی‎
- עברית
- 한국어
- Magyar
- Norsk Bokmål
- Română
- Srpski
- Srpskohrvatski
- Suomi
- Türkçe
50,000+ articles