Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

King's Highway 403 is a 400-series highway in Ontario, Canada, between Woodstock and Mississauga, which branches off southwards from Highway 401 and travels through Hamilton and Mississauga before reuniting with the 401. It is concurrent and co-signed with the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) for 22 km (14 mi) from Burlington to Oakville. The 403 designation was applied to a short stub in 1963; the entire route was completed when the Brantford to Ancaster section opened on August 15, 1997. The Woodstock to Burlington stretch was dedicated as the Alexander Graham Bell Parkway in 2016. Most of Highway 403 runs through suburbia, although the areas west of Hamilton are agricultural except for Brantford. In Hamilton, Highway 403 descends the Niagara Escarpment, then runs north of Hamilton Harbour to the QEW. It then travels through Burlington and Oakville, departing from the QEW to the north at the Mississauga–Oakville boundary. It then crosses Mississauga's city centre before turning north and ends at Highway 401. Some lanes continue north to Brampton as Highway 410. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

William H. Davis

... that William H. Davis (pictured) was the first teacher of Booker T. Washington and the first African American to be nominated as a candidate for West Virginia governor in 1888?
...that defence was not a significant factor in the design or placement of Earlstoun Castle, which was unusual for a 16th-century tower house?
... that Baya Gamani was freed from prison by his captor, King Mohnyin Thado, to defend the capital region of Ava?
... that the Manila Standard described the concert Two for the Knight as the "biggest team-up of a foreign and local artist" in the Philippines?
... that hostile references towards Anglo-Egyptian rule in Sudan by Khalil Farah were hidden in colloquial Sudanese Arabic?
... that when the University of South Dakota started a radio station, the transmitter was built by student and future Nobel Prize winner Ernest Lawrence?
... that the 1971 Hazelwood massacre was the largest mass murder in the history of "Murder City"?
... that taxation may have played a part in the fall of the Roman Empire?

In the news

Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie (pictured), author of The Satanic Verses, is critically injured after a knife attack at a speech in the United States.
A mass die-off of fish, beaver and other wildlife occurs in the Polish part of the river Oder, causing a health and environmental crisis.
A mass shooting after a family conflict in Cetinje, Montenegro, leaves 11 people dead and 6 others injured.
The Chess Olympiad concludes with Uzbekistan winning the open event and Ukraine winning the women's event.

On this day

August 14: Independence Day in Pakistan (1947)

Phonograph recording of
"The Lost Chord"

1264 – War of Saint Sabas: A Genoese fleet captured or sank most of the ships of a Venetian trade convoy off the Albanian coast.
1842 – American Indian Wars: General William J. Worth declared an end to the Second Seminole War, fought between U.S. forces and the Seminole people of Florida.
1888 – One of the first recordings of music, of Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord" (audio featured), was played at a press conference in London to introduce Thomas Edison's phonograph.
2010 – The inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games opened in Singapore for athletes aged between 14 and 18.

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (b. 1892)
Hugh Trumble (d. 1938)
Mila Kunis (b. 1983)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

The ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana) is a species of bird in the bunting family, Emberizidae. A native of most European countries and western Asia, it reaches as far north as Scandinavia and beyond the Arctic Circle, frequenting cornfields and their neighbourhoods. It is an uncommon vagrant in spring, and particularly in autumn, to the British Isles. Seeds are the bird's natural diet, but beetles and other insects are taken when feeding their young. The ortolan is served in French cuisine, typically cooked and eaten whole. Traditionally diners cover their heads with their napkin or a towel while eating the delicacy. The species is so widely used that its French populations dropped dangerously low, leading to laws restricting its use in 1999. In September 2007, the French government announced its intent to enforce long-ignored laws protecting the bird. This ortolan bunting was photographed in the Sierra de Guara, a mountain range in Aragon, Spain.

Photograph credit: Pierre Dalous

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: