Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

U.S. Highway 8 runs east–west for 280 miles (451 km), mostly within the state of Wisconsin. It connects Interstate 35 in Forest Lake, Minnesota, to U.S. Highway 2 at Norway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Except for some short freeway segments, it is mostly undivided surface road. It is maintained by the departments of transportation of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Part of the U.S. Highway System, it was commissioned on November 11, 1926, running between Forest Lake and Pembine, Wisconsin, with a planned continuation to Powers, Michigan. The western end was extended to Minneapolis, but the terminus was later moved back to Forest Lake. The eastern terminus was changed from Powers to Norway. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation built a bypass around Rhinelander in the 1990s and created a locally maintained business loop along the old highway through the central business district. The signage for the loop was removed in 2005. (This article is part of a featured topic: U.S. Highways in Michigan.)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Vivian Smith

... that Vivian Smith (pictured) was the first black student to earn a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Northern Iowa?
... that use of the 1604 Book of Common Prayer was authorized by the king of England, but later outlawed by Parliament?
... that Turkish world- and European-champion armwrestler Esra Kiraz used to carry cement bags at construction sites where her father worked?
... that the release of the Compaq Deskpro 386 marked the first time a company other than IBM revised a major component of their PC standard?
... that Quentin Oliver Lee landed a title role in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess on Broadway after a casting agent spotted him singing in a subway station?
... that "Citizen Erased" was Muse's first song to include a seven-string guitar?
... that pediatrician James Oleske was a pioneer in identifying that HIV/AIDS could be a disease in children?
... that a bear ate 75 pounds (34 kg) of cocaine in 1985, and was nicknamed Pablo Eskobear?

In the news

Pelé

Brazilian footballer Pelé (pictured) dies at the age of 82.
A winter storm causes record-breaking low temperatures and leaves more than 90 people dead across North America.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal becomes Prime Minister of Nepal after the general election.
Sitiveni Rabuka becomes Prime Minister of Fiji after a coalition government is formed following the general election.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban institute a ban on women attending university and working in non-government organisations.

On this day

December 30: Laba Festival in China (2022), Rizal Day in the Philippines (1896)

Richard of York

1460 – Wars of the Roses: At the Battle of Wakefield, Lancastrian forces destroyed the Yorkist army and killed Richard of York (pictured) at Sandal Magna in West Yorkshire, England.
1902 – The Discovery Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott attained a new Farthest South point in Antarctica.
1903 – In one of the deadliest single-building fires in United States history, the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago killed more than 600 people.
1954 – The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation was established to consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single agency.
2009 – Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies in several Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests on the holy day of Ashura.

Josephine Butler (d. 1906)
Elmira Minita Gordon (b. 1930)
Bianca Ingrosso (b. 1994)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Bruce Willis

American actor Bruce Willis began his career in 1980 with an uncredited role in The First Deadly Sin. After guest-starring in a 1984 episode of Miami Vice, he appeared in the first episode of the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone. Willis achieved fame starring in the ABC comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989). In 1988, he starred as John McClane in Die Hard (1988), a film that spawned four sequels that earned him international recognition as an action hero. Willis' additional credits include Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), Last Man Standing (1996), The Fifth Element (1997), and Armageddon (1998). In 1999, he starred as Dr. Malcolm Crowe in the critically-acclaimed The Sixth Sense (1999), which earned six Academy Award nominations. Willis is known for collaborating with writer and director M. Night Shyamalan in several of his films including the Eastrail 177 Trilogy consisting of Unbreakable (2000), Split (2016), and Glass (2019). (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The Green–Meldrim House is a historic house at 14 West Macon Street, on the northwest corner of Madison Square, in Savannah, Georgia. Built in 1853, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The house is owned by the adjacent St. John's Church, which offers tours and uses it as a meeting and reception space. This 1864 sketch by William Waud depicts the entrance hall of the Green–Meldrim House, which was then in use by General William Tecumseh Sherman as his headquarters during the American Civil War. Waud's illustration was adapted into an engraving for the January 21, 1865, issue of Harper's Weekly.

Illustration credit: William Waud; 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: