Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Bäckadräkten worn by Clue

Bäckadräkten is Sweden's first unisex folk costume, designed in 2022 by musician Fredy Clue (pictured) and textile designer Ida Björs. Their mission was to encourage wider participation in folk traditions by providing an outfit that is not restricted to any gender or geographic region. The design merges elements traditionally considered either male or female and borrows heavily from older folk costumes. The release generated international press attention and discussions on social media, much of the latter about the relationship between folk arts and gender. Many welcomed the design, saying it provides an opportunity for non-binary Swedes to be more involved in folk culture. Others reacted negatively, resisting the social change they see as associated with it. Clue released a sewing pattern in 2023 and started taking custom orders by 2024, encouraging users to modify as they see fit, saying: "The real work continues with us learning to listen to oneself and others." (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Interior of Liebfrauenkirche

... that Liebfrauenkirche (pictured), a Catholic church in Zurich, was designed with Italian influences to distinguish it from churches of other denominations?
... that a Stegosaurus fossil sold for $44.6 million?
... that according to Charles Melville, the poet Hatefi implied that Timur was another Alexander the Great by making Timur the subject of the fourth poem of a quintet?
... that photographs of Donald Trump taken during the failed attempt to assassinate him have been acclaimed as "immediately legendary"?
... that Jerzy Artysz was given a gala concert on his 70th birthday by the Chopin University of Music?
... that Ernest Hemingway broke a cane over John O'Hara's head in Costello's, an Irish bar in New York City?
... that after her 2019 death in rural China, Huang Wenxiu was elevated into a national model by the Chinese Communist Party?
... that traditional folk dances are an essential part of Pontic Greek culture?
... that police were called several times in 2014 about a fictitious post on r/nosleep?

In the news

Kasia Niewiadoma

In cycling, Katarzyna Niewiadoma (pictured) wins the Tour de France Femmes.
Doctors strike and protests occur across India after the rape and murder of a female physician in Kolkata.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra becomes Prime Minister of Thailand after Srettha Thavisin is dismissed by the Constitutional Court.
The World Health Organization declares the mpox epidemic to be a global health emergency.

On this day

August 28

SMS Mainz (background) shortly before sinking in the Battle of Heligoland Bight

1542 – Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts: During the Battle of Wofla, the Portuguese commander Cristóvão da Gama was captured by the Adal Sultanate and executed the next day.
1833 – The Slavery Abolition Act 1833, officially abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire, received royal assent.
1914 – In the first naval battle of the First World War, British ships ambushed a German naval patrol in the Heligoland Bight (pictured).
1993 – The first direct Presidential election in Singapore was held.
2003 – A pizza delivery man in Erie, Pennsylvania, was killed during a complex bank robbery when a bomb that was locked around his neck exploded.

He Gui (d. 919)
Edward Dando (d. 1832)
Vittorio Sella (b. 1859)
Katharine Abraham (b. 1954)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Danafungia scruposa is a species of coral found in the eastern and western Indian Ocean, the eastern central, northwestern and western central Pacific Ocean, Japan, the East China Sea, the Red Sea, and eastern Australia. It is around 25 centimetres (9.8 inches) in diameter and normally consumes a variety of food from bacteria to mesozooplankton measuring 1 mm (0.039 in) in diameter. During an algal bloom in 2009, researchers observed D. scruposa consuming the jellyfish Aurelia aurita, the first time such behaviour had been seen in the wild. This D. scruposa coral was photographed in the Red Sea off the Egyptian coast.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

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: