Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Hanna in the Gulf of Mexico

Tropical Storm Hanna was the ninth tropical cyclone and eighth named storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season. Hanna formed through the complex interaction of a surface trough, a tropical wave, and an upper-level low pressure system. Initially designated a tropical depression, it attained tropical storm status and a peak intensity of 1,001 mbar (29.6 inHg), with winds of 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). Hanna crossed southeastern Louisiana, and made a second landfall along the Alabama–Mississippi border. On Dauphin Island, Alabama, the storm caused coastal flooding which closed roads and forced the evacuation of residents. Florida received high wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and strong surf that resulted in the deaths of three swimmers. 20,000 homes in the state lost electricity. In Georgia, significant flooding occurred. Crop damage was extensive, and about 335 structures were damaged by the flooding. The storm caused a total of about $20 million USD in damage. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Men disarming an unexploded mortar shell in the Café Adria basement

... that the nightclub Café Adria survived a hit by a Karl-Gerät siege mortar (pictured)?
... that a contemporary adaptation of "The Snow Queen" contains feminist elements and, according to one scholar, violates gender expectations?
... that Badger is the first commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces?
... that the borders of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve were drawn to minimize impact on the Shengli Oil Field?
... that as a child, future Olympian Kevin Mejía sold spinning tops?
... that Chris Cox, the founder of Bikers for Trump, estimated that 70 percent of its members are former military personnel?
... that Feastogether launched a restaurant that was Taiwan's highest-priced buffet when it opened in 2023?
... that while recruiting for the Blair Colony, Betty Blair reportedly convinced potential settlers that there were no flies in South Dakota?
... that the DJ Sammy Virji went viral on TikTok after cueing in a track with a rubber fish?

In the news

Michel Barnier

Typhoon Yagi leaves more than 200 people dead across six Asian countries.
Michel Barnier (pictured) is appointed prime minister of France by President Emmanuel Macron, leading to nationwide anti-government protests.
An attempted jailbreak at Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, leaves 129 people dead.
A Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes in Kamchatka, Russia, killing all 22 people on board.

On this day

September 12

Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning

379 – Yax Nuun Ahiin I took the throne as the ruler (ajaw) of the Mayan city of Tikal.
1846 – The English poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning (both pictured) married in secret to avoid their disapproving families before moving to Italy.
1933 – Hungarian-American physicist Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of the nuclear chain reaction while waiting for a traffic light in Bloomsbury, London.
1948 – The People's Liberation Army launched the Liaoshen campaign, the first of the three major military campaigns during the late stage of the Chinese Civil War.
1995 – Hurricane Ismael formed off the southwest coast of Mexico; it went on to kill over a hundred people in the country.

Parsley Peel (d. 1795)
Alice Ayres (b. 1859)
Ion Agârbiceanu (b. 1882)
Steve Biko (d. 1977)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

The smooth-billed ani (Crotophaga ani) is a bird in the cuckoo family. It is a resident breeding species from southern Florida, the Caribbean, parts of Central America, south to western Ecuador, Brazil, northern Argentina and southern Chile. The smooth-billed ani is a mid-sized species, larger on average than the groove-billed ani but smaller than the greater ani. It measures approximately 35 centimetres (14 inches) in overall length. Males weigh around 115 grams (4.1 ounces), while females are lighter at around 95 grams (3.4 ounces). Adults are mainly glossy black, with a long tail, deep ridged black bill and a brown iris. This smooth-billed ani was photographed in George Town, on the island of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean.

Photograph Charles J. Sharp

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: