Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Izmail under construction at the Baltic Works

The Borodino-class battlecruisers were a group of four battlecruisers ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy before World War I for service with the Baltic Fleet. Construction of the ships was delayed by a lack of capacity among domestic factories and the need to order some components from abroad. The start of the war in 1914 slowed their construction still further. All of the ships were launched in 1915–1916, but it became evident that Russian industry would not be able to complete them during the war. The Russian Revolution of 1917 halted all work on the ships. Although some consideration was given to finishing the hulls that were nearest to completion, they were all eventually sold for scrap by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Navy proposed to convert Izmail (pictured), the ship closest to completion, to an aircraft carrier in 1925, but the plan was cancelled after political manoeuvring by the Red Army led to funding not being available. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battlecruisers of the world.)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Crystal structure of ice XVII

... that ice XVII (structure shown) potentially has a use in green technology as a medium for storing hydrogen?
... that the book Working from Within details how W. V. Quine only began to use the term "naturalism" years after he had already developed the key tenets of the philosophy?
... that the owner of a Louisiana radio station was killed while in the process of putting it back on the air?
... that the 1944 Story of a Secret State was one of the first book accounts of the German occupation of Poland, including the Holocaust in Poland?
... that the Dimension 68000 microcomputer had expansion cards to emulate the Apple II, the IBM PC, and various CP/M machines?
... that William Penney, Baron Penney, was credited as the "father of the British bomb"?
... that the proposed third season of teen sitcom Sonny with a Chance was reworked into the sketch comedy series So Random! after the departure of its lead actor Demi Lovato?
... that banker Hermann Marx and his firm underwrote the share issue that led to the "pepper scandal" of 1934?

In the news

Hurricane Julia impacting Nicaragua

Hurricane Julia (satellite image shown) leaves more than 80 people dead across South and Central America.
After an explosion damages the Crimean Bridge, Russia attacks many Ukrainian cities with missiles.
In motor racing, Max Verstappen wins the Formula One World Championship.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Carolyn Bertozzi, Karl Barry Sharpless, and Morten P. Meldal for their work on click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.

On this day

October 16: Mawlid (Shia Islam, 2022)

Jadwiga of Poland

1384 – Jadwiga (pictured) was officially crowned as "King of Poland" instead of "Queen" to reflect the fact that she was a sovereign in her own right.
1834 – Most of the Palace of Westminster in London was destroyed in a fire caused by the burning of wooden tally sticks.
1944 – A four-day air battle over Taiwan ended with a decisive American victory, destroying hundreds of Japanese aircraft and military facilities.
2017 – The Maltese journalist and anti-corruption activist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb attack in Bidnija.

Pedro González de Lara (d. 1130)
Pamela C. Rasmussen (b. 1959)
Naomi Osaka (b. 1997)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

David Ben-Gurion (16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of the country. Born David Grün, he adopted the surname Ben-Gurion in 1909, and later rose to become the preeminent leader of the Jewish community in British-ruled Mandatory Palestine from 1935 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which he led until 1963 with a short break between 1954 and 1955. This photograph of Ben-Gurion was taken in 1960 and is part of Israel's National Photo Collection.

Photograph credit: Fritz Cohen

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: