Welcome to Wikipedia,

Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. 5,107,300 articles in English

Arts Biography Geography

History Mathematics Science

Society Technology All portals

From today's featured article The Quietly Confident Quartet was the self-given name of the Australian men's 4 × 100 metres medley relay swimming team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics inMoscow. This was the only year since its inception that the event has not been won by the United States, which was boycotting the Moscow Olympics after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The quartet consisted of backstroker Mark Kerry,breaststroker Peter Evans, butterflyer Mark Tonelli andfreestyler Neil Brooks. Tonelli, the oldest at 23, was also a spokesperson for the Australian athletes' campaign to compete at the Olympics against the wishes of the Fraser Government. All four clashed with swimming authorities over disciplinary issues, and three were suspended or expelled from the Australian team. After the backstroke leg, Australia was in fourth place and more than a second behind, but Evans was the fastest breaststroker, moving into second position at the halfway point, and Tonelli completed his leg in a personal best time. Brooks overtook the Soviet swimmer Sergey Kopliakov in the latter half of the final leg to secure a narrow victory. (Full article...) Part of the Quietly Confident Quartet series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics. Recently featured:  Final Fantasy Type-0 Hurricane Charley (1986) California State Route 78 Archive By email More featured articles... Did you know... A BLU-82 15,000 lb bomb at moment of detonation ... that during Operation Strength, a15,000 lb (6.8 T) bomb (example of detonation pictured) served as a diversion to a diversion? ... that when Japanese law changed and barred women from political assembly,Shimizu Shikin quit public speakingand became one of the country's first professional women journalists? ... that Josh Homme credited his work with Iggy Pop on Post Pop Depression with helping him through the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris attacks? ... that the Danish painter and ceramicist Suzette Holtenwas part of the avant-garde Kunstnernes Frie Studieskolermovement? ... that in the FBI–Apple encryption dispute, a federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled that the 1789 All Writs Actcannot be used to compel Apple to unlock a drug dealer’siPhone? ... that in 1940, professional wrestler Murciélago Velázquez was the first Mexican to lose his mask in a match, creating the Luchas de Apuestas concept that headlines shows all over Mexico to this day? ... that the young of Nomorhamphus ebrardtii develop in the mother fish's oviduct, feeding on unfertilised eggs and their smaller siblings? ... that "doomsday trucks" may hit the road following a catastrophic nuclear attack against the United States? Recently improved articles Start a new article Nominate an article

In the news Andrew Wiles Andrew Wiles (pictured) wins the Abel Prize for his proof ofFermat's Last Theorem. An explosion in Ankara, Turkey, kills 37 people and injures at least 125 others. At least 18 people are killed inshootings at a beach resort in Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast. Google DeepMind's AlphaGo computer programwins a series against Lee Sedol, one of the world's best Go players. A total solar eclipse occurs, with totality visible from Indonesia and the North Pacific. Ongoing events:  Zika virus outbreak European migrant crisis Recent deaths:  Paul Daniels Hilary Putnam Lloyd Shapley On this day... March 18: Flag Day in Aruba (1976) Adolphe Thiers 1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelmed the Polish armies ofSandomierz and Krakówprovinces in the Battle of Chmielnik and plundered the abandoned city of Kraków. 1741 – New York governorGeorge Clarke's complex at Fort George was destroyed by a fire supposedly set by slaves, starting the New York Conspiracy of 1741. 1871 – French President Adolphe Thiers(pictured) ordered the evacuation of Paris after an uprising broke out as the result of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, leading to the establishment of the Paris Communegovernment. 1906 – Romanian inventor Traian Vuia became the first person to fly a heavier-than-airmonoplane with an unassisted takeoff. 1996 – The deadliest fire in Philippine historyburned a nightclub in Quezon City, leaving 162 dead. More anniversaries:  March 17 March 18 March 19 Archive By email List of historical anniversaries Current date: March 18, 2016 (UTC) Reload this page

From today's featured list Hurricane Alice in 1955 An off-season Atlantic hurricane is a recorded tropical or subtropical cyclone that existed in the Atlantic basin outside of the official Atlantic hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration currently defines the season as occurring between June 1 and November 30 each calendar year, which is when 97% of all Atlantic tropical cyclones occur. Peak activity is known to be between August and October. In the off-season, storms are most likely to occur in May, with approximately 60% of such storms occurring during that month. Occasionally, however, storms develop in or persist until December. As of 2016, there have been 77 off-season cyclones in the Atlantic hurricane database, which began in 1851. In addition, there were six storms before 1851, and one hurricane in 1863 that is not part of the official database. Off-season cyclones are most likely to occur in the central to western Atlantic Ocean, and most do not make landfall. Of the storms that did strike land, most affected areas surrounding the Caribbean Sea. (Full list...) Recently featured:  Connecticut Huskies in the WNBA Draft Tributaries of Shamokin Creek Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction winners Archive More featured lists...

Today's featured picture Mary I (1516–1558) was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. She is remembered for her restoration of Roman Catholicism after the short-lived Protestant reign of her half-brother,Edward VI. During her five-year reign, she had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions. After her death, Mary gained the posthumous sobriquet "Bloody Mary", and Protestantism was re-established by her successor Elizabeth I. Painting: Antonis Mor Recently featured:  Armenian illuminated manuscript Platoon sergeant Man sweeping volcanic ash Archive More featured pictures...

Other areas of Wikipedia

• Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
• Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
• Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
• Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
• Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
• Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects:

	Commons Free media repository		MediaWiki Wiki software development		Meta-Wiki Wikimedia project coordination
	Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals		Wikidata Free knowledge base		Wikinews Free-content news
	Wikiquote Collection of quotations		Wikisource Free-content library		Wikispecies Directory of species
	Wikiversity Free learning materials and activities		Wikivoyage Free travel guide		Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus

Wikipedia languages

This Wikipedia is written in English. Started in 2001, it currently contains 5,107,300 articles. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.

• More than 1,000,000 articles: 
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Nederlands
  • 日本語
  • Polski
  • Русский
  • Svenska
  • Tiếng Việt
• More than 250,000 articles: 
  • العربية
  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • Bahasa Melayu
  • Català
  • Čeština
  • فارسی
  • 한국어
  • Magyar
  • Norsk bokmål
  • Português
  • Română
  • Srpski / српски
  • Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
  • Suomi
  • Türkçe
  • Українська
  • 中文
• More than 50,000 articles: 
  • Bosanski
  • Български
  • Dansk
  • Eesti
  • Ελληνικά
  • English (simple)
  • Esperanto
  • Euskara
  • Galego
  • עברית
  • Hrvatski
  • Latviešu
  • Lietuvių
  • Norsk nynorsk
  • Slovenčina
  • Slovenščina
  • ไทย

Complete list of Wikipedias

Navigation menu

• 
  

•