Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

257,414 active editors
7,236,559 articles in English

From today's featured article

George Krugers (1890–1964) was a filmmaker active in the Dutch East Indies during the early 20th century. Born in Banda Neira, he migrated to Java in the 1920s and spent time in Surabaya before moving to Bandung. There, he worked with L. Heuveldorp on the colony's first feature film, Loetoeng Kasaroeng (The Mystical Monkey), before making his directorial debut in 1927 with Eulis Atjih. He established the Krugers Film Company and joined the Hajj in 1928 to produce Het Groote Mekka-Feest (The Great Mecca Feast), considered the first documentary film about the Hajj. In 1930, Krugers began producing sound films, with his Karnadi Anemer Bangkong (Karnadi the Frog Contractor, 1930) likely the first domestic sound film in the Indies. After this failed commercially, Krugers worked for Tan's Film. Amidst the Great Depression, he moved to Hong Kong, but found no work. Krugers spent the rest of his life in the Netherlands. Aside from Het Groote Mekka-Feest, all of his films are considered lost. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Ellsworth Johnson

... that the last known survivor of the Operational Group Command (pictured) initially trained as a medic but joined the OSS because he did not want to be a "bedpan jockey"?
... that a 500-year-old style of Korean patchwork has been compared to modern abstract art?
... that the Indonesian painter Hendra Gunawan began using brighter colours while a political prisoner?
... that the spaceships aboard the Xianzhou Luofu in Honkai: Star Rail are inspired by floating rafts from a Jin-dynasty poem?
... that Zinenani Majawa complained that limiting the opening hours of bars during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi was like closing sex workers' workplaces?
... that a Chicago school named after Otto von Bismarck, who wrote that he felt "highly complimented", was renamed Funston Elementary School in 1918 amid wartime anti-German sentiment?
... that a film performance by Denzel Washington so impressed Hampton Fluker that he changed his goal from becoming a football star to pursuing an acting career?
... that not all mollies in the Balsas are Balsas mollies?
... that professional golfer Tommy Morrison was 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) by the age of 14?

In the news

Gloria Steinem in 1977

American journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem (pictured) dies at the age of 92.
Duane Davis is convicted of orchestrating the 1996 murder of American rapper Tupac Shakur.
In a referendum, Icelanders reject European Union membership negotiations.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is launched towards its Earth–Sun L2 operating orbit.
An attempted coup against the military junta in Niger fails.
King Harald V of Norway dies at the age of 89 and is succeeded by Haakon VIII.

On this day

September 7: Labour Day in Canada and Labor Day in the United States (2026)

Flag of Brazil from 1822 to 1853

1652 – Chinese peasants on Formosa (now Taiwan) began a rebellion against Dutch rule which was suppressed four days later.
1822 – Pedro I declared the independence of Brazil from Portugal, establishing the Empire of Brazil (flag pictured).
1936 – The last thylacine died in captivity in Hobart Zoo, Australia.
1986 – Desmond Tutu became the first black leader of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
2004 – Hurricane Ivan made landfall on Grenada, devastating at least 85 per cent of buildings on the island.

Gregory Bicskei (d. 1303)
John Shakespeare (d. 1601)
Ersin Tatar (b. 1960)
Elinor Barker (b. 1994)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Ye Olde Boar's Head

There are 138 listed pubs in Greater Manchester, a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England. Pubs in Greater Manchester may be designated as listed buildings for their architectural and historic interest. The city of Manchester has 36 listed pubs, the greatest number of any metropolitan district in the county, while the borough of Tameside has the fewest listed pubs, with four. The buildings range from Ye Olde Boar's Head (pictured), a mid–16th‑century structure later adapted to licensed use, to interwar premises, and include former houses, inns, hotels, a school, a cinema, and purpose‑built Victorian pubs. Their official entries record features such as tiled façades, timber framing, and surviving interior elements, illustrating Greater Manchester's 19th‑ and early-20th‑century architectural character. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The proboscis bat (Rhynchonycteris naso) is a species of bat in the family Emballonuridae, found in Central America and northern South America. It is a small bat, with a head-and-body length of 37 to 43 mm (1.5 to 1.7 in) and a weight of 2.1 to 4.3 g (0.074 to 0.152 oz). It inhabits lowland areas, including forests, caves and other underground habitats, and seldom occurs above elevations of 300 m (1,000 ft). The proboscis bat feeds on insects, including mosquitoes, beetles and caddisflies, caught over water. This photograph shows three proboscis bats camouflaged against a tree branch in Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica.

Photograph credit: Rhododendrites

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: