Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

269,023 active editors
7,256,089 articles in English

From today's featured article

1865 drawing of Price's Raid

The Second Battle of Newtonia was fought on October 28, 1864, near Newtonia, Missouri, between cavalry of the Union Army and the rear guard of the Confederate Army of Missouri. In September 1864, the Confederates launched Price's Raid (pictured), an attempt to create a popular uprising against Union control of Missouri. After being forced to retreat, the Confederates halted to rest near Newtonia. On the afternoon of October 28, Union pursuers caught up and surprised the Confederates. The main Confederate army withdrew, leaving a rear guard under Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby. Shelby initially had a numerical advantage, and used it to outflank Blunt's shorter line. Blunt was considering a retreat shortly before sundown when reinforcements arrived in the form of Brigadier General John B. Sanborn and his brigade. Sanborn joined Blunt's line, and the Union troops counterattacked. Shelby ordered a retreat and was not pursued until October 30. Modern historians credit the Union with a victory at Newtonia. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Construction of Englewood Methodist Church

... that crews assembled the structure of Englewood Methodist Church (pictured) in just four days by using Thomas Moore's design for precast concrete panels?
... that Otonose Kanade sang one song 100 times during a 6-hour 48-minute livestream?
... that rights to make a film adaptation based on the novel Submarine were arranged before it was published?
... that Lázaro Peña was arrested multiple times for his labor activism, including in 1953 for alleged "subversive activity"?
... that the video game Old Skies was praised for its handling of a time traveler revisiting events surrounding the September 11 attacks?
... that a 1982 anthology referred to Romanian writer Tiberiu Iliescu as still "honing [his] craft" – four years after his death aged 71?
... that the Neptune Theatre Restaurant had its own in-house dance troupe?
... that Jean-Jacques Moll made plans for cities of 100,000 inhabitants that could be built anywhere on a relatively flat site?
... that a cookbook from Victorian Britain contained recipes for parrot pie and roast wallaby?

Help us improve this article!

Two aircraft mechanics servicing a rotary aircraft engine

This week's article for improvement is mechanic, a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery.

You can improve this article by:

Finding reliable sources about the topic
Expanding the "Duties and specialities" section
Adding information about other types of mechanics

You can be bold and start editing the article. Have questions or suggestions? Visit the article's talk page, or post at the Teahouse for general discussion.

In the news

Gunmen moving towards St George's church

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is re-elected President of Brazil, while the Liberal Party retain a plurality of seats in both houses of the National Congress in the general election.
In the Serbian parliamentary election, the Student List wins a majority of seats, defeating former president Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party.
In Jordan, a mass shooting at a church (gunmen pictured) leaves nine people dead.
Two high-impact security vulnerabilities in PHP cause disruptions to many online services.

On this day

October 28

Statue of Liberty

312 – Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Constantine the Great defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome.
1453 – Ladislaus the Posthumous was crowned King of Bohemia, although George of Poděbrady remained in control of the government.
1886 – In New York Harbor, U.S. president Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty (pictured), a gift from France commemorating the Declaration of Independence.
2013 – Members of the Turkistan Islamic Party drove a vehicle into a crowd in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, killing five people and injuring thirty-eight others.

Charlotte Turner Smith (d. 1806)
Julia Roberts (b. 1967)
Aki Toyosaki (b. 1986)
Matthew Perry (d. 2023)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Brook Benton

In 1960, fifteen songs topped the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart, ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in rhythm and blues (R&B) and related African-American–oriented genres; the chart has undergone various name changes over the decades to reflect the evolution of such genres, and since 2005 has been published by Billboard as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Brook Benton (pictured) spent the most weeks at number one in 1960, with nine consecutive weeks at number one with "Kiddio" between August and October, and another 14 weeks in the top spot with two duets with Dinah Washington – "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" and "A Rockin' Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love)" – for a cumulative 23 weeks at the top of the chart. Two of 1960's R&B number ones also topped Billboard's all-genre Hot 100 chart: "Cathy's Clown" by the Everly Brothers and "Save the Last Dance for Me" by the Drifters. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The rupiah is the official currency of Indonesia. Introduced in 1946 during the Indonesian National Revolution, it was intended to replace Japanese-issued currency and competed with Dutch-issued money in the country. The rupiah is issued by Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, and its banknotes and coins feature national heroes, traditional dances and natural scenery. This one-rupiah banknote, part of the National Numismatic Collection of the United States, is from the first issue of the rupiah. Although dated 17 October 1945, the notes were not in fact issued until late 1946. The banknote depicts Indonesian president Sukarno on the obverse and a smoking volcano on the reverse. It is unevenly cut, and the legal-tender obligation is arched across the front of the note.

Banknote credit: Republic of Indonesia; scanned by Andrew Shiva

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: