Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Title page

Free and Candid Disquisitions is an anonymously published 1749 pamphlet written and compiled by John Jones, a Welsh clergyman of the Church of England. The work promoted a series of reforms to the church and the Book of Common Prayer that Jones hoped would allow the more Protestant and independent Dissenters to be reintegrated into the church. Jones's proposals included shortening the Sunday liturgies, removing Catholic ritual influences, and providing improved hymns and psalms. Several responding texts were written, both lauding and criticizing Jones's work. While the proposals were not accepted by the Church of England, Jones's suggested alterations to the prayer book and advocacy of privately published liturgies influenced several Dissenter liturgical texts and early editions of the American Episcopal Church's prayer book. The pamphlet remained a major influence on proposed liturgical changes in the Church of England until the 19th-century Tractarian movement. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Oriana Skylar Mastro

... that Oriana Skylar Mastro (pictured), a Stanford political scientist, joined the U.S. Air Force as a PhD student to better understand military issues in the Asia–Pacific region?
... that the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
... that in its centennial year, Anderson's Grocery was said to be one of only ten small U.S. groceries that were more than a hundred years old?
... that Israeli archer Mikaella Moshe competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics after having spent less than two years in the sport?
... that a third of London Underground stations have step-free access?
... that Olympic sprinter Filomenaleonisa Iakopo is also a competitive bodybuilder?
... that the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery faced criticism in 2014 when it did not allow a lesbian couple to be buried together?
... that three-quarters of Doctor Who's longest story are missing?
... that had Cambodian swimmer Apsara Sakbun declined her invitation to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics, her sister would have become an Olympian instead?

In the news

Ismail Haniyeh

The United States, Russia, and their respective allies agree to a prisoner exchange of 26 people.
Ismail Haniyeh (pictured), the political leader of Hamas, is assassinated in Tehran, Iran.
Landslides in Wayanad, India, kill more than 350 people.
In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship concludes with Armagh defeating Galway in the final.

On this day

August 3

Jesse Owens in the long jump at the 1936 Olympics

1347 – Hundred Years' War: The French town of Calais capitulated to English forces after an eleven-month siege, ending the Crécy campaign.
1903 – Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaimed a republic, which existed for ten days before Ottoman forces destroyed the town.
1936 – African-American athlete Jesse Owens won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, dashing Nazi leaders' hopes of Aryan domination at the games.
1971 – Fighting Dinosaurs, a fossil specimen featuring a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops in combat, was unearthed in the Djadochta Formation of Mongolia.
1997 – The Sky Tower, then the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 328 m (1,076 ft), opened in Auckland, New Zealand.

Herbert Armitage James (b. 1844)
Tony Bennett (b. 1926)
Frumka Płotnicka (d. 1943)
Alexander Mair (d. 1969)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Belva Ann Lockwood (1830–1917) was an American lawyer, politician, educator, and author who was active in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements. She was one of the first women lawyers in the United States, and in 1879 she became the first woman to be admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court. She later ran for president, one of the first women to do so, in the 1884 and 1888 presidential elections, on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party. This albumen silver print of a photograph of Lockwood was taken around 1880 by Benjamin Joseph Falk.

Photograph credit: Benjamin Joseph Falk; restored by Adam Cuerden

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: