Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 February 5

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welcome to Wikipedia,
5,072,635 articles in English

From today's featured article

HMS Courageous as an aircraft carrier in 1935

HMS Courageous was the lead ship of the Courageous-class cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Lightly armoured and armed with only a few heavy guns, the ship was designed to support the Baltic Project, a plan championed by First Sea Lord John Fisher to invade the German coast north of Berlin. Courageous was completed in late 1916 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea. The ship participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917 and was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later. Courageous was decommissioned after the war, but rebuilt as an aircraft carrier during the mid-1920s. The ship could carry 48 aircraft compared to the 36 carried by the similar Furious on approximately the same tonnage. After recommissioning and a new career operating off Great Britain and Ireland, the ship briefly became a training carrier until resuming patrols, a few months before the start of the Second World War in September 1939. Courageous was torpedoed and sunk in the opening weeks of the war, with the loss of more than 500 crew members. (Full article...)

Part of the Battlecruisers of the world series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

Did you know...

Pierre Boulez in 1968
Pierre Boulez in 1968

In the news

Airbus A321 in 2013
Airbus A321 onboard which an explosion occurred

On this day...

February 5: Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan begins (2016); Kashmir Solidarity Day in Pakistan

The "Welcome Stranger" gold nugget
The "Welcome Stranger" gold nugget

From today's featured list

Abhishek Bachchan in 2014

Abhishek Bachchan's acting career has mainly consisted of his work in Hindi films. Bachchan, an Indian actor, made his screen debut as the male lead in Refugee (2000), and starred in a series of unsuccessful films between 2000 and 2003. In 2004, he played supporting roles in the political drama Yuva and action thriller Dhoom, winning a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for the former. Between 2005 and 2007 Bachchan appeared in many Bollywood films. Among others, his performance in Guru (2007) was positively received. After Bachchan suffered a brief setback in his career as he starred in another series of films that performed poorly at the box-office, including the drama Raavan (2010), and the action thriller Game (2011), Bachchan played a supporting role in the comedy Bol Bachchan (2012), opposite Ajay Devgan. Bachchan followed this with two more supporting appearances in commercially successful films: Dhoom 3 (2013) and the action heist comedy Happy New Year (2014). (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Glaucus atlanticus

Glaucus atlanticus is a small blue sea slug. This pelagic aeolid nudibranch floats upside down, using the surface tension of the water to stay up, and is carried along by the winds and ocean currents. The blue side of their body faces upwards, blending in with the blue of the water, while the grey side faces downwards, blending in with the silvery surface of the sea. G. atlanticus feeds on other pelagic creatures, including the Portuguese man o' war.

Photograph: Taro Taylor; edit: Dapete

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: