Welcome to Wikipedia

,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

The 4th Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation mobilised prior to the German-led invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. It initially consisted of three infantry divisions, one brigade-strength detachment, one horse cavalry regiment and one independent infantry regiment. It was responsible for defending a large section of the Yugoslav–Hungarian border, being deployed behind the Drava river between Varaždin and Slatina. Like all Yugoslav formations at the time, the 4th Army had serious deficiencies in both mobility and firepower, and it was only partially mobilised when the invasion began on 6 April 1941. The 4th Army put up scattered resistance, but began to withdraw southwards on 9 April, and on 10 April it ceased to exist as an operational formation. The remains of the 4th Army were ordered to stop fighting on 15 April, and the Yugoslav Supreme Command surrendered unconditionally, effective on 18 April. (This article is part of a featured topic: 1st Army Group (Kingdom of Yugoslavia).)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Hockley Pendant

... that the 16th-century Hockley Pendant (pictured) was discovered by a four-year-old in 2009?
... that Zebedee Nungak, taken as a child for an experiment by the Canadian government, went on to "cross antlers with prime ministers, premiers and Québec separatists"?
... that the titular character of Verdi's Nabucco, the opera that established his fame, is a combination of three historic rulers?
... that military volunteer Maria Berlinska led the report that let women hold combat positions in the Ukrainian military?
... that in 2013, McNally v R upheld a conviction for sexual assault via gender deception?
... that The West Wing's theme music was only intended for use in one scene?
... that during the Year of Luigi, Nintendo released a mockumentary depicting Luigi as a "legend of parkour"?
... that one reviewer wrote that her "pinkies protested and went on strike" after half an hour of typing on a Sharp PC-4500?

In the news

Russian cruiser Moskva

The Russian flagship cruiser Moskva (pictured) sinks after an explosion off the coast of Ukraine.
Flooding across KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, leaves at least 300 people dead.
Shehbaz Sharif is elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan after Imran Khan is removed in a no-confidence motion.
Tropical Storm Megi kills at least 130 people in the Philippines.

On this day

April 15: Day of the Sun in North Korea

John B. Kendrick

769 – The final session was held of the Lateran Council, convened to rectify abuses in the papal electoral process that had led to the elevation of the antipopes Constantine II and Philip.
1632 – Thirty Years' War: A Swedish–German army defeated the forces of the Catholic League at the Battle of Rain, mortally wounding their commander Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly.
1912 – More than 1,500 people on the Titanic died when the passenger liner sank after colliding with an iceberg southeast of Newfoundland.
1922 – U.S. senator John B. Kendrick (pictured) introduced a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal involving U.S. president Warren G. Harding's administration, leading to the Teapot Dome scandal.
1952 – The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered, strategic bomber operated by the U.S. Air Force for most of the aircraft's history, made its first flight.

Leonhard Euler (b. 1707)
Arsenio Lacson (d. 1962)
Seth Rogen (b. 1982)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

$Fifty-cent fractional-currency banknote depicting Spinner$

Fifty-cent fractional-currency banknote depicting Spinner

Fractional currency, also referred to as shinplasters, was introduced by the United States federal government following the outbreak of the Civil War. These low-denomination banknotes of the United States dollar were in use between 21 August 1862 and 15 February 1876, and issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 cents across five issuing periods. The complete type set is part of the National Numismatic Collection, housed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. The design of the first issue (postage currency) was directly based on the original handmade examples of United States treasurer Francis E. Spinner (pictured on banknote). Some varieties even had a perforated stamp-like edge. While not considered a legal tender, postage currency could be exchanged for United States Notes in five-dollar lots and were receivable in payment of all dues to the United States, up to five dollars. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, also known as Lo Spasimo or Il Spasimo di Sicilia, is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, originally painted on panel around 1514 to 1516 but later transferred to canvas in the 19th century. It depicts Christ carrying the cross to his crucifixion, specifically the moment when he falls and his mother Mary suffers a spasm of agony, known as the Swoon of the Virgin. The painting's emotion is densely crammed into the foreground, and the background is similar to that of a stage set with distant groups of people and crosses. The work was commissioned by the Sicilian monastery of Santa Maria dello Spasimo in Palermo and now hangs in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

Painting credit: Raphael

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:

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 tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Wikipedia languages

This Wikipedia is written in English. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.

1,000,000+ articles
- العربية
- Deutsch
- Español
- Français
- Italiano
- Nederlands
- 日本語
- Polski
- Português
- Русский
- Svenska
- Українська
- Tiếng Việt
- 中文
250,000+ articles
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Bahasa Melayu
- Bân-lâm-gú
- Български
- Català
- Čeština
- Dansk
- Esperanto
- Euskara
- فارسی‎
- עברית
- 한국어
- Magyar
- Norsk Bokmål
- Română
- Srpski
- Srpskohrvatski
- Suomi
- Türkçe
50,000+ articles