Jump to content

Main Page

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Welcome to Wikipedia

,

From today's featured article

Liz Truss

Liz Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who was prime minister from September to October 2022. A Liberal Democrat in her youth, she defected to the Conservatives in 1996. After several bids for public office she was elected as an MP in 2010 and served continuously in government in the Cameron, May and Johnson ministries, latterly as foreign secretary. After Johnson resigned in July 2022 Truss stood in the election to replace him, defeating Rishi Sunak and becoming the leader of the party. Two days after her appointment as prime minister Queen Elizabeth II died, freezing government business for ten days during a national mourning period; after its conclusion Truss's ministry announced a mini-budget which was received badly by markets, the fallout from which subsequently engulfed her government. Facing a rapid loss of confidence in her leadership, Truss resigned fifty days into her premiership and was succeeded by Sunak, becoming the shortest-serving British prime minister. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

USS Sabine, which took 35 years to finish
USS Sabine, which took 35 years to finish
  • ... that the Potomac-class frigates (example pictured) were built slowly for the sake of quality, only for the last ships to be outdated by the time they were finished?
  • ... that Indonesian mystic Mbah Suro reportedly only consumed coffee and cigarettes for two years?
  • ... that the United States' first capitol building was later sold for $425 and then demolished?
  • ... that the mascot of an Australian HIV prevention campaign was a condom-wielding superhero?
  • ... that Audichron estimated that Don Elliot Heald's voice was heard on 12 million Audichron phone calls a day in 1971?
  • ... that the British indie rock band Girl Ray named themselves after the surrealist visual artist Man Ray?
  • ... that avery r. young became the first poet laureate of Chicago in 2023?
  • ... that by spinning off Lord Fitzhenry (1794) from a four-volume work in progress, Elizabeth Gunning was paid for two novels instead of one?
  • ... that American Civil War chaplain Thomas Mooney was pulled from service after baptizing a cannon?

In the news

Ozzy Osbourne in 2010
Ozzy Osbourne

On this day

July 26: Independence Day in the Maldives (1965), Kargil Vijay Diwas in India

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton
More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Cytoplasmic streaming is a biological process in which cytoplasm flows inside a cell, driven by forces from the cytoskeleton. It is usually observed in large plant and animal cells, as well as amoebae, fungi, and slime moulds. It is likely that its function is, at least in part, to speed up the transport of molecules and organelles around the cell. The process was first discovered by the Italian scientist Bonaventura Corti in 1774, within the algae genera Nitella and Chara. While its mechanism is not fully understood, what is clearly visible in plant cells which exhibit cytoplasmic streaming is the motion of the chloroplasts moving with the cytoplasmic flow. This motion results from fluid being entrained by moving motor molecules of the plant cell. This video, taken through a microscope, shows cytoplasmic streaming occurring in an onion epidermal cell.

Video credit: Heiti Paves

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:

Wikipedia languages