Welcome to Wikipedia

,
6,920,238 articles in English

From today's featured article

Memorial plaque to the victims of the massacre
Memorial plaque to the victims of the massacre

The École Polytechnique massacre was an antifeminist mass shooting that occurred on December 6, 1989, at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Canada. Fourteen women were murdered; another ten women and four men were injured. The perpetrator, Marc Lépine, entered a mechanical engineering class and separated the male and female students, ordering the men to leave. He shot all nine women in the room, killing six. The shooter then moved throughout the building, killing eight more women and wounding students before fatally shooting himself. The massacre is regarded as misogynist terrorism and representative of wider societal violence against women. In response to the massacre, the Canadian parliament passed more stringent gun control laws. It also led to policy changes in emergency services protocols for shootings, such as police intervening immediately to reduce casualties. The anniversary of the massacre is commemorated annually as White Ribbon Day. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Kang Ju-hyeok
Kang Ju-hyeok

In the news

Portrait photo of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah

On this day

December 6: Saint Nicholas's Day (Western Christianity); Independence Day in Finland (1917)
Blast cloud from the Halifax Explosion
Blast cloud from the Halifax Explosion
More anniversaries:

The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It has been awarded since 1917, and is presented to an individual or team of up to three people who have made exceptional contributions or had extraordinary careers in technology, engineering and science in the IEEE fields of interest. The award consists of a gold medal (pictured), a bronze replica of the medal, a certificate, and a US$2 million honorarium. The medal was created by the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) as the IRE Medal of Honor. It became the IEEE Medal of Honor when the IRE merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers to form the IEEE in 1963. The first recipient was Edwin Howard Armstrong, in 1917. As of 2024, 104 individuals have been awarded the medal, with the latest recipient being Robert E. Kahn. (Full list...)

Great Yarmouth Town Hall

Great Yarmouth Town Hall is a municipal building on Hall Plain in Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England. It is the meeting place of Great Yarmouth Borough Council and is a Grade II* listed building. The town hall was designed by John Bond Pearce in the Queen Anne Revival style, with terracotta facings and a 110-foot-tall (34-metre) clock tower with a lantern above. It was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), on 31 May 1882. The building served as the headquarters of Great Yarmouth County Borough Council for much of the 20th century and has continued to operate as the local seat of government following the formation of the enlarged borough council in 1974. This hand-colored photochrom shows Great Yarmouth Town Hall in the 1890s, seen from opposite the River Yare.

Photograph credit: Detroit Publishing Company; 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:

Wikipedia languages

Language
  NODES
chat 1
COMMUNITY 2
Note 1
Project 3