Wikipedia’s cover photo
Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Software Development

San Francisco, California 23,374 followers

About us

Wikipedia is a multilingual online encyclopedia, based on open collaboration through a wiki-based content editing system.

Website
https://www.wikipedia.org/
Industry
Software Development
Company size
10,001+ employees
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Type
Nonprofit
Founded
2001
Specialties
Publishing, Writing, and Encyclopedia

Locations

Employees at Wikipedia

Updates

  • Wikipedia reposted this

    Wikipedia has changed a lot since 2001, even as its mission has stayed the same. Behind every article is a technical infrastructure that has steadily evolved to support a growing, global readership. Wikipedia runs on MediaWiki, a software first written by Magnus Manske in 2002. Today, MediaWiki supports more than 300 languages and is designed to handle enormous amounts of information for billions of readers worldwide. It is also highly customizable, allowing communities and users to shape how Wikipedia works and how it looks. One of the earliest ways readers experienced that flexibility was through "skins", which changed Wikipedia's visual design. Beginning in 2004, the Monobook skin defined Wikipedia's look and feel for a generation of users. In 2010, it was replaced by Vector to modernize the site's appearance, and in 2022, Vector was updated again to make the desktop experience clearer and more intuitive for newer internet users. As reading habits shifted, Wikipedia adapted. Support for mobile devices began in 2007, with the mobile experience many people recognize today taking shape in 2016. Dedicated Wikipedia apps followed, launching on Android in 2009 and iOS in 2012. More recently, updates such as dark mode and faster page loading reflect ongoing work by the Wikimedia Foundation to improve accessibility and performance, including upgrades to data center infrastructure. These changes show how Wikipedia continues to evolve technically, while remaining focused on providing free access to knowledge for everyone. Celebrate this and other Wikipedia milestones on this time capsule ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gbBzKc-s #Wikipedia25

    • Screenshot of Wikipedia’s Biology page in an early web browser with plain text and minimal. Text reads: This is what Wikipedia looked like in 2001. Retro? Yes. But over time, Wikipedia developed a unique and accessible appearance.
    • Screenshot of Wikipedia's Biology page in a modern web browser with color images and interface tools. Text reads: Today, running on the software MediaWiki, Wikipedia supports over 300 languages. It is optimized for the needs of a website with huge amounts of information and billions of readers.
  • Let's see Aquaman try to wield this. The impossible trident, also known as a blivet or devil’s tuning fork, is a drawing of an object that cannot exist in three-dimensional space. At one end, it appears to have three cylindrical prongs; as the eye follows the figure, those prongs merge into two rectangular bars. First popularized in the mid-twentieth century through puzzles and magazine illustrations, the trident plays on how the brain interprets conflicting visual cues. Its appeal lies in the gap between what the image suggests and what geometry allows, reminding viewers that perception can be persuasive, even when it is wrong. Poke at this illusion ➡️https://w.wiki/HReG

    • Optical illusion of an impossible object resembling three cylindrical prongs merging into two rectangular ends. Text reads: This trident couldn't exist. But that won't stop your brain from trying to make sense of it.
  • Dance, sing, or build a bower – courtship comes in many forms. A courtship display is a set of behaviors in which an animal attempts to attract a mate. Displays range from ritualized movements, vocalizations, and mechanical sounds to shows of strength or beauty. Male peacock spiders perform elaborate dances and vibrations, male birds-of-paradise execute ballerina-like routines, and some species build and decorate structures. Australian satin bowerbirds construct bowers and adorn them with colorful objects to impress visiting females. In other cases, courtship involves what are called multi-modal signals: green tree frogs combine visual and auditory cues, and hummingbirds pair buzzing dives with iridescent flashes. These signals involve multiple senses. Though females are typically the choosy sex, there are species where males select mates, and females display ornaments at their own energetic cost. Together, these examples show the creativity and complexity of courtship in the natural world. Love is in the air ➡️ https://w.wiki/HRdz

  • African history has always been global. And the African diaspora is key to today's international culture. The term African diaspora refers to communities of people of African origin living outside the African continent. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, millions of African people were forcibly transported across the Atlantic through the transatlantic slave trade, resulting in widely dispersed communities in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and elsewhere. In addition to this forced dispersal, scholars also note periods of voluntary migration and movement that expanded African populations beyond the continent. Across the world, these diaspora communities helped shape local cultures, including music, literature, language, and food traditions that reflect deep connections to African heritage. Musical forms rooted in Black communities in the Americas and Caribbean such as jazz, reggae, samba, and hip hop trace their origins to African cultural contributions. Though the diaspora is not a single monolithic experience, these global histories illustrate the reach and resilience of African cultural legacies across centuries and continents. In the last decades, studies have shown an interest in the roles that Africans played in bringing about modernity. This trend opposes the traditional eurocentric perspective that has dominated history books showing Africans and its diasporans only as victims of slavery and without historical agency. As historians continue to counter this narrative by highlighting the diaspora's contributions, we all gain a more comprehensive appreciation of global history. Discover the history of the African diaspora ➡️ https://w.wiki/HUfG

    • Silhouette of Africa with purple arrows pointing outward in all directions. Text reads: How has Africa shaped the modern world?
  • Wikipedia reposted this

    Wikipedia was never meant to exist in just one language. Its popularity quickly spread beyond English, as volunteers around the world began creating new editions to serve their own communities. In March 2001 alone, the German, Catalan, and French Wikipedias were founded. By the end of that same year, Wikipedia existed in 16 languages. These projects were not centrally directed. Individual language communities, sharing similar ideals but operating independently, built their own Wikipedias. That decentralized model continues today. Volunteers are free to translate articles across languages, and the Wikimedia Foundation develops tools to support that work. At the same time, many articles are not translations at all, but are written and shaped independently to meet the needs of local readers. Today, you can read Wikipedia in more than 300 languages, reflecting a global effort to share knowledge beyond linguistic borders. Celebrate this and other Wikipedia 25 milestones ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dT8p9fMS #Wikipedia25

    • Text reads: Wikipedia's goal has been to spread knowledge in every language. From the start. New language editions began forming just months after Wikipedia's launch. 25 years later, it's grown to over 300 versions.
  • These are the puzzles that make time travel such a paradox ⬇️ A temporal paradox is an apparent contradiction that arises when hypothetical time travel allows actions in the future to influence the past. Three broad categories illustrate the problem: In a causal loop, also called a bootstrap paradox, an event or object causes itself, with no clear origin. A consistency paradox, commonly known as the grandfather paradox, occurs when changing the past would prevent the conditions that made time travel possible. Free-will paradoxes explore how perfect foreknowledge conflicts with the idea of freely made choices. These paradoxes are used to argue either that time travel is impossible or that the universe must be self-consistent, prompting philosophers and physicists to consider solutions such as branching timelines or self-consistency principles. Tell your past self to read more ➡️ https://w.wiki/HRe5

  • This method of capturing light can make an image that floats in space. But how does it work? ⬇️ Holography is a technique for recording and reconstructing light fields, producing images that appear three‑dimensional. The technique captures both the intensity and phase of light. This is done by splitting a laser beam into two: one illuminates the object, while the other acts as a reference. The interference pattern between these beams is recorded on a medium, and when re‑illuminated, it recreates the original scene. Unlike a photograph – which records light coming from one direction – a hologram encodes light scattered from all angles, allowing the image to be viewed from different perspectives. Since its invention, holography has grown from a laboratory curiosity to applications in art, data storage, security labels, and immersive displays; innovations like rainbow holograms even allow viewing with normal light. See the full picture ➡️ https://w.wiki/9w37

  • Your attention, please! You are allowed to eat ice cream for breakfast. This is not a drill. Well, technically you can do whatever you want. But Ice Cream for Breakfast Day is an informal holiday celebrated on the first Saturday of February that shouldn't be missed. It began in the 1960s United States in Rochester, New York, when Florence Rappaport – a mother of six – decided to cheer up her children during a snowstorm by serving them ice cream first thing in the morning. The following year, her family repeated the tradition, and friends spread the idea. Today, people in countries from the United Kingdom and Namibia to New Zealand and China join the fun. The holiday has only three rules: eat ice cream, do it on the first Saturday of February, and make it your breakfast. In recent years, some ice cream shops have also used the day to support local charities. Scoop up more knowledge about your new favorite holiday ➡️ https://w.wiki/HRYg

    • Dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate frosting served on a glass bowl. Text reads: It's Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. Seriously. Here's the scoop: 7 February is the morning when it's officially and internationally acceptable to eat ice cream for breakfast. (We won't tell if you do it another day, too.)
  • Looking for adventure? Start your new rabbit hole with a truly random Wikipedia article ⬇️ A single click can send you anywhere in the world of knowledge. No algorithm needed. This feature lets you return to a time when the internet was a place for uncurated and unexpected discoveries. Wikipedia's random tool sends you to a completely unexpected article from the encyclopedia's millions of entries. Instead of following an algorithm, it delivers serendipity: you might land on an obscure village, a species of frog, or a historical treaty. It’s a playful way to discover topics you might never search for. And one of the best places on the internet for a true surprise these days – no data is calculated to predict your interests, so you just get pure randomness. Start your random adventure ➡️ https://w.wiki/_2n

    • Screenshot of random button. Text reads: Where will your Wikipedia rabbit hole begin?
  • How many of these did you think were real? Over time, catchy details, clean stories, and memorable images can quietly replace what the evidence actually shows. Wikipedia’s list of common historical misconceptions is basically a tour of ideas that feel true because we've seen them everywhere. Reality, however, requires good sources. So, it's time to find out what mass culture has gotten wrong about Vikings, cowboys, Romans, and Isaac Newton. What myth will surprise you? Find out ➡️ https://w.wiki/HRYm

Similar pages

Browse jobs