Today is October 2, 2024! I'm user 45,939!
Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
In this English version, started in 2001, we are currently working on 6,889,985 articles.
Overview - Questions - Categories - A–Z - Portals - Site news - Donations
Arts | Biography | Geography | History | Mathematics | Science | Society | Technology
Today's featured articleeditThe Tichborne case concerned the claim by an individual known as "the Claimant" (pictured) to be the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy and fortune. Roger Tichborne disappeared after a shipwreck in 1854; rumours later surfaced that he had survived and made his way to Australia. In 1866 a butcher called Thomas Castro from Wagga Wagga came forward claiming to be Tichborne; he travelled to England where, despite his unrefined manners and bearing, he was accepted by Lady Tichborne as her son. Although other family members were unconvinced, the Claimant gained considerable public support. By 1871 evidence suggested that Castro was actually Arthur Orton, a butcher's son from Wapping in London, who had gone to sea as a boy. A civil case ended with charges of perjury against him, and in 1874 a criminal court jury decided that he was Orton. He was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment. Released in 1884, he confessed in 1895 to being Orton, only to recant immediately. He died destitute in 1898. (Full article...)
Recently featured:
Selected anniversarieseditOctober 2: International Day of Non-Violence; Gandhi Jayanti in India
|
In the newsedit
|
Wikipedia in other languages
You may read and edit articles in many different languages:
This Wikipedia is written in English. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.
-
1,000,000+ articles
-
250,000+ articles
-
50,000+ articles
Wikipedia's sister projects
editWikipedia 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