“The idea that Wikipedia shouldn't take sides on any major issue... is really a core value for us that's served us very well.”
[Co-founder Jimmy Wales ]
If you have ever won an argument using a Wikipedia article, learned something new, or taken a deep dive down a Wikipedia rabbit hole for hours, wish Wikipedia a happy 20th birthday! Founded on January 15, 2001 by the American-British entrepreneur Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia is now the seventh-most popular website in the world.
Wikipedia started as an ambitious idea... …to create a free encyclopedia, written by volunteers, for everyone in the world. It seemed impossible. Over 20 years, Wikipedia has become the largest collection of open knowledge in history. How did it happen? People, like you.
Made and sustained by humans... For Wikipedia’s 20th birthday, we are celebrating the power of human collaboration, creativity, and curiosity. We are celebrating the humans, our volunteers and supporters, who make Wikipedia possible.
Some Facts:
- Volunteers around the world are contributing every minute.
- Over 280,000 people edit Wikipedia every month
- Humans around the world look to Wikipedia around 21 billion times every month for information on everything from politics, to music, sports, and beyond.
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.