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Wikipedia Celebrates its 15th birthday –
If you want a modern wonder of the internet, look no further than Wikipedia, which turns 15 years old today. It’s gigantic (more than five million articles in English alone), and gigantically useful for those seeking a grounding in any topic. It has illustrated how the internet and the power of the crowd can disrupt established businesses: both the book-based Encyclopaedia Britannica and Microsoft’s CD-based Encarta fell before the onslaught of a simple collaborative document that anyone could edit and enhance. Even Google failed with its rival, launched in 2008 and killed amid indifference in 2012. It even has a creation myth; people think it was the effort of Jimmy Wales alone, but in fact he and Larry Sanger (an “internet project developer” – thanks, Wikipedia) were working on the idea of an online encyclopedia called Nupedia, which began in 1999.  [Daily Telegraph]  [This web site is a supporter of Wikipedia]
Jimmy Wales

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22×22 rubik’s cube World Record

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15 amazing things since the idea of Wikipedia was launched to the world on January 15, 2001. [Wikipedia]

Millions of people have gathered all this knowledge by working together from everywhere around the world.

Ward Cunningham designed the wiki, the first internet platform that allowed many people to work on a document at the same time. He named it ‘wiki,’ a Hawaiian word that means ‘quick.’ (There is even a wiki-wiki shuttle in Honolulu.)

You know the encyclopedia, but there’s so much more.

Did you also know there’s a free dictionary, free textbooks, quotes, learning tools, a travel guide, and more?

The first Wikipedia exhibition opened on March 17, 2006.

It was held at the Göttingen University Library in Germany.

Behind the scenes, bots do some of the repetitive jobs so that volunteers don’t have to.

There are almost 2,000 bots approved for use on the English Wikipedia alone, and they even have names. PhotoCatBot helps people find articles that need images.

Wikipedia became one of the top 10 websites in the world in 2007.

It’s the only non-profit anywhere near the top.

People who work on Wikipedia are called “Wikipedians”.

Building the world’s largest database of information with people from all over can be challenging. Wikipedians write rules, guidelines and essays to help other people understand being a Wikipedian. “No angry mastodons” suggests that you shouldn’t edit when you’re hungry or intoxicated.

The first photo ever uploaded to Commons was a pair of quail.

…while this scan of the world’s first photograph uploaded to Wikimedia Commons is entirely inscrutable. Speaking of birds and photos, there is such a thing as pigeon photography: “A homing pigeon was fitted with an aluminium breast harness to which a lightweight time-delayed miniature camera could be attached.” (There was even a stamp for pigeon mail. It’s adorable and shaped like a triangle.)

One of the first articles ever written was for the standard poodle.

It simply said, “A dog by which all others are measured.” The English Wikipedia page for poodleis now more than 5,000 words, and includes the many names that people have invented for poodles crossed with other dog breeds: Labradoodle, Poochon, Cockapoo, Spoodle, Maltipoo, Goldendoodle, Schnoodle, Pekapoos, Cavapoo, and Bernedoodle.

Wikipedia helps keep the Internet open and free.

In 2012, the Wikipedia communities blacked out the site to protest SOPA.

The second-most-edited English Wikipedia article of all time is about pro wrestling.

One of the competition entries for a new Wikivoyage logo was a snake on a magic towel.

British army officer Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart’s Wikipedia article has been retweeted more than 3,500 times.

“Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880–5 June 1963) was a British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour “in the face of the enemy” in various Commonwealth countries. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote, ‘Frankly I had enjoyed the war.’”

Wikipedians keep lists of controversies and hoaxes on Wikipedia.

One hoax claimed that Lord Byron kept a crocodile and a honey badger as pets. It would not be easy to uncover this hoax—during his lifetime, in addition to numerous cats, dogs and horses, Byron kept a fox, monkeys, an eagle, a crow, a falcon, peacocks, guinea hens, an Egyptian crane,a badger, geese, a heron, and a goat. He took a bear to college when he found that dogs were not allowed.

Researchers can predict the spread of illness from data on Wikipedia.

“Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory were able to make extremely accurate forecasts about the spread of dengue fever in Brazil and flu in the U.S., Japan, Poland and Thailand by examining three years’ worth of Wikipedia search data.”

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2016 Ouagadougou attack
  • Gunmen armed with heavy weapons attack a restaurant called Cappuccino and the Splendid Hotel, taking hostages, in the heart of Burkino Faso‘s capital, Ouagadougou. At least 20 people are reportedly killed. (BBC) (The Guardian)
  • Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claims responsibility for the attack, which if confirmed would the first Islamic terrorist attack in the city. (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• 2016 Jakarta attacks
  • Three men are arrested in the outskirts of Jakarta in connection with the attacks. Police have identified the attackers killed in the raid with two of the men having been imprisoned for terrorism related offences. (AP via Newser)
• War in Somalia (2009–present)
  • al Shabaab militants overrun an African Union base in southern Somalia with unconfirmed reports of dozens of soldiers dead. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Syrian Civil War
  • UNICEF confirms severe malnutrition in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya. Russia calls for humanitarian aid to be let into besieged towns like Madaya, Fua and Kafraya. (Reuters via Trust) (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Arts and culture

• Wikipedia celebrates its 15th anniversary. (Wikipedia)

Business and economy

• China‘s Haier Group buys General Electric‘s appliance unit for $5.4 billion. (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

• A tour bus carrying skiers runs off the road in Japan‘s Nagano Prefecture with at least 14 people dead and injuring another 27. (Bloomberg) (Irish Independent)
• 2016 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Alex heads towards the Azores with hurricane warnings in place for several islands. (National Hurricane Center)
• Twelve people are feared dead following a road accident in the Udhampur district of India‘s Jammu and Kashmir state. (Greater Kashmir)
• The United States Coast Guard in Hawaii are searching for twelve American service personnel off the northern coast of Oahu following a crash between two United States Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallionhelicopters that were conducting an overnight training flight. (CNN) (Wall Street Journal)
• The U.S. state of Michigan asks for assistance from the federal government to assist with a water crisis in the city of Flint. (Reuters)
• 2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
  • A tropical cyclone warning is issued for the northern Cook Islands as Tropical Cyclone Victor approaches. (Radio New Zealand)

Health

• BIA 10-2474
  • One person is brain dead and five people are critically ill in Rennes, France, from a clinical trial of an experimental drug made by Portuguese drug company Bial. The six men, aged 28 to 49, had been in good health prior to the start of this test. All trials on the drug are suspended. (The Guardian) (Reuters via New Zealand Stuff) (Reuters)
• Brazil Zika virus outbreak (2015 – present)
  • The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns pregnant women against visiting 14 countries and territories in South America, Central America and the Caribbean due to the Zika virusoutbreak. (CDC)

Law and crime

• The Seoul Central District Court fines two Korean baseball players Seung-hwan Oh and Lim Chang-yong for illegal gambling in Macau. (Yonhap)
• 2013–14 Thai political crisis
  • Former Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra appears in court to face corruption charges. (Reuters via Trust)
• A trial of the facts regarding allegations of child abuse against 12 former residents of children’s homes in Leicester by British lord Greville Janner ends due to his death. (BBC)
• American rapper Mos Def is banned from South Africa for five years, having been living illegally in the country since 2013 on a tourist visa. (BBC)
• Kosovo War
  • A special court is set up at The Hague to try Kosovo Liberation Army suspects for alleged war crimes against ethnic minorities and political opponents. (BBC)

Politics and elections

• PKK rebellion (2015–present)
  • Twelve Turkish academics are detained for signing a declaration opposing military action against Kurdistan Workers Party forces in southeast Turkey. (AP via Washington Post)
• Anti-corruption campaign in China
  • Wei Hong, Governor of Sichuan province, is announced to be under investigation for “breaching discipline” by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. (BBC)
• Azerbaijani National Police use tear gas and water cannons to forcibly disperse protesters in the Quba District who were protesting the country’s worsening economic situation, resulting in scores being arrested. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

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