Main Page

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Welcome to Wikipedia,
5,041,769 articles in English

From today's featured article

Kingdom Hearts II is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to the 2002 Disney Interactive and Square collaboration, Kingdom Hearts, and to Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. In this game, the protagonist Sora returns to search for his lost friends, while Organization XIII from Chain of Memories reappears to impede his progress. All three games feature a large cast of characters from Disney films and Final Fantasy games. The game was well-received, earning year-end awards from numerous video gaming websites. In Japan, it shipped more than one million copies within a week of its release. One month after its North American release, it had sold over one million copies. By March 31, 2007, the game had shipped over 4 million copies worldwide. A novel and manga series are based on it, as well as an international version called Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, re-released in high definition as Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix for the PlayStation 3. The game was actor Pat Morita's final voice role before his death in 2005. (Full article...)

Did you know...

Statue of Ebih-Il wearing kaunakes, 2400 BC
Statue of Ebih-Il wearing kaunakes, 2400 BC

In the news

Falcon 9 launch vehicle's first stage, following its successful landing
Falcon 9 rocket's first stage on the landing pad

On this day...

December 28: Day of the Holy Innocents (Western Christianity)

Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey

From today's featured list

Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire

HMV's Poll of Polls was an annual list of albums compiled by British music retailer HMV from 1998 to 2012. The listing was created each December by collating year-end polls from approximately 30 music magazines, newspapers and guides to determine the most critically acclaimed albums of the year. An album's placing in the list was determined by the number of different polls in which it was included. In the event of two records featuring in the same number of polls, the album with the highest combined placings was given the higher position on the Poll of Polls. Hello Nasty by American hip hop group Beastie Boys topped the first chart. Subsequent polls were topped by acts such as Daft Punk, Queens of the Stone Age and Kanye West. The only act to top the listing more than once was Canadian band Arcade Fire (pictured), who were number one in both 2005 and 2010 with Funeral and The Suburbs respectively. Commentators observed a disparity between the albums that placed highly in the Poll of Polls and those that were the year's biggest-selling. Albums released through independent record labels often performed well in the poll. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

JATO

The first jet-assisted take-off performed in the United States. In this August 1941 test, an ERCO Ercoupe piloted by Captain Homer A. Boushey Jr. was fitted with a GALCIT booster and took off from March Field, California. JATO assisted take-off systems are used to help overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets.

Photograph: NASA/JPL; restoration: Chris Woodrich

Other areas of Wikipedia

  • Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
  • Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
  • Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
  • Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
  • Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects: