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July

About Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free content encyclopedia project, written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference web sites, attracting at least 684 million visitors yearly by 2008. There are more than 75,000 active contributors working on more than 10,000,000 articles in more than 250 languages. As of today, there are 6,845,409 articles in English. Every day hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world make tens of thousands of edits and create thousands of new articles to enhance the knowledge held by the Wikipedia encyclopedia. (read more...)

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Today's featured article:

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper statue, an 1886 gift to the United States from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. It is a figure of Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty, holding a torch and a tablet bearing the date of the United States Declaration of Independence. A broken chain and shackle lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the national abolition of slavery following the American Civil War. After its dedication the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, and it was later seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. Its completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland. (Full article...)

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Today's featured picture:

George Washington is a 1780 oil-on-canvas painting by John Trumbull, depicting George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and later the first president of the United States, standing on a bluff above the Hudson River. His enslaved personal servant, William "Billy" Lee, is on horseback behind him. The view across the river encompasses West Point, New York, with a red-and-white striped banner – possibly the Navy ensign adopted in 1775 – flying atop the fortress. Trumbull served on Washington's staff as an aide-de-camp early in the American Revolutionary War and painted this portrait from memory about five years later while studying in London. It was the first authoritative representation of Washington available in Europe and was soon copied throughout the continent. The painting has been in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 1924.

In the news

In tennis, Rafael Nadal of Spain and Venus Williams (pictured) of the United States win the men's and women's singles title, respectively, at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.
Clashes are reported between Georgian and South Ossetian forces near Tskhinvali.
Weekend cross-strait charter flights between Taiwan and Mainland China resume after 59 years.
A series of explosions at a depot storing 1,500 tonnes of obsolete munitions forces the evacuation of some 2,000 people in Sofia and the closure of the Bulgarian capital's main airport.

Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

On this day...

July 6: Independence Day in Malawi (1964) and in Comoros (1975); Statehood Day in Lithuania (1253); Jan Hus Day in the Czech Republic; the festival of San Fermín begins in Pamplona, Spain

1415 – The Council of Constance executed Jan Hus, founder of the Christian Hussite reform movement, for committing heresy.
1887 – King Kalākaua of Hawai'i was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, stripping the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority as well as disfranchising all Asians, most native Hawaiians, and the poor.
1966 – Hastings Banda became the first president of Malawi, exactly two years after the country was granted independence from the United Kingdom.

More anniversaries:

Did you know...

George Kunkel

... that actor George Kunkel (pictured) portrayed in blackface the character of Uncle Tom, using it at first to promote slavery during the American Civil War but later to attack it, after his views had changed?
... that sauerkraut made by members of a Russian spiritual sect in Armenia was popular in many other parts of the Soviet Union?
... that The Blue Angels was shot using IMAX cameras rigged to a helicopter, plus an ultra-high-speed camera shooting at 1,000 frames per second?
... that Margaret Carroux's German translation of The Lord of the Rings contains errors introduced by her editor?
... that the LACE satellite tracked rocket plumes from space for the United States's Star Wars program?
... that Melanie L. Campbell was arrested for civil disobedience while protesting proposed restrictions on voting rights?
... that historically, lichens like Umbilicaria torrefacta have been used to naturally dye traditional Scottish tartans and textiles?
... that American poet Edwin Ford Piper preserved 828 folk songs, most of which were from Iowa and Nebraska?
... that before reading the script for the play Golden Girls, at least nine of the cast members were under the impression that they would be taking the lead role?

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