History of Wikipedia

First_preserved_Main_Page_of_Wikipedia

Old_Wikipedia

Old_wikipedia_logo

Wiki_logo_The_Cunctator

Wikipedia-logo-en

Wikipedia-logo-v2

Bomis-staff-summer-2000

== History of Wikipedia ==

Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 50 million articles in over 300 different languages have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site. Wikipedia was launched on January 15, 2001, by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Sanger coined its name as a portmanteau of "wiki" (a type of collaborative website) and "encyclopedia".

Origins[edit | edit source]

The concept of Wikipedia was preceded by Nupedia, a free online English-language encyclopedia project whose articles were written by experts and reviewed under a formal process. Nupedia was founded on March 9, 2000, under the ownership of Bomis, a web portal company. Its editor-in-chief was Larry Sanger, and its lead financier was Jimmy Wales. Nupedia's articles were written by experts and reviewed under a formal process. However, the writing of articles was slow, with only 12 articles written during the first year.

Launch and Early Growth[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia was launched on January 15, 2001, as a single English-language edition at www.wikipedia.com, and announced by Sanger on the Nupedia mailing list. Wikipedia's policy of "neutral point-of-view" was codified in its initial months. Wikipedia gained early contributors from Nupedia, Slashdot postings, and web search engine indexing. It grew rapidly, with 20,000 articles by the end of its first year.

Expansion[edit | edit source]

In 2002, the first sister projects of Wikipedia were created, including Wiktionary and Wikiquote. In 2003, the Wikimedia Foundation was established to support Wikipedia and its sister projects. Wikipedia's growth continued, and by 2004, it had reached 500,000 articles in 50 languages. The project continued to expand, with the creation of Wikibooks, Wikisource, and Wikinews.

Milestones[edit | edit source]

In 2005, Wikipedia became one of the top 10 most popular websites in the world. In 2007, the English Wikipedia reached 2 million articles. By 2011, Wikipedia had reached 3.5 million articles in English and had editions in over 280 languages. In 2015, Wikipedia celebrated its 15th anniversary, and the English Wikipedia reached 5 million articles.

Controversies and Challenges[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia has faced various controversies and challenges, including concerns about the reliability and accuracy of its content, the potential for vandalism, and the systemic bias in its coverage. Despite these challenges, Wikipedia has implemented various measures to improve the quality and reliability of its content, including the introduction of Good Articles and Featured Articles processes, and the use of bots to detect and revert vandalism.

Current Status[edit | edit source]

As of 2023, Wikipedia continues to be one of the most popular websites in the world, with millions of articles in hundreds of languages. It remains a vital resource for information and continues to be supported by a global community of volunteers and the Wikimedia Foundation.