Wikipedia Day
Next: January 15, 2027
The encyclopedia anyone can edit.
The story
Where it comes from
Wikipedia went online on 15 January 2001, and the day is kept as its birthday by the Wikimedia Foundation and its volunteers. It began as a side project of Nupedia, a free online encyclopedia founded by Jimmy Wales with Larry Sanger as editor-in-chief, which had finished fewer than two dozen articles because every one went through experts' review. Sanger suggested an open encyclopedia built on wiki software, which anyone could write and edit, and the name Wikipedia joined 'wiki', the Hawaiian word for 'quick', with 'encyclopedia'.
How it's celebrated
Wikipedia's volunteer communities hold birthday events in person around the world, and the Wikimedia Foundation marks the day online. It is a good day to fix a typo, add a source to an article about your hometown, or thank the volunteers who write, edit and fact-check every page without pay.
Did you know
- Wikipedia is the only website among the ten most visited in the world that is run by a non-profit.
- By its 25th birthday in 2026 it held more than 65 million articles in over 300 languages.
- Robert Sim, a volunteer editor from Singapore who began editing more than 20 years ago, was named Wikimedian of the Year in 2025.
Coming up next
- Swing Comes to Carnegie Hall · January 16, 2027
- Teachers' Day (Thailand) · January 16, 2027
- Benjamin Franklin's Birthday · January 17, 2027
- A. A. Milne's Birthday · January 18, 2027
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day · January 18, 2027
- James Watt's Birthday · January 19, 2027