Main Page (original) (raw)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From today's featured article
Harper Lee in 2007
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee (pictured) published in 1960 and considered a classic of modern American fiction. The novel is loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers, and a model of integrity for lawyers. As a Southern Gothic novel and a bildungsroman, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence, but scholars have also noted that Lee addresses the issues of class tensions, courage and compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South. The book, which won a Pulitzer Prize, is widely taught in schools in English-speaking countries with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been the target of various campaigns to have it removed from public classrooms. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
Downtown Serekunda
- ... that because the capital of The Gambia is on a small island, its population has overflowed into Serekunda (pictured) in the nearby municipality of Kanifing?
- ... that Nancy S. Steinhardt completed her doctorate on medieval Chinese architecture before she was able to see any in person?
- ... that much of Archcliffe Fort was demolished in the 1920s to allow for expansion of a railway?
- ... that Alfred Sully, who led US forces during the Sioux Wars, was married to a Yankton Sioux woman?
- ... that The Right and the Wrong was the first feature film produced natively in Trinidad and Tobago?
- ... that a 23-day CBC strike thrust Don Goodwin into the Canadian national spotlight and into "folk-hero status"?
- ... that the lyric video for an Olivia Rodrigo song included a teaser that she would tour in support of her album Guts?
- ... that the Cosmere Roleplaying Game surpassed Frosthaven to become the most-funded tabletop game on Kickstarter in August 2024?
- ... that "Honest Ike" stole more than $200,000 from the Alabama treasury?
In the news
Hurricane Milton path
- Hurricane Milton (pictured), one of the fastest-intensifying and most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, makes landfall in the U.S. state of Florida.
- John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research in machine learning with artificial neural networks.
- A gang attack on the Haitian town of Pont-Sondé leaves seventy people dead and fifty others injured.
- More than twenty people die in flooding and landslides in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On this day
Vidyasagar Setu
1846 – English astronomer William Lassell discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune.
1933 – In the first proven act of sabotage in the history of commercial aviation, a Boeing 247 operated by United Airlines exploded in mid-air near Chesterton, Indiana, killing all seven people aboard.
1963 – The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground, went into effect.
1973 – U.S. vice president Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with tax evasion.
1992 – After 20 years of construction, Vidyasagar Setu (pictured), the longest cable-stayed bridge in India, opened, joining Kolkata and Howrah.
Mary of Waltham (b. 1344)
Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro (b. 1884)
Kim Ki-young (b. 1919)
Sarah Lancashire (b. 1964)
Today's featured picture
Other areas of Wikipedia
- Community portal – The central hub for editors, with resources, links, tasks, and announcements.
- Village pump – Forum for discussions about Wikipedia itself, including policies and technical issues.
- Site news – Sources of news about Wikipedia and the broader Wikimedia movement.
- Teahouse – Ask basic questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
- Help desk – Ask questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
- Reference desk – Ask research questions about encyclopedic topics.
- Content portals – A unique way to navigate the encyclopedia.
Wikipedia's sister projects
Wikipedia is written by volunteer editors and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other volunteer projects:
Meta-Wiki
Wikimedia project coordination
Wikipedia languages
This Wikipedia is written in English. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.