Welcome to Wikipedia,
2,580,407 articles in English
Overview Â· Editing Â· Questions Â· Help

Contents Â· Categories Â· Featured content Â· A–Z index

Today's featured article

Pat Nixon in 1972

Pat Nixon (1912–1993) was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California. In 1940, she married lawyer Richard Nixon; they had two daughters. Richard Nixon was soon elected Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower, whereupon his wife Pat undertook many missions of goodwill with her husband. She assisted him both in his unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign, and later his successful campaign of 1968. As First Lady, Pat Nixon promoted a number of charitable causes, including volunteerism. She oversaw the collection of more than 600 pieces of historic art and furnishings for the White House, an acquisition larger than that of any other administration. Pat became the most traveled First Lady in U.S. history up to that time, visiting about 80 nations; she was the first First Lady to enter a combat zone. These trips gained her favorable reception in the media and the host countries. Her tenure ended when, after being re-elected in a landslide victory in 1972, President Nixon resigned two years later amid the Watergate scandal. Her public appearances became less frequent in her later life. She and her husband returned to California, and later moved to New Jersey. (more...)

Recently featured: Trafford – Grass Fight – Cleveland Street scandal

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

Neel Kashkari

In the news

Martti Ahtisaari

On this day...

October 13: Sukkot begins at sunset (Judaism, 2008); Columbus Day in the United States (2008); Health and Sports Day in Japan (2008); Thanksgiving in Canada (2008)

Whirlpool Galaxy

Today's featured picture

Mandarinfish

The mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus, not to be confused with the similarly named mandarin fish) is a small (~6 cm/2.4 in), brightly-colored member of the dragonet family, popular in the saltwater aquarium trade. The mandarinfish is native to the Western Pacific, ranging approximately from the Ryukyu Islands south to Australia.

Photo credit: Luc Viatour

Other areas of Wikipedia

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

Wikipedia's sister projects

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

Commons
Free media repository
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikispecies
Directory of species
Wikiversity
Free learning materials and activities
Meta-Wiki
Wikimedia project coordination

Wikipedia languages

This Wikipedia is written in English. Started in 2001, it currently contains 2,580,407 articles. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.

Complete list · Multilingual coordination