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Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.2,394,184 articles in EnglishArtsBiographyGeographyHistoryMathematicsScienceSocietyTechnologyAll portalsOverview · Editing · Questions · HelpContents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z indexToday’s featured articleBratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of 426,000, is the country’s largest city. Bratislava is in the south-west of Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two other countries. Bratislava is the political, cultural, and economic centre of Slovakia. It is the seat of the Slovak presidency, the parliament, and the government. It is also home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries and other important economic, cultural, and educational institutions. The headquarters of many of Slovakia’s large businesses and financial institutions are in Bratislava as well. The history of the city, long known by the German name Pressburg, has been strongly influenced by various peoples, including Austrians, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Jews and Slovaks. The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary under the Habsburg monarchy from 1536 to 1783. Bratislava was home to the Slovak national movement of the 19th century and to many Slovak, Hungarian and German historical figures. The first written reference comes from the Salzburg Annals, in relation to the battles between the Bavarians and the Hungarians, fought outside the walls of Bratislava Castle in 907. (more…)Recently featured: D. B. Cooper – Oil shale – Troy McClureArchive – By email – More featured articles…Did you know…From Wikipedia’s newest articles:… that the Flammulated Flycatcher (pictured), a tyrant flycatcher endemic to Mexico, was eventually placed in the monotypic genus Deltarhynchus because of its broad bill?… that by the time Fort Scott was completed, it was already obsolete?… that General Ziauddin Butt, former head of the Pakistani intelligence agency, was nominated to head the army in 1999?… that during the War of 1812, Laura Secord went to DeCou House to warn James FitzGibbon and his British troops about the surprise American attack now known as the Battle of Beaver Dams?… that in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables, Cosette’s wedding gown was made of Binche lace because Hugo remembered it from his youth as being a lace of beauty?… that land agent Timothy Dwight Hobart from 1886 to 1924 supervised the stringing of hundreds of miles of barbed wire and the digging of hundreds of wells topped by windmills to settle the Texas Panhandle?… that Islam: The Straight Path by John L. Esposito is an introductory text on Islam that devotes half its content to the development of Islam in modern and reformist times?Archive – Start a new article…In the newsIn Dublin, over 100 countries adopt the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning cluster bombs (pictured).Paleontologists discover Materpiscis, a 380-million-year-old placoderm fish which is the earliest known animal to bear live young.Nepal is declared a republic by its newly elected government, and King Gyanendra ends his reign as the last of a 240-year-old monarchy.In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, the People’s Republic of China evacuates 100,000 people from Mianyang as engineers prepare to drain the landslide dam-created Tangjiashan Lake.The State Peace and Development Council of Burma extends opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest by one year.An earthquake in Colombia kills 11 and seriously injures 54.Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events…On this day…May 31: World No Tobacco Day; Feast of the Visitation in Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism1223 – Mongol invasions: Mongol forces defeated a combined army of Kiev, Galich, and the Cumans on the banks of the Kalchik River in present-day Ukraine.1669 – Citing poor eyesight, English naval administrator and Member of Parliament Samuel Pepys (pictured) recorded his last entry in his diary, one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period.1889 – The South Fork Dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA failed, unleashing a torrent of 18.1 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water that killed over 2,200 people.1910 – The previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State united to form the Union of South Africa, exactly 51 years before it would become the Republic of South Africa.1974 – Syria and Israel signed a disengagement agreement to resolve the 20-day Yom Kippur War.More events: May 30 – May 31 – June 1Archive – By email – More anniversaries…Today’s featured pictureA panorama of Cusco, Peru, as viewed from south of the city near Cristo Blanco. Part of Sacsayhuamán is seen at far right and Plaza de Armas is toward the center of the image. Cusco was the capital city of the ancient Inca empire.Photo credit: CacophonyRecently featured: Greater Crested Tern – Human respiratory system – Theodore Roosevelt and John MuirArchive – More featured pictures…