Main Page
Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.2,450,559 articles in EnglishArtsBiographyGeographyHistoryMathematicsScienceSocietyTechnologyAll portalsOverview · Editing · Questions · HelpContents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z indexToday’s featured articleTo Kill a Mockingbird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful upon its release and has become 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 novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator’s father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers, and a model of integrity for lawyers. One critic explained the novel’s impact by writing, “[i]n the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism.” 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 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. (more…)Recently featured: R.E.M. – Atom – Edward VIIIArchive – By email – More featured articles…Did you know…From Wikipedia’s newest articles:… that on the Mars Exploration Rover (artist’s impression pictured), a technique known as visual odometry allowed the rover to estimate its position and orientation using only camera images?… that Abdur Rashid Kardar, a pioneer of the Pakistani film industry in Lahore, was a calligraphist who prepared posters for foreign-made films?… that South Park Lofts in Los Angeles, originally an eight-story parking garage, was converted to lofts, whereupon residents complained about a lack of parking?… that the fungus gnat is often found around houseplants because it lays eggs in moist potting soil?… that English footballer Tom Holford played professionally until he was 46, making him the sixth oldest player to have appeared in a Football League match?… that many traumatic brain injuries have aspects of both focal and diffuse brain injury?… that Charles Mathias, Jr. is the only Republican from Maryland to be elected to three terms in the United States Senate?Archive – Start a new article…In the newsIndia submits its nuclear safeguards agreement to the International Atomic Energy Agency to implement the Indo-US nuclear deal.In Grenada, Tillman Thomas succeeds Keith Mitchell (pictured) as the new Prime Minister following the National Democratic Congress’ win in the general elections.Iran test-fires the Shahab-3, a missile with an operating range of 2,100 km (1,300 mi), amid rising international tensions over the country’s nuclear program.Leaders of the nations meeting in Japan for the 34th G8 summit agree to a target of cutting world greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050.A suicide bomber rams a car bomb into the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 58 people.An explosion near the Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan, kills at least 18 people on the first anniversary of the deadly siege and storming of the mosque.Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events…On this day…July 11: Naadam in Mongolia begins; Day of the Flemish Community of Belgium1302 – Flemish infantry successfully halted a French invasion near Kortrijk at the Battle of the Golden Spurs.1804 – U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton (pictured) during a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey.1893 – Japanese entrepreneur and inventor Mikimoto Kōkichi first created the hemispherical cultured pearl.1957 – Prince Karīm al-Hussaynī succeeded Sultan Mahommed Shah as the Aga Khan, becoming the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.1995 – Bosnian Genocide: Bosnian Serb forces under Ratko Mladić began the Srebrenica massacre in the region of Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, eventually killing an estimated total of 8,000 Bosniaks.More events: July 10 – July 11 – July 12Archive – By email – More anniversaries…It is now 10:37, July 11, 2008 (UTC) – Refresh this pageToday’s featured pictureComputed tomography (CT) of a human brain, from the base of the skull (top left) to the top, taken with an intravenous contrast agent. This medical imaging method employs tomography and digital geometry processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the inside of an object from a large series of two-dimensional x-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation.Image credit: Mikael HäggströmRecently featured: Hoverfly poster – David Farragut – Intercession of Charles Borromeo supported by the Virgin MaryArchive – More featured pictures…