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Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.2,469,587 articles in EnglishArtsBiographyGeographyHistoryMathematicsScienceSocietyTechnologyAll portalsOverview · Editing · Questions · HelpContents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z indexToday’s featured articleThe SS Christopher Columbus was an excursion liner on the Great Lakes, in service between 1893 and 1933. She was the only whaleback ship ever built for passenger service. The ship was designed by Alexander McDougall, the developer and promoter of the whaleback design. Columbus was built between 1892 and 1893 at Superior, Wisconsin by the American Steel Barge Company. Initially, she ferried passengers to and from the World’s Columbian Exposition. Later, she provided general transportation and excursion services to various ports around the lakes. At 362 feet (110 m), the ship was the longest whaleback ever built, and reportedly also the largest vessel on the Great Lakes when she was launched. Columbus is said to have carried more passengers during her career than any other vessel on the Great Lakes. After a career lasting four decades, she was retired during the Great Depression and scrapped in 1936 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. (more…)Recently featured: The Power of Nightmares – Jay Chou – Minneapolis, MinnesotaArchive – By email – More featured articles…Did you know…From Wikipedia’s newest articles:… that areas around Mangochi (Lake Malawi pictured), Malawi, have recently been terrorised by elephants?… that the Rev. William Plenderleath’s book Memoranda of Cherhill was first published 95 years after the author’s death?… that attacks by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, led by Nigerian rebel Henry Okah, are believed to indirectly raise the price of oil?… that British actor Terence Stamp’s brother Chris, a New York City psychodrama therapist, co-managed and produced rock band The Who from 1964 to 1975?… that after a painted garage door was destroyed, the Precita Eyes muralists salvaged it and merged it into a new one, said to be one of their most beautiful in San Francisco?… that a picture of Cincinnati Reds pitcher Lee Grissom rowing a boat inside Crosley Field ran nationwide after the worst flood in the city’s history?… that Benjamin Ferguson bequeathed a fund to Chicago, Illinois that provided for seventeen of the city’s most prominent sculptures?Archive – Start a new article…In the newsIndia’s United Progressive Alliance-led government (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pictured) survives a confidence vote, held after the Left Front withdrew its support over the Indo-US nuclear deal.Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is arrested by security forces in Serbia on war crimes charges, including genocide, after a 12-year manhunt.Hurricane Dolly, currently in Texas, kills at least 17 in Guatemala.Zimbabwe introduces a new 100-billion-dollar bank note as the annual inflation rate hits 2.2 million percent.Ram Baran Yadav of the Nepali Congress party wins Nepal’s presidential election, defeating Ram Raja Prasad Singh of the Communist Party (Maoist).Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events…On this day…July 23: Revolution Day in Egypt1793 – After a siege of 18 weeks, French troops in Mainz surrendered to Prussian forces, effectively ending the Republic of Mainz, the first democratic state on the current German territory.1952 – Egyptian Army officers in the Free Officers Movement led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser staged a military coup against King Farouk of Egypt.1986 – Sarah Ferguson (pictured) married Prince Andrew, Duke of York at London’s Westminster Abbey, joining the British Royal Family as the Duchess of York.1995 – Hale-Bopp, one of the most widely observed comets of the twentieth century, was discovered by two independent observers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, at a very large distance from the Sun.2001 – Megawati Sukarnoputri became the first female president of Indonesia after the People’s Consultative Assembly removed Abdurrahman Wahid.More events: July 22 – July 23 – July 24Archive – By email – More anniversaries…It is now 22:18, July 23, 2008 (UTC) – Refresh this pageToday’s featured pictureÉmile Zola’s famous public letter “J’accuse” to the President of France Félix Faure in protest against the mishandling of the Dreyfus Affair, January 13, 1898. The letter accused the government of anti-Semitism and the unlawful jailing of Alfred Dreyfus, a French General Staff officer sentenced for espionage to penal servitude for life. Zola pointed out judicial errors and lack of serious evidence. The letter was printed on the first page of the newspaper L’Aurore and caused a stir in France and abroad. For publishing this letter, Zola was prosecuted and found guilty of libel and he avoided punishment by fleeing to England. As a result of the popularity of the letter, even in the English-speaking world, J’accuse! has become a common generic expression of outrage and accusation against a powerful person.Author: Émile ZolaRecently featured: Spinning wheel – Welder – Tacoma Narrows Bridge destructionArchive – More featured pictures…