Welcome to Wikipedia,

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

6,924,654 articles in English

Overview · Searching · Editing · Questions · Help

Categories · Featured content · A–Z index

Today's featured article
Greek fragment of the Apocalypse of Peter The Apocalypse of Peter is an apocryphal text of the 2nd century. It is the earliest-written extant work depicting a Christian account of heaven and of hell in detail. The work describes a divine vision experienced by Peter through Jesus Christ. It delves into a vision of the afterlife (katabasis), and details both heavenly bliss for the righteous and infernal punishments for the damned. The punishments are graphically described and loosely correspond to "an eye for an eye": blasphemers are hung by their tongues; liars have their lips cut off; callous rich people are pierced by stones and are dressed in filthy rags; and so on. While the Apocalypse of Peter influenced other early Christian works, it eventually came to be considered inauthentic and was not included in the standard canon of the New Testament. It influenced later works in which the protagonist takes a tour of the realms of the afterlife, including the Apocalypse of Paul, and the Divine Comedy of Dante. (Full article...) Recently featured: Texas Centennial half dollar Apollo 12 Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims Archive By email More featured articles About
Did you know...
Light Vessel 93 ... that Light Vessel 93 (pictured) was converted into a photography studio? ... that Zheng Zhegu urged his film students to bring their girlfriends when no women enrolled? ... that the Green Bay Packers lost the 2014 NFC Championship Game and a spot in the Super Bowl after they were considered to have a 99.9-percent chance of victory? ... that politician Thokchom Chandrasekhar Singh was jailed for 12 months for protesting in favour of restoring the Manipur Legislative Assembly? ... that the newspaper Qizil Tugh (Red Banner) provided a publishing platform for young Uyghur-language poets and writers in the Soviet Union? ... that Gail Damerow was described by one magazine as "poultry's Cesar Millan"? ... that both Catholic and Orthodox Christian democrats received a higher share of votes in Kazansky District than in any other district of Petrograd in the 1917 Russian elections? ... that in a 2024 game, college football player Jordan Watkins scored an Ole Miss–record five receiving touchdowns – even though he had never before had more than one? ... that Haruki Murakami owns so many T-shirts that he published a book about them? Archive Start a new article Nominate an article

In the news

Speaker Woo Won-shik signing the impeachment resolution

President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol is impeached (signing pictured) following his declaration of martial law.
Astro Bot wins Game of the Year at the Game Awards.
Gukesh Dommaraju defeats Ding Liren to win the World Chess Championship.
Syrian rebel forces capture Damascus following multiple offensives as overthrown president Bashar al-Assad flees to Russia.

On this day...

December 16: Day of Reconciliation in South Africa

Boston Tea Party

1598 – Led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the Korean navy were victorious at Battle of Noryang, ending the Japanese invasions of Korea.
1773 – American Revolution: A group of colonists threw chests of tea into Boston Harbor (pictured) to protest British taxation without representation.
1938 – Adolf Hitler instituted the Cross of Honour of the German Mother, an order of merit for German mothers with at least four children.
1997 – Amid an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the British government banned the sale of beef on the bone for human consumption.
2012 – A woman was gang-raped and fatally assaulted on a bus in Delhi, generating protests across India against inadequate security for women.

Elizabeth Carter (b. 1717)
James Murrell (d. 1860)
Camille Saint-Saëns (d. 1921)
Taliep Petersen (d. 2006)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture
Wikipedia:POTD row/December 16, 2024

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: