Wikipedia is turning 25: older, wiser, and now fully referenced [citation needed]

Wikipedia turns 25 on 15 January, and it’s time to party! We’re calling the bold editors, talk page philosophers, typo hunters, and edit warriors who have been shaping the sum of all human knowledge for a quarter century to join in the celebration. Here’s to making the internet just a little bit smarter, one edit at a time. 

Register now for Wikipedia’s 25th virtual birthday bash on 15 January at 16:00 UTC. The party will be packed with games, entertainment, surprise guests, and prizes (because what’s a birthday party without party favors?!). 

Until the celebrations begin, let’s ‘View history’ on 25 years of knowledge, collaboration, consensus, and humanity at its best.

What’s planned for 2026

Wikipedia’s virtual 25th birthday party on 15 January is just the beginning – we will be celebrating the 25th birthday together in style throughout the year. From community grants and events, to designs, merch and easter eggs, to press and public engagements, you are invited to be part of it. And if you’re planning your own watch party or another event, please add it to the calendar and map.

We’ll be celebrating milestones from Wikipedia’s first 25 years on a special site soon—but for now, take a scroll with us through some highlights of wiki history.

A little wiki history lesson

Some you know by heart, others you might be surprised ever happened!

1. 1995 – The first wiki, WikiWikiWeb is created by our friend Ward Cunningham. The inspiration for the name comes from the Wiki Wiki shuttle bus which means “quick” or “fast” in Hawaiian.
2. 2000 – Some folks start their own online wiki – an encyclopedia – called Nupedia – with experts and scholars. It produces 24 articles and lasts three years, but the idea of an online encyclopedia persists.
3. 2001 – While Nupedia is struggling to take off, another idea was born from it – Wikipedia. Launched on January 15, 2001 (a Monday according to the Gregorian calendar). Within months it’s clear an encyclopedia anyone can edit is going to need some rules. The Neutral point-of-view policy was established by volunteers and remains a cornerstone of Wikipedia today. 
4. 2001 – Throughout the year, other language Wikipedias begin to crop up including German, Catalan, Japanese, French, Chinese, Dutch, Esperanto, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Arabic, Danish, Polish and Hungarian. 
5. 2003 – The software that powers Wikipedia and other free-knowledge projects – now in its third incarnation – gets a name, Mediawiki. Which is a wordplay on Wikimedia. The  Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that supports Wikipedia, was founded the same year. 
6. 2004 – With some skin in the game, Monobook is introduced as the default Wikipedia “look”. Also called a skin. It features a faint photo of a book in the background (get it, mono book). Want to see what a current Wikipedia article looks like with this old skin? As of April 2024, 4.40% of editors making more than 60 edits annually still use it!
7. 2005 – Back in the early aughts websites vie to break into the Alexa rankings (No, not that Alexa, but a different Alexa. Humorously both owned by Amazon!). Wikipedia finally makes the list breaking into the Alexa Top 40. (Pop quiz: What was the 40th place Billboard single of 2005? “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy. We’re in good company. (Editor’s note: [citation needed])  
8. 2007 – The first mobile version of Wikipedia launches. (As this article is being written, we’ve been winding down the mobile .m domain. You did good, mobile site. 19 years of serving free knowledge across small screens.)
9. 2009 – Time Magazine lists Wikipedia as #25  of the 50 best websites on the internet. Who was #24? Redfin. What!?
10. 2010 – English Wikipedia passed the 3.5-million-article mark, while the French Wikipedia became the third Wikipedia, after English and German, to hit its millionth article on 21 September. The 1-billionth Wikimedia project edit was performed on 16 April. At least, according to Wikipedia. 
11. 2013 – Wikipedia continues to ride the 1 million wave, as Italian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Polish join German, French, English and Dutch by hitting 1 million articles.
12. 2015 – Wysiwhat? The Visual editor is released to most users at most Wikimedia projects by the end of the year, bringing WYSIWYG editing to Wikipedia. Despite some significant initial hiccups, it eventually becomes a full-fledged companion to editing the “wikitext” source code that make up each article behind-the-scenes.
13. 2020 – Boy, what a year.  Wikipedia – along with the rest of humanity – perseveres. Wired magazine calls Wikipedia, “The last best place on the Internet” and Wikipedia’s coverage of COVID-19 related content is lauded. The WHO licenses their content for use in Wikimedia projects.
14. 2024 – Things go dark on Wikipedia. No, not that way! Dark mode is introduced to the site. Bringing relief to late-at-night-in-bed readers of the article on Cuban mailman and 1904 Summer Olympics long-distance runner Andarín Carvajal, (who lost all of his money gambling in New Orleans and was forced to hitchhike and walk the rest of the way. He arrived at the race dressed in street clothes and hastily cut around the legs of his trousers to make them more like shorts. Carvajal performed well in the race despite stopping to chat with spectators and snatching some peaches from a spectator’s car. Later in the race he saw an apple orchard and stopped to eat some apples which turned out to be rotten. Oh, no, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole!)
15. 2025 – Hey! This is now! As they say on-wiki, “This article is about a current event where information can change quickly or be unreliable.” Though Wikimedia is ever-evolving, celebrating 25 years of free knowledge in 2026 is something you can count on. 

Have a different favorite Wikipedia memory to share? Drop us a note on Meta-Wiki and we’ll weave it into the celebrations. And keep your eye on the birthday hub on Meta-Wiki for resources and updates!