The day is finally here: Wikipedia’s 25th birthday. This is a huge milestone, which calls for us to pause, reflect, and celebrate the incredible place that Wikipedia holds in the history of human knowledge.
Today is also about helping others make sense of this moment by reminding the world of what we already know: that Wikipedia is the backbone of information online, and that humans are at the center of it.
Help celebrate this moment – there are lots of ways to be part of it!
Virtual Birthday Party
You can get started by joining the global community birthday party happening today at 16:00 UTC, featuring dozens of Wikimedians from around the world. There’s prizes, games, special guests, and musical performances.
Add your birthday wishes to the longest birthday card
Wish Wikipedia a happy 25th birthday by heading over to Meta-wiki and signing the birthday card, or by creating your own story using a special template on Wikipedia’s Instagram (click on the Story highlight in Wikipedia’s profile and tap on the “Add Yours” sticker).
Watch and share our 25th anniversary docuseries
We just debuted a 25th anniversary docuseries. In one-minute episodes, we’re sharing the unique stories of phenomenal Wikipedia editors, givingviewers a glimpse into the work of nearly 250,000 volunteers around the globe.
The series spotlights these volunteers and their unique purpose and passions for contributing to the online encyclopedia. They include a Californian who has spent two decades documenting hurricanes and storms, an Indian medical doctor who shared critical COVID-19 information during the global pandemic, an elderly librarian in Tokyo making knowledge available in Japanese, and more. Their stories underscore that, even and especially in the age of AI, knowledge is human, and knowledge needs humans.
Delve into the 25 Years of Wikipedia timecapsule
We’ve also unveiled “25 Years of Wikipedia,” a curated, interactive time capsule that captures key moments in Wikipedia’s history, from past to present, while also inspiring hope for how it might shape the internet of the future.
You can listen to Founder Jimmy Wales share in his own words memories from Wikipedia’s origin story, including when he himself installed the site’s very first servers. The capsule also explores Wikipedia’s role during major global events and showcases some of the most weird and wonderful parts of Wikipedia, like an article on a prescient octopus named Paul.
A new, interactive quiz was also released today. It invites people worldwide to discover which Wikipedia future best represents them. The futures were imagined by a group of Wikipedia editors, young children, professional futurists, and artists, representing a range of visions for the Wikipedia of tomorrow.
Wikipedia at 25 in the physical world
Want something more tangible? Check out the fresh, festive limited-edition collection of Wikipedia merchandise we just launched at the Wikipedia Store. Want to take your own birthday mascot home? Pre-order your Baby Globe plushie at Makeship’s website.
Oh, and don’t forget to read about the wonderful Wikimedian who came up with the idea for Baby Globe! We sat down with User:BaduFerreira (Jonathan) to learn more about him and his work.
Keep on celebrating!
After exploring all of these, help us create the biggest anniversary moment possible by using our social media toolkit to amplify birthday wishes and love for Wikipedia all over the world. The social media toolkit is part of our larger celebration toolkit filled with design assets and resources you can use throughout the year.
Starting on February 16, go check out the birthday surprises, popping up on Betawi, Czech, French, Gorontalo, Italian, Madurese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Wayuu Wikipedias. Sign up to receive a reminder once this character is up and running, playing, and daydreaming. Do you think your community would be interested in participating? Add your username on the Talk page and we’ll be in touch!
The celebration will continue with Wikipedia 25 events happening around the world throughout the year, both online and in-person. Check out the full calendar of events, and if you and your community are celebrating throughout the year, be sure to add yours to the list!
We have much more to celebrate in the year ahead for Wikipedia 25 – but today, we share gratitude with all of you for helping us reach and recognize this milestone for our movement.
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