In what year was Wikipedia launched?

Wikipedia was launched in 2001. Its first recorded edit was made on January 15, 2001, the date now celebrated as Wikipedia Day.

The project began as a companion to Nupedia, an earlier free encyclopedia whose formal review process made article production slow. Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger introduced a wiki-based site where volunteers could draft and improve encyclopedia articles collaboratively. It initially operated at Wikipedia.com and started as an English-language project.

The name combines “wiki,” a term associated with quick, collaborative web editing, and “encyclopedia.” Wikipedia was not the first online encyclopedia, but its open editing model helped it grow rapidly. The first non-English editions, including German, Catalan, French, Swedish, and Italian, appeared later in 2001.

A common mix-up is confusing Wikipedia’s launch with the creation of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia came first; the nonprofit foundation was established in 2003 to support Wikipedia and its sister projects.