Wikipedia, everyone's favorite community-edited encyclopedia, turned 13 years old today. The website has now entered that infamous stage of adolescence where it thinks it knows everything about everything. In this case, though, it actually might.
The company launched on Jan. 15, 2001, now known to some as Wikipedia Day. The site revolutionized both the way college students write papers and how you can decipher that weird skin thing you found on your arm.
Wikipedia was created by duo Jimmy Wales, whose face used to stare at you from the main page until you donated, and Larry Sanger, who devised the name Wikipedia, a portmanteau of the Hawaiian word for "quick" and encyclopedia.
With an estimated 365 million users, Wikipedia has grown into one of the most-visited websites in the world.
Users read over 30 million articles in 287 languages
Users read over 30 million articles in 287 languages, covering everything from the list of nicknames used by former President George W. Bush to the etymology of the word jukebox. With a body of information like that, it's no surprise visitors often get trapped in Wikipedia's web of links, spending hours clicking from article to article, wondering where all the time went.
Despite its success, Wikipedia enters its awkward teen years looking not too different from when it started. Though obviously more minimalistic, the site maintains the same aesthetic as an old encyclopedia you'd borrow from a library. (Remember libraries?)
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