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Founder of Wikipedia

Last Updated : 04 Jan, 2024
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Wikipedia is a well-known term globally, but do you know who is the founder of Wikipedia? The article shares knowledge about the founder of Wikipedia along with its history. Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales founded Wikipedia in the year 2001. Sanger and Wales built the website, accessible globally and free to use via the Internet. The website is a multilingual encyclopedia where individuals write content. The website is regulated and maintained by a group of volunteers through open collaborations. Wikipedia is involved in checking the authentication of GNU free documentation and Creative Commons license. Wikipedia is awarded a “Free software award for social benefit project”. Read further to know more.

Founder-of-Wikipedia

Founder of Wikipedia

Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales (Jimmy Donal Wales), also known as Jimbo, was born on August 07, 1966, in the USA. Jimbo went to the University of Alabama and Indiana University, Bloomington. He is a financial trader, internet entrepreneur, and webmaster. He’s a benefactor of websites and Wikia. The net worth of Jimmy Wales is $1 million. He is a popular figure due to his contribution to forming a non-profit organization named Wikipedia. 

Larry Sanger

In the USA, Larry Sanger (Lawrence Mark Sanger) was born on July 26, 1968. Larry completed his education at Reed College and Ohio State University. He’s a philosopher and internet project developer. He’s well-known as a co-founder of Wikipedia and Nupedia, Reading bear, Everipedia, Encyclopaedia of Earth, Infobitt, and Citizendium. $1 million is the net worth of Larry Sanger. Sanger planned and developed Wikipedia strategically to boost its reach.

How was Wikipedia Formed?

Wikipedia was earlier not meant for a non-profit organization but another project with Nupedia. The purpose was to form a free encyclopedia enlisted by Bomis possessed by Michele E Davis, Tim Sheel, and Jimmy Wales. Primarily it was registered as Wikipedia.com on January 12. The editing started, and after two days, it was officially launched on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia.org. Slashdot posting and Nupedia were beginner contributors to the website. In 2003, Wikipedia decided to add languages to incorporate diversity. By 2004, the website incorporated one hundred sixty languages and widened its reach globally. In September 2007, Wikipedia broke the world record of 600 years by containing two million articles and became the largest assembled encyclopedia. In the shortest period, Nupedia was left behind by Wikipedia and reached different parts of the world, and became a common source of information. The most recent milestone of Wikipedia was recorded in February 2020 by ranking the eleventh number in achieving internet traffic. It has partnered with the World Health Organisation to spread the right information to users.

Conclusion

The above article educated you about who the founders of Wikipedia are? Wikipedia is a non-profit website that serves knowledge to the user through access to the internet. Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales formed the website on January 15, 2001. After two days of registration, the website was updated. A group of volunteers and automated software is responsible for maintaining and regulating the content of Wikipedia. Over time the feature of new articles and open collaboration helped Wikipedia implement and grow. Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales improvise the strategies for smooth and intangible delivery of trustworthy content to maintain the dignity of the website.


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