List of articles every Wikipedia should have
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There are a growing number of Wikipedia projects, some very active, and others quite moribund. I propose that we invigorate them, and ensure that they each contain a minimum of information that will be of use to users. This way, people will be encouraged to use these projects and help in their growth.
I therefore suggest that we make a list of 1,000 basic articles that we should try to encorage to appear on every existing Wikipedia.
- It still remains to define how detailed these 'articles' should be; or better yet, the list should include both significant articles (primary elements) and secondary topics/articles, which should either get short paragraph-length stubs, or be covered by a longer article.
These articles should be very basic, and incorporate the most essential information. In some cases, it will be only a table, while in other cases, it will be a stub. This will, however, provide some impetus for the smaller projects to grow. This project hopes to create easily translatable versions of these articles, containing core information at simple:Wikipedia:List of articles all languages should have.
- If you support this effort, please add to the list.
How to use this list
There are several different ways to use this list. The first is to translate it into the language of your Wikipedia and see whether you have articles on all of these topics. The topics will eventually all be linked to articles in the Simple English Wikipedia. If you are missing an article, or if you are starting out with a new language, you may want to translate these basic articles. You can also check the language links in the Simple English articles for more comprehensive coverage of the topics in many other languages.
Biography
At least three sentences on 100 key historical figures
Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Fryderyk Chopin
- Antonín Dvořák
- Gustav Mahler
- Claudio Monteverdi
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Richard Wagner
Explorers
- Roald Amundsen
- Willem Barentz
- Vitus Bering
- Jacques Cartier
- Christopher Columbus
- James Cook
- Hernán Cortés
- Francis Drake
- Leif Ericsson
- Vasco da Gama
- Edmund Hillary
- Tenzing Norgay
- Ferdinand Magellan
- Marco Polo
- Abel Tasman
- Zheng He
Inventors and scientists
- Archimedes
- John Logie Baird
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Carl Benz
- Niels Bohr
- Tycho Brahe
- Rachel Carson
- Nicolaus Copernicus
- Marie Curie (Maria Skłodowska-Curie)
- Charles Darwin
- Albert Einstein (see current status, edit current status)
- Thomas Alva Edison
- Enrico Fermi
- Richard Feynman
- Alexander Fleming
- Henry Ford
- Sigmund Freud
- Buckminster Fuller
- Kazimierz Funk
- Galileo Galilei
- Johann Gutenberg
- Huygens
- Edward Jenner
- Johannes Kepler
- John Maynard Keynes
- Carolus Linnaeus
- Ignacy Łukasiewicz
- James Clerk Maxwell
- Isaac Newton
- Alfred Nobel
- Hans Christian Oersted
- Louis Pasteur
- Ole Christensen Roemer
- Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
- Ernest Rutherford
- Nikola Tesla
- Leonardo Da Vinci
- The Wright Brothers
Mathematicians, not listed elsewhere
- Leonhard Euler
- Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier
- Karl Friedrich Gauss
- Kurt Gödel
- David Hilbert
- Hypatia
- Pierre-Simon Laplace
- Gottfried Leibniz
- Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann
- Thales
- Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi
Social scientists (philosophers, economists, historians and thinkers)
- Thomas Aquinas
- Aristotle
- Augustinus
- Averroes
- Matsuo Basho
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Confucius
- Rene Descartes
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Edward Gibbon
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Herodotus
- Hippocrates
- Immanuel Kant
- Lao Tzu
- Li Po
- Martin Luther
- Soeren Kierkegaard
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Karl Marx
- Nagarjuna
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Tom Paine
- Plato
- Pythagoras
- Sima Qian
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Bertrand Russell
- Adam Smith
- Socrates
- Sun Tzu
- Tu Fu
- Voltaire
- Mary Wollstonecraft
- Zeami
Authors, Playwrights and Poets
- Dante Alighieri
- Hans Christian Andersen
- Aristophanes
- Isaac Asimov
- Jane Austen
- Bertolt Brecht
- Lord Byron
- Miguel de Cervantes
- Anton Chekhov
- Emily Dickinson
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Arthur Conan Doyle
- Alexandre Dumas
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Grimm Brothers
- Dashiell Hammett
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Ernest Hemingway
- Hildegard of Bingen
- Homer
- Victor Hugo
- Langston Hughes
- Henrik Ibsen
- James Joyce
- Franz Kafka
- Astrid Lindgren
- Thomas Mann
- Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Arthur Miller
- Moliere
- Pablo Neruda
- Sylvia Plath
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Marcel Proust
- Alexandr Pushkin
- Rainer Maria Rilke
- Carl Sandburg
- Sappho
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- William Shakespeare
- George Bernard Shaw
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Sophocles
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- JRR Tolkien
- Leo Tolstoy
- Mark Twain
- Jules Verne
- Virgil
- H. G. Wells
- Walt Whitman
- Oscar Wilde
- WB Yeats
Artists
- Michelangelo Buonarroti
- Paul Cézanne
- Vincent van Gogh
- Katsushika Hokusai
- Frida Kahlo
- Claude Monet
- Georgia O'Keefe
- Pablo Picasso
- Jackson Pollock
- Nicolas Poussin
- Rembrandt van Rijn
- Auguste Rodin
- Rafael Sancho
- Andy Warhol
Past politicans and leaders
- Akbar the Great
- Alexander the Great
- Kemal Atatürk
- Cæsar Augustus
- Otto von Bismarck
- Simón Bolívar
- Napoléon Bonaparte
- Gro Harlem Brundtland
- Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia
- Charlemagne
- Winston Churchill
- Cleopatra
- Constantine the Great
- Queen Elizabeth I (of England)
- Franz Ferdinand
- Mohandas Gandhi
- Charles de Gaulle
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Hammurabi
- Hannibal
- Hirohito, Emperor of Japan
- Adolf Hitler
- Thomas Jefferson
- Pope John Paul II
- Julius Caesar
- Genghis Khan
- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
- Abraham Lincoln
- Nelson Mandela
- Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong)
- Maria Theresa of Austria (Holy Roman Empress)
- Queen Mary I of Scotland
- Golda Meir
- Benito Mussolini
- Kwame Nkrumah
- Peter the Great
- Józef Piłsudski
- Pol Pot
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Saladin
- Shaka Zulu
- Sitting Bull
- Josef Stalin
- Tamerlane
- Margaret Thatcher
- Leo Trotsky
- Harry Truman
- Queen Victoria (of the United Kingdom)
- George Washington
- Emperor Wilhelm II
- Qin Shihuang
- Hastings Kamuzu Banda
Modern politicans and leaders
- Kofi Annan
- Pope Benedict XVI
- Silvio Berlusconi
- Tony Blair
- George W. Bush
- Fidel Castro
- Jacques Chirac
- Vladimir Putin
- Gerhard Schröder
- Queen Elizabeth II (UK)
- Lech Wałęsa
- Lee Kuan Yew
- Mahathir bin Mohamad
Women in history
- Lucrezia Borgia
- Indira Gandhi
- Sojourner Truth
- Germaine Greer
- Semiramis, Queen of Assyria
- Nefertiti
- Catherine de' Medici
- Queen Liliuokalani
- Makeda, Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia)
- Kaahumanu
- Joan of Arc
- Emma Goldman
- Mary Harris (Mother Jones)
- Helen Keller
- Rosa Luxemburg
- Florence Nightingale
- Rosa Parks
- Cixi (Tse Hsi, Tz'u-hsi) (The Dowager Empress of China, 1835 - 1908)
- Eva Peron
- Emilia Plater
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Princess Diana Spencer
- Mother Teresa of Calcutta
- Harriet Tubman
Computers and Internet
- Tim Berners-Lee
- Bill Gates
- Steve Jobs
- Donald Knuth
- Dennis Ritchie
- Richard Stallman
- Linus Torvalds
- Alan Turing
Terrorists
History
At least five sentences on:
Prehistory and ancient world
- Ancient Egypt
- Archaeology
- Bronze Age
- Byzantine Empire
- Classical Greece
- Dinosaur
- Human evolution
- Inca and other Andes cultures
- Iron Age
- Macedonian Empire
- Mesoamerica
- Prehistory
- Roman Empire
- Seljuk Empire
- Stone Age
- Sumer
Middle Ages and Renaissance
- Age of Enlightenment
- American War of Independece
- Black Death
- British Empire
- Colonization of North-east America
- Colonization of South America
- Counter-Reformation
- Crusades
- Discovery of the Americas
- Dutch Revolt
- English Civil War
- French Revolution
- The Great Schism
- Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
- Middle Ages
- Napoleonic Wars
- Ottoman Empire
- Partitions of Poland
- Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Reformation
- Renaissance
- Spanish Inquisition
- Vikings
Industrial age
- 1973 oil crisis
- Afghan-Soviet War
- American Civil War
- Apartheid
- Cold War
- Decolonization
- Establishment of the State of Israel
- Industrial Revolution
- Franco-Prussian War
- German unification
- Great Depression
- Gulf wars
- The Holocaust
- Iranian Revolution
- Italian unification
- Korean War
- Meiji Restoration
- Nazi Germany
- Outer space exploration (Sputnik, Apollo programs, shuttles)
- Perestroika and dissolution of the Soviet Union
- Polish-Soviet War
- Reunification of Germany
- Russian Civil War
- Russian February Revolution
- Russian October (Bolshevik) Revolution
- Solidarity in Poland
- Spanish Civil War
- The Scramble for Africa
- Treaty of Versailles
- Vietnam War
- World War I
- World War II
- Han Dynasty
- Tang Dynasty
- Sung Dynasty
- Yuan Dynasty
- Qing Dynasty
- Ming Dynasty
Geography
- Earth science
- Capital
- City
- Continent
- Desert
- Ocean
- Rain forest
- River
- Sea
- North Pole
- South Pole
Continents and major regions
At least three sentences on each of the continents
- Africa
- Antarctica
- Asia
- Europe
- Latin America
- Middle East
- North America
- Oceania
- South America
Countries
- One sentence and the table on all countries in this list (203 articles):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries
Major cities
Cities with historical, economical, political and/or religious importance and significance
- Athens
- Bangkok
- Barcelona
- Beijing
- Belgrade
- Berlin
- Bombay
- Brussels
- Cairo
- Copenhagen
- Edinburgh
- Frankfurt
- Hanoi
- Hong Kong
- Istanbul
- Jakarta
- Jerusalem
- London
- Manila
- Madrid
- Mecca
- Mexico City
- Moscow
- Munich (München)
- Nairobi
- New Delhi
- New York
- Paris
- Rio de Janiero
- Rome
- Shanghai
- Singapore
- St. Petersburg
- Stockholm
- Sydney
- Taipei
- Tokyo
- Toronto
- Vienna
- Warsaw
- Washington D.C.
Bodies of water
- Amazon River
- Aral Sea
- Arctic Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Baltic Sea
- Black Sea
- Caspian Sea
- Dead Sea
- Great Barrier Reef
- Great Lakes
- Indian Ocean
- Lake Baikal
- Lake Tanganyika
- Lake Titicaca
- Lake Victoria
- Mediterranean Sea
- Mississippi River
- Niagara falls
- Nile River
- North Sea
- Pacific Ocean
- Panama Canal
- Suez Canal
- Southern Ocean
Mountains, valleys and deserts
- Alps
- Andes
- Great Rift Valley
- Himalayas
- Kilimanjaro
- Mount Everest
- Rocky Mountains
- Sahara Desert
Disasters
- Avalanche
- Earthquake
- Flood
- Hurricane
- Nuclear meltdown
- Tsunami
- Volcano
Government and politics
- Anarchism
- Anarchy
- Capitalism
- Communism
- Democracy
- Dictatorship
- Fascism
- Globalisation
- Imperialism
- Liberalism
- Monarchy
- Nationalism
- Racism
- Republic
- Socialism
- Separation of powers:
- Judiciary
- Legislature
- Executive
- Political party
- Theocracy
Economics
- Economics
- Money
- Supply & Demand
- Market
- Capital
- Microeconomics
- Macroeconomics
Currency
- American Dollar
- British Pound (Sterling)
- Euro
- Renminbi
- Rupee
- Yen
Legal documents
- Communist Manifesto
- Constitution
- Law
- Magna Carta
- Leviathan
International organizations
- African Union
- ASEAN
- Arab League
- Antiglobalization
- Commonwealth of Independent States
- Commonwealth of Nations
- Council of Europe
- European Court of Human Rights
- European Convention on Human Rights
- Diplomacy
- European Union
- Freedom
- Geneva Conventions
- Red Cross/Red Crescent/Red Star of David
- Globalization
- Interpol
- NATO
- Nobel Prize
- OECD
- OSCE
- Olympic Games, preferably with a mention of the Paralympics
- OPEC
- Organization of American States
- United Nations
- IAEA
- IMF
- International Criminal Court
- International Court of Justice
- WHO
- WTO
- UNICEF
- UNESCO
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- World Bank
- World Peace
Human issues
- Abortion
- Birth control
- Capital punishment
- Human rights
- Racism
- Sexism
- Sexuality
- Slavery
Philosophy
- Philosophy
- Eastern philosophy
- Western philosophy
- Scientific method
- Beauty
- Ethics
- Existence
- Experience
- Feminism
- Humanism
- Knowledge
- Moral (or Morality)
- Logic
- Truth
Religion and spirituality
- Religion
At least a five-sentence introduction to the religions:
- Astrology
- Baha'i
- Báb
- Bahá'u'lláh
- Buddhism
- Gautama Buddha
- Christianity
- Church
- Jehovah
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Jesus
- Pope
- Protestantism
- Trinity
- Confucianism
- God
- Monotheism
- Hinduism
- Brahma
- Vishnu
- Siva
- Islam
- Ali
- Mosque
- Muhammad
- Omar
- Sufism
- Jainism
- Judaism
- Moses
- Synagogue
- Yahweh
- Mythology
- Greek mythology
- Shinto
- Sikhism
- Nanak
- Spirits
- Taoism
- Unitarianism
- Voodoo
- Zoroastrianism
- Zoroaster
Religious philosophies
- Agnosticism
- Atheism
- Religious Fundamentalism
Culture
At least three sentences on:
- Art
- Painting
- Sculpture
- Culture
- Dance
- Radio
- Television
- Theater
- Broadway
- Noh
- Tourism
Architecture
also civil engeering
- Architecture
- Arch
- Bridge
- Canal
- Dam
- Dome
- Nail
- Tower
Film
- Film
- History/evolution
- Silent era/transition to sound
- Studio era (Including the different "type" of films from MGM, Warner Bros, Fox, Columbia, etc.)
- Modern era
- Actors
- Silent stars - Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks, Clara Bow, Gloria Swanson
- Studio stars / contract era - Crawford, Gable, Harlow, Wayne, Garbo, Lombard, Shearer, etc.
- Growth of the (Stanislausky) method - Brando, Dean, Monroe, Actors Studio
- Modern era (top actors now key power)
- Directors / creators
- Silent greats - DW Griffith, Frances Marion, Cecil B. de Mille
- European film grows - Eisenstein, Fritz Lang, Leni Riefenstahl, Jean Renoir
- Studio system (Michael Curtiz, Mitchell Leison, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Dorothy Arzner)
- Ingmar Bergman
- Walt Disney
- Akira Kurosawa
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Film school (1970s) generation - Spielberg, Lucas, Scorcese, etc.
- History/evolution
Literature
- Literature
- Novel
- Don Quixote
- Thousand and One Nights
- Poetry
- Epic of Gilgamesh
- Iliad
- Mahabharata
- Odyssey
- Novel
- Books
- The Bible
- The Qur'an
Music
- Music
- CD
- Classical music
- Opera
- Symphony
- Jazz
- Pop music
- Reggae
- Soul and gospel
- Aretha Franklin
- Rock and roll
- The Beatles
- Heavy metal
- Elvis Presley
- The Rolling Stones
- Traditional
- Gamelan
- Indian classical music
- Musical Instruments
- Drum
- Flute
- Guitar
- Piano
- String instrument
- Trumpet
- Violin/Fiddle
Science
At least a five-sentence introduction to the major fields:
Astronomy
- Astronomy
- Asteroid
- Big Bang
- Black hole
- Comet
- Earth
- Galaxy
- Jupiter
- Light year
- Mars
- Mercury
- Milky Way
- Moon
- Neptune
- Planet
- Pluto
- Saturn
- Solar System
- Star
- Sun
- Uranus
- Venus
Biology
- Biology
Biological materials
- DNA
- Enzyme
- Protein
Mammalian anatomy
- Digestive system
- Large intestine
- Small intestine
- Liver
- Respiratory system
- Lungs
- Skeletal system
- Nervous system
- Brain
- Sensory system
- Auditory system
- Ear
- Visual system
- Eye
- Olfactory system
- Gustatory system
- Somatosensory system
- Auditory system
- Endocrine system
- Circulatory system
- Blood
- Heart
- Reproductive system
- Penis
- Vagina
- Integumentary system
- Skin
- Breast
Biological processes
- Digestion
- Evolution
- Excretion
- Photosynthesis
- Pregnancy
- Reproduction
- Respiration
Organisms
Chemistry
- Chemistry
- Element
- List of elements
- Biochemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Periodic table
- Aluminium
- Carbon
- Copper
- Gold
- Iron
- Helium
- Hydrogen
- Lithium
- Neon
- Nitrogen
- Oxygen
- Silver
- Zinc
Ecology
- Ecology
- Species
- Endangered species
Geology
- Basalt
- Flint
- Limestone
- Earth (Geology)
Medicine
- Medicine
- AIDS
- Alcoholism
- Cancer
- Cirrhosis of the liver
- Cholera
- Dentistry
- Diabetes mellitus
- Dysentery
- Heart disease
- Hypertension
- Influenza
- Lung cancer
- Malaria
- Malnutrtion
- Obesity
- Sexually transmitted disease
- Smallpox
- Stroke
- Syphilis
- Tuberculosis
- Virus
- Blindness
- Mental Illness
- Deafness
Meterology
- Cloud
- El Niño
- Global Warming
- Tornado
- Tropical cyclone
- Rain
- Snow
Physics
- Physics
- Atom
- Electron
- Neutron
- Proton
- Energy
- Isotope
- Molecule
- Light
- Forces
- Gravitation
- Electromagnetism
- Weak nuclear force
- Strong nuclear force
- Acceleration
- Force
- Mass
- Speed
- Time
- Velocity
- Weight
- Quantum mechanics
- Theory of relativity
Human sciences
- Anthropology
- Education
- University
- Human
- Psychology
- Sociology
Resources
- Coal
- Gas
- Minerals
- Diamond
- Oil
- Salt
SI units and others
- SI Unit System
- Metre
- Litre
- Kilogram
- Volt
- Watt
- Newton
Calendars and timekeeping
- Calendar
- Day
- Gregorian calendar
- Day-of-week algorithm
- Calculation of date of Easter
- Leap year
- Gregorian calendar
- Month
- Time zone
- Daylight Saving Time / Summer Time
- Year
- (article about each of the months of the year)
- Chinese calendar
Technology
Computers
- Computer
- Processor
- RAM
- Motherboard
- Hard disk
- Boot loader
- Artificial Intelligence
- Computer science
- Algorithm
- Operating system
- Microsoft Windows
- Mac OS
- GNU and Linux
- Unix
- Programming language
- C
- Java
- Pascal
- PHP
- Software
- User interface
- Mouse
- Keyboard
- Monitor
Common technology
- Coinage
- Engineering
- Inclined plane
- Lever
- Metallurgy
- Pulley
- Screw
- Wedge
- Wheel
Communication
- Letters / Alphabet
- Chinese character
- Cyrillic alphabet
- Greek alphabet
- Latin alphabet
- Literacy
- Information
- Internet
- Internet protocol
- TCP
- World Wide Web
- Web browser
- HTTP
- HTML
- Wiki
- Journalism
- Newspaper
- Mass media
- Radio
- Printing
- Railroad
- Telegraph
- Telephone
- Mobile telephone
- Television
- Writing
Electronics
- Electronics
- Voltage
- Current
- Charge
- Frequency
- Phase
- Resistance
- Reactance
- Inductance
- Capacitance
- Gain
- Components
- Transistor
- Diode
- Resistor
- Capacitor
- Transformer
- Inductor
Food production
- Grain grinding
- Irrigation
- Knife
- Plough
- Pottery
Harnessing energy
- Combustion engine
- Electricity
- Depletable energy sources and fossil fuels
- Coal
- Gas
- Oil
- Nuclear
- Fire
- Renewable energy sources
- Solar
- Hydro
- Wind
- Waves
- Wood
- Steam engine
Materials
- Glass
- Paper
- Plastic
Transportation
- Transport
- Aeroplane
- Automobile
- Bicycle
- Boat
- Ship
- Train
Weapons
- Axe
- Explosives
- Firearms
- Gunpowder
- Machine gun
- Martial arts (i.e. one's own body as a weapon)
- Nuclear weapon
- Sword
- Tank
Industry
- Manufacturing
- Mining
- Refining
Foodstuffs
- Barley
- Bread
- Cheese
- Chocolate
- Cotton
- Honey
- Fruit
- Maize
- Oats
- Potato
- Rice
- Sorghum
- Soya bean
- Sugar
- Tobacco
- Vegetable
- Wheat
Beverages
Language
- Language
- Dialect
- Grammar
- Linguistics
- Pronunciation
- Syntax
- Word
- (article about the language specific to that Wikipedia)
- Arabic
- Bengali
- English
- Esperanto
- French
- German
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Quechua
- Japanese
- Latin
- Russian
- Sanskrit
- Spanish
- Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua)
- Tamil
- Turkish
- Swahili
Mathematics
- Mathematics
- Algebra
- Axiom
- Calculus
- Integration
- Differentiation
- Geometry
- Group theory
- Mathematical logic
- Mathematical proof
- Proof by deduction
- Proof by induction
- Proof by contradiction
- Number
- Complex number
- Integer
- Natural number
- Prime number
- Rational number
- Infinity
- Set theory
- Statistics
- Trigonometry
Military
- Army
- Artillery
- Cavalry
- Infantry
- Navy
- Airforce
Sports and games
- Sport
- Olympics
- Football World Cup
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cricket
- Fencing
- Ice hockey
- Judo
- Motor racing
- Rugby
- Soccer
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Waterpolo
- Wrestling
- Game
- Backgammon
- Checkers
- Chess
- Go
- Mancala
- Gambling
- If you support this effort, please add to the list. We can then decide what the basic sentences can be for each article.