List of articles every Wikipedia should have

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This is an archived version of this page, as edited by Sannse (talk | contribs) at 13:02, 29 May 2004 (→‎Science). It may differ significantly from the current version.

There are a growing number of Wikipedia projects, some very large, 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 see 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 ensure appear on every existing Wikipedia.

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.

My proposals are for the following:

Biography

At least three sentences on 100 key historical figures

  1. Jesus Christ
  2. Albert Einstein
  3. Karl Marx
  4. William Shakespeare
  5. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  6. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  7. Muhammad
  8. Gautama Buddha
  9. Charles de Gaulle
  10. Otto von Bismarck
  11. Peter the Great (of Russia)
  12. Plato
  13. Napoléon Bonaparte
  14. Alexander the Great
  15. Christopher Columbus
  16. Leonardo Da Vinci
  17. Aristotle
  18. Martin Luther
  19. Johann Gutenberg
  20. Simón Bolívar
  21. Lenin

Some important politicians of today

  1. George W. Bush
  2. Gerhard Schröder
  3. Jacques Chirac
  4. Silvio Berlusconi
  5. Kofi Annan

Countries:

  • Israel
  • United States
  • Iraq
  • India
  • China
  • Germany
  • UK
  • France
  • Ireland
  • Brazil
  • South Africa
  • Peru
  • Canada
  • Russia
  • North Korea
  • Taiwan
  • Republic of Korea
  • Japan
  • Kenya
  • Nigeria

Geography

At least three sentences on each of the continents

  1. Africa
  2. Asia
  3. Australia
  4. Europe
  5. North America
  6. South America

History

At least five sentences on:

  1. French Revolution
  2. World War I
  3. World War II
  4. Russian Revolution
  5. Roman Empire
  6. Discovery of the Americas
  7. Holy Roman Empire

International

  1. United Nations
  2. Nobel Prize

Religion

At least a five-sentence introduction to the twelve classical religions:

  1. Baha'i
  2. Buddhism
  3. Christianity
  4. Confucianism
  5. Hinduism
  6. Islam
  7. Jainism
  8. Judaism
  9. Shinto
  10. Sikhism
  11. Taoism
  12. Zoroastrianism

Popular Culture

At least three sentences on:

  1. Television
  2. Film
  3. Literature
  4. Art
  5. Music

Science

At least a five-sentence introduction to the major fields:

  1. Physics
  2. Chemistry
  3. Biology
    1. Bacterium
    2. Archaea
    3. Protist
    4. Fungus
    5. Plant
    6. Animal
  4. Geology
  5. Medicine
  6. Ecology
  7. Astronomy
    1. Sun
    2. Moon
    3. Earth
    4. Galaxy
    5. Milky Way
    6. Mercury
    7. Venus
    8. Mars
    9. Jupiter
    10. Saturn
    11. Uranus
    12. Neptune
    13. Pluto
  1. Article about the language of that Wikipedia

Technology

  1. Computers
  2. Automobile

If you support this effort, please add to the list. We can then decide what the basic sentences can be for each article.

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