The most-visited English Wikipedia articles, updated daily. Learn more...
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (also known as Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) is a 2019 American epic space-opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams. It is the third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), and the final episode of the nine-part "Skywalker saga".
A Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, with some elements from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. It stars Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley.
The Christmas season, also called the holiday season (often simply called the holidays), or the festive season, is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November to early January. It is defined as incorporating at least Christmas, usually New Year, and sometimes various other holidays and festivals.
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet The Greatest Gift, which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1943. The film is one of the most beloved in American cinema, and has become traditional viewing during the Christmas season.
The Witcher (Polish: Wiedźmin, Polish pronunciation: [ˈvʲɛd͡ʑmʲin]) is a fantasy series of novels and short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the titular "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are beast hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle wild beasts and monsters.
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly.
Solar eclipse of December 26, 2019
An annular solar eclipse occurred on December 26, 2019. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring).
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day. It originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in a number of countries that previously formed part of the British Empire. Boxing Day is on 26 December, although the attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place either on that day or two days later.
Luka Rocco Magnotta (born Eric Clinton Kirk Newman; July 24, 1982) is a Canadian murderer who was convicted of killing and dismembering Chinese international student Jun Lin before mailing Lin's hands and feet to elementary schools and federal political party offices. This act gained international notoriety.
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a fictional figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved children on the night of Christmas Eve (24 December) or during the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December).
Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Kevin McCallister in the Christmas films Home Alone (1990), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
Peter Billingsley (born April 16, 1971), also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor, director, and producer, best known for his role as Ralphie Parker in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story, Jack Simmons in The Dirt Bike Kid, Billy in Death Valley, and as Messy Marvin in the Hershey's chocolate syrup commercials during the 1980s.
James "Jimmy" Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military officer who is among the most honored and popular stars in film history. Known for his distinctive drawl, down-to-earth authentic personas and everyman acting style, Stewart had a film career that spanned over 55 years and 80 films.
Dabangg 3 is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Prabhu Deva and co-produced by Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan under their respective banners of Salman Khan Films and Arbaaz Khan Productions. The film serves as a circumquel the 2010 film Dabangg and 2012 film Dabangg 2, and is the third installment of the Dabangg film series.
Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill (; born 5 May 1983) is an English actor. He began his career with roles in the feature adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and I Capture the Castle (2003). He later appeared in supporting roles in several television series, including BBC's The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, ITV's Midsomer Murders, and Showtime's The Tudors.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a 1989 American comedy film, it is the third installment in National Lampoon's Vacation film series, and was written by John Hughes, based on his short story in National Lampoon magazine, "Christmas '59".
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is (subject to the caveats explained below) defined as the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. The North Pole is the northernmost point on the Earth, lying diametrically opposite the South Pole.
Singapore ( (listen)), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island city-state in Southeast Asia. The country is situated one degree (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south and Peninsular Malaysia to the north.
Home Alone is a 1990 American comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara. The film follows an eight-year-old boy (Culkin), who must defend his home from two burglars (Pesci and Stern) after his family mistakenly leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation.
Gavin & Stacey is a British sitcom, written by James Corden and Ruth Jones, that follows the coming together of two quirky families – one from Essex and one from Wales – after a young couple fall in love. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters, while the writers also star as Gavin and Stacey's friends, Smithy and Nessa.
Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American film, television actress and producer. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.
Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.
Vera-Ellen (born Vera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe; February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American dancer and actress. She is remembered for her solo performances as well as her work with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald O'Connor. She is best known for her starring roles in On the Town with Kelly and White Christmas (1954) with Kaye.
The Star Wars franchise has spawned multiple live-action and animated films. The franchise started with a film trilogy set in medias res—beginning in the middle of the story—which was later expanded to a trilogy of trilogies. The original trilogy was released between 1977 and 1983, the prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019.
Space Tracking and Surveillance System
The United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is developing a Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) which it will use to research the space-based detection and tracking of ballistic missiles. Data from STSS satellites could allow interceptors to engage incoming missiles earlier in flight than would be possible with other missile detection systems.
Melinda Ruth Dillon (born October 13, 1939) is an American actress. She received a 1963 Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Jillian Guiler in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Teresa in Absence of Malice (1981).
Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; German pronunciation: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈalɔʏzi̯ʊs ˈʁatsɪŋɐ]; 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as head of the Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2005 until his resignation in 2013.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, 10 June 1921), is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant.
James Riddle Hoffa (born February 14, 1913; disappeared July 30, 1975, declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) union from 1957 until 1971. From an early age, Hoffa was a union activist and became an important regional figure with the IBT by his mid-20s.
Hanukkah ( HAH-nə-kə; Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה ḥanuká, Tiberian: ḥanuká, usually spelled חֲנוּכָּה, pronounced [χanuˈka] in Modern Hebrew, [ˈχanukə] or [ˈχanikə] in Yiddish; a transliteration also romanized as Chanukah or Ḥanukah) is a Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire.
Marshawn Terrell Lynch (born April 22, 1986) is an American football running back for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft after playing college football at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became the school's second all-time career rusher.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a 1992 American comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It is the second film in the Home Alone series and the sequel to the 1990 film Home Alone. The film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Tim Curry, Brenda Fricker, and Catherine O'Hara.
William Lyle Richardson (May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006), known professionally as Darren McGavin, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayals of worldly, often somewhat gruff characters. Born in Spokane, Washington, McGavin claimed to have been a child runaway who spent his later childhood squatting in Tacoma.
Washington, D.C., () formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as D.C.; Washington; or The District, is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, the first president of the United States and a Founding Father.
Kyoto (; 京都 Kyōto, Japanese: [kʲoꜜːto] (listen)), officially Kyoto City (京都市, Kyōto-shi, Japanese: [kʲoːtoꜜɕi] (listen)), is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. As of 2018, the city had a population of 1. 47 million.
Funafuti is an atoll and the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,025 people, making it the country's most populated atoll, with 56. 6 percent of Tuvalu's population. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres (66 and 1,312 feet) wide, encircling a large lagoon (Te Namo) 18 km (11 miles) long and 14 km (9 miles) wide.
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! and later embarked on a solo career. Michael has sold over 80 million records worldwide making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House". She also had success as a jazz vocalist.
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture held from December 26 to January 1, culminating in gift-giving and a feast of faith, called Karamu Ya Imani. It was created by Maulana Karenga and first celebrated in 1966. Kwanzaa has spread outside the United States and become more commercialized while observance of the holiday has waned.
Lost in Space (2018 TV series)
Lost in Space is an American science fiction television series and is a reimagining of the 1965 series of the same name (itself a reimagining of the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson), following the adventures of a family of space colonists whose spaceship veers off course.
Togo is a 2019 American drama film that debuted on Disney+. The film centers on "two key figures in the 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy, in which dog-sled teams relayed to transport diphtheria antitoxin serum through harsh conditions over nearly 700 miles to save the Alaskan town of Nome from an epidemic".
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (also known as Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi) is a 2017 American epic space-opera film written and directed by Rian Johnson. It is the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens (2015), and it is the eighth episode of the nine-part "Skywalker saga".
A Christmas Carol (miniseries)
A Christmas Carol is a British fantasy miniseries based on the 1843 novella of the same name by Charles Dickens. It began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 22 December 2019, and concluded two days later on 24 December 2019. The three-part series is written by Steven Knight with actor Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott among the executive producers.
White Christmas is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, "White Christmas", introduced by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn.
The Two Popes is a 2019 biographical drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles and written by Anthony McCarten, adapted from McCarten's 2017 play The Pope. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (later Pope Francis). The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2019.
The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster, owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest of any kind. It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages to many parts of the world on analogue and digital shortwave platforms, internet streaming, podcasting, satellite, DAB, FM and MW relays.
SN 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, Kepler's Nova or Kepler's Star, was a Type Ia supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus. Appearing in 1604, it is the most recent supernova in our galaxy to have been unquestionably observed by the naked eye, occurring no farther than 6 kiloparsecs (20,000 light-years) from Earth.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom. It features a large ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie.
Kangerlussuaq (English: "Big Fjord" from Greenlandic language), (Danish: Søndre Strømfjord), is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality located at the head of the fjord of the same name (Danish: Søndre Strømfjord). It is Greenland's main air transport hub and the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport.
Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30 / 33), also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (the Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament.
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coterminous with Kings County, located in the U.S. state of New York, the most populous county in the state, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States. It is New York City's most populous borough, with an estimated 2,504,700 residents in 2010.
Little Women is a 2019 American coming-of-age period drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig. It is the seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep.
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (born December 18, 2001) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Highland Park, Los Angeles, Eilish began singing at a young age. She gained media attention in 2016, when she uploaded the song "Ocean Eyes" on SoundCloud, subsequently released by Darkroom and Interscope Records.
State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). State College is the largest designated borough in Pennsylvania.
6 Underground is a 2019 American action thriller film directed by Michael Bay and written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Mélanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Corey Hawkins, Ben Hardy, and Dave Franco. Bay produced the film with his longtime business partner Ian Bryce and Skydance's David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger.
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer, songwriter, record producer, and lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest lead singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range.
In traditional festive legend, Santa Claus's reindeer pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve. The commonly cited names of the eight fictional reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen; although Donder is often called Donner.