The most-visited English Wikipedia articles, updated daily. Learn more...
The body of Elisa Lam, also known by her Cantonese name, Lam Ho Yi (藍可兒; April 30, 1991 – February 2013), a Canadian student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, was recovered from a water tank atop the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles—at which she had been staying preceding her death—on February 19, 2013. She had been reported missing at the beginning of the month.
Stay on Main (formerly Cecil Hotel, Hotel Cecil, and informally The Cecil) is a budget hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, located at 640 S. Main Street, opened on December 20, 1924. The 19-floor hotel has 700 guest rooms. The hotel has a checkered history, but as of 2017 it was being renovated and redeveloped into a mix of hotel rooms and residential units.
WandaVision is an American television miniseries created by Jac Schaeffer for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it shares continuity with the films of the franchise, and takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress, television personality, fitness model, and former mixed martial artist (MMA). She competed in EliteXC and Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009, where she compiled a 7–1 record. Her popularity led to her being called the "face of women's MMA", although Carano rejected this title.
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion.
Lunar New Year, based on the lunisolar calendar or lunar calendar; is the beginning of a calendar year whose months are cycles of the moon and cycles of the sun. In the present day North America, Lunar New Year mostly refers to the East Asian new years celebrated on the same date, of which the most influential one is the Chinese New Year.
List of deaths and violence at the Cecil Hotel
Numerous examples of deaths and violence have occurred at Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles throughout its history. Originally opened as a middle-class hotel on December 20, 1924, in Downtown Los Angeles, it eventually became a budget hotel, hostel, and rooming house. Its reputation is due to at least 16 sudden or unexplained deaths that have occurred in or around the hotel.
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. She is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s, for which she is referred to as the "Princess of Pop". After appearing in stage productions and television series, Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age 15.
The Ox (牛) is the second of the 12-year periodic sequence (cycle) of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, and also appears in related calendar systems. The Chinese term translated here as ox is in Chinese niú (牛), a word generally referring to cows, bulls, or neutered types of the bovine family, such as common cattle or water buffalo.
The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a collection of religious texts or scriptures sacred to Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Rastafari and others. It appears in the form of an anthology, a compilation of texts of a variety of forms that are all linked by the belief that they are collectively revelations of God.
The following deaths of notable individuals occurred in 2021. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order by surname or pseudonym. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent nationality (if applicable), what subject was noted for, cause of death (if known), and reference.
Justin James Watt (born March 22, 1989) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Watt received the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in his first five seasons.
Elon Reeve Musk ( EE-lon; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate, industrial designer, and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO, and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI.
Microsoft Office, or simply Office, is a family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketing term for an office suite (bundled set of productivity applications), the first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint.
Jamin Ben Raskin (born December 13, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. The district is located in Montgomery County, an affluent suburban county northwest of Washington, D.C., and extends through rural Frederick County to the Pennsylvania border.
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent the first 20 seasons of his career with the New England Patriots, where he was a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019.
Cleopatra VII Philopator (Koinē Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; 69 BC – 10 August 30 BC) was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.
Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramírez (; February 29, 1960 – June 7, 2013), known as Richard Ramirez, was an American serial killer, serial rapist, kidnapper, pedophile, and burglar. His highly publicized home invasion and murder crime spree terrorized the residents of the Greater Los Angeles area and later the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area from June 1984 until August 1985.
To All the Boys: Always and Forever
To All the Boys: Always and Forever is a 2021 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Michael Fimognari and starring Lana Condor and Noah Centineo. The film is based on Jenny Han's 2017 novel Always and Forever, Lara Jean and is a sequel to To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020), and the third and final installment in the To All the Boys I've Loved Before film trilogy.
Stacey Elizabeth Plaskett (born May 13, 1966) is an American politician, attorney, and commentator who is the Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands' at-large congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Plaskett has practiced law in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( mar-JAIR-ə; born September 28, 1979) is an American skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He came to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show Jackass. He also created the Jackass spin-off shows Viva La Bam and Bam's Unholy Union and co-wrote and directed his films Haggard and Minghags.
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her narrative songwriting, which often takes inspiration from her personal life, has drawn widespread critical plaudits and media coverage. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2004 to pursue a career in country music.
The Sinner is an American anthology crime drama television series developed by Derek Simonds for USA Network. It is named after Petra Hammesfahr's 1999 novel, which serves as the basis for the first season. Bill Pullman stars as a police detective who investigates crimes committed by unlikely culprits and attempts to uncover the culprits' motivations.
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American film director, producer, writer, and composer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, he co-founded Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series. These include Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004), Firefly (2002), Dollhouse (2009–2010), and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020).
Wikipedia ( (listen) wik-ih-PEE-dee-ə or (listen) wik-ee-) is a free, multilingual open-collaborative online encyclopedia created and maintained by a community of volunteer editors using a wiki-based editing system. It is one of the 15 most popular websites as ranked by Alexa, as of January 2021 and The Economist newspaper placed it as the "13th-most-visited place on the web".
Elizabeth Chase Olsen (born February 16, 1989) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came in 2011 when she starred in the independent thriller drama Martha Marcy May Marlene, for which she was nominated for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, among other awards.
Rajiv Kapoor (25 August 1962 – 9 February 2021) was an Indian film actor, producer, director and a member of the Kapoor family. His elder brothers Randhir Kapoor and the late Rishi Kapoor were also Bollywood actors, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor were his uncles, Prithviraj Kapoor was his paternal grandfather, Raj Kapoor was his father and Trilok Kapoor was his paternal great-uncle.
YouTube is an American online video-sharing platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. The service, created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—was bought by Google in November 2006 for US$1. 65 billion and now operates as one of the company's subsidiaries.
Bridgerton is an American streaming television period drama series created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes. It is based on Julia Quinn's novels set in the competitive world of Regency era London's ton during the season, when debutantes are presented at court. Bridgerton premiered on Netflix on December 25, 2020.
Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy
The halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVIII, which was broadcast live on February 1, 2004 from Houston, Texas on the CBS television network, is notable for a moment in which Janet Jackson's breast – adorned with a nipple shield – was exposed by Justin Timberlake to the viewing public for approximately half a second.
2021 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic is the two-time defending champion. Rafael Nadal can become the first male player in the Open Era to achieve a double Career Grand Slam by winning this tournament. He could also break his own record for the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles, which he currently shares with Roger Federer.
Abraham Lincoln (; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, the country's greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis.
Eliseo "Eli" Fernando Soriano (April 4, 1947 – February 11, 2021) was a Filipino televangelist. He was the "Overall Servant" (Tagalog: Lingkod Pangkalahatan), formerly called "Presiding Minister", of the Members Church of God International (MCGI), an international Christian religious organization with headquarters in Pampanga, Philippines.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. ( BY-dən; born November 20, 1942) is an American politician serving as the 46th and current president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.
Skid Row is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. The area is also known as Central City East. As of a 2019 count, the population of the district was 4,757. Skid Row contains one of the largest stable populations (about 4,200–8,000) of homeless people in the United States and has been known for its condensed homeless population since the 1930s.
José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal (born 2 April 1975) is a Chilean-American actor. He began his career guest starring on various television shows before rising to prominence for portraying Oberyn Martell on the fourth season of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2014) and Javier Peña on the Netflix biographic crime series Narcos (2015–2017).
The 2021 Australian Open is a Grand Slam tennis tournament that is currently taking place at Melbourne Park, from 8–21 February 2021. It is the 109th edition of the Australian Open, the 53rd in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. It was originally scheduled for 18–31 January 2021, but was postponed by three weeks to February due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America, consisting of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3. 8 million square miles (9. 8 million square kilometers), it is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area.
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth realms. Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father ascended the throne on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive.
Katherine Marie Heigl (; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She started her career as a child model with Wilhelmina Models before turning her attention to acting, making her film debut in That Night (1992) and later appearing in My Father the Hero (1994) as well as Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995).
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an American police procedural comedy television series created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur. The series revolves around Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), a talented but immature NYPD detective in Brooklyn's fictional 99th Precinct, who often comes into conflict with his commanding officer, the serious and stern Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher).
QAnon () is a disproven and discredited far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotted against former U.S. president Donald Trump while he was in office. According to U.S. prosecutors, QAnon is commonly called a cult.
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Noted for his versatility in vocal style, music production, and eccentric presentation, the Weeknd is often cited as an influence to contemporary music, as well as by other artists.
The Lincoln Project is an American political action committee formed in late 2019 by former and present Republicans. During the 2020 presidential election, it aimed to prevent the re-election of Donald Trump and defeat all Republicans in close races running for re-election in the United States Senate.
News of the World is a 2020 American-Chinese Western drama film co-written and directed by Paul Greengrass, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Paulette Jiles, and starring Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel. The film follows a Civil War veteran who must return a young girl who was taken in by Native Americans as an infant to her last remaining family.
The Dig is a 2021 British drama film directed by Simon Stone, based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston, which reimagines the events of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo. It stars Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin, Ken Stott, Archie Barnes, and Monica Dolan.
Nimrata Nikki Haley (née Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) is an American politician, diplomat, businesswoman, and author who served as the 116th and first female governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and as the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018. Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and studied accountancy at Clemson University.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 2)
The second series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK began airing on 14 January 2021 on the BBC Three section of BBC iPlayer and World of Wonder's WOW Presents Plus streaming service. The series was confirmed and casting was closed on 15 November 2019. Production was suspended mid 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as operatic, earning him the nicknames "the Caruso of Rock" and "the Big O".
Jamie Lynn Marie Spears (born April 4, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She played the role of Zoey Brooks on the Nickelodeon teen sitcom Zoey 101 (2005–2008) and Noreen Fitzgibbons in the Netflix romantic drama series Sweet Magnolias (2020). In 2013, Spears launched a career in country music.
Evan Peters (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor, best known for his multiple roles on the FX anthology series American Horror Story, Stan Bowes in the first season of the FX drama series Pose, and his role as Quicksilver in the X-Men film series, appearing in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Phoenix (2019), a role he reprised in the Marvel Studios streaming miniseries WandaVision (2021), set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (film)
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is a 2018 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Susan Johnson and written by Sofia Alvarez. The film stars Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranac, Israel Broussard and John Corbett. The movie is based on Jenny Han's 2014 novel of the same name, and was released by Netflix on August 17, 2018.
María Grever (14 September 1885 – 15 December 1951) was the first female Mexican composer to achieve international acclaim. She is best known for the song "What A Difference A Day Makes" (originally "Cuando vuelva a tu lado"), which was popularized by Dinah Washington and has been covered by numerous artists.
2021 Australian Open – Women's Singles
Sofia Kenin was the defending champion, but lost to Kaia Kanepi in the second round. Her loss to Kanepi was the earliest by a women's defending champion at the Australian Open since two-time defending champion Jennifer Capriati lost in the opening round in 2003. Mayar Sherif became the first Egyptian woman to win a match in a Grand Slam tournament main draw.
Kamarudeen Usman (born May 11, 1987), better known as Kamaru Usman, is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the reigning UFC Welterweight Champion. Usman was also The Ultimate Fighter 21 tournament winner.
Korean New Year (Korean: 설날; RR: Seollal; MR: Sŏllal) is the first day of the Korean calendar, which is based on the Chinese Lunar calendar. It is one of the most important traditional Korean holidays. The celebration usually lasts three days: the day before Korean New Year, Korean New Year itself, and the day after Korean New Year.
Zack Snyder's Justice League, often referred to as the "Snyder Cut", is the upcoming director's cut of the 2017 American superhero film Justice League. It presents Justice League—the fifth film of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name—as director Zack Snyder had intended it before he left the film's production.
Michelle Christine Trachtenberg (; born October 11, 1985) is an American actress and model. She played Jennifer in EuroTrip (2004), Nona Mecklenberg in The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1994–1996), Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000–2003), Harriet M. Welsch in Harriet the Spy (1996), and Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl (2007–2012).
Little Nightmares 2 (stylized as Little Nightmares II) is a puzzle-platformer horror adventure game developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game was announced at Gamescom 2019 as the sequel to Little Nightmares, and features a new player character, Mono, with the protagonist from the previous game, Six, as a computer-controlled character.
Christopher Darren Cunningham (born December 7, 1987), better known by the stage name Chris Crocker, is an American Internet celebrity, blogger, songwriter, recording artist, pornographic film actor and former YouTuber. Crocker gained fame in September 2007 from his viral video "Leave Britney Alone"!
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, painter, and writer. He is known for his controversial stage personality and image as the lead singer of the band of the same name, which he co-founded with guitarist Daisy Berkowitz in 1989 and of which he remains the only constant member.
Dogecoin ( DOHJ-koyn, code: DOGE, symbol: Ð) is a cryptocurrency invented by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, who decided to create a payment system that is instant, fun, and free from traditional banking fees. Dogecoin features the face of the Shiba Inu dog from the "Doge" meme as its logo and namesake.
Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – January 15, 1947), known posthumously as the "Black Dahlia", was an American woman who was found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Her case became highly publicized due to the graphic nature of the crime, which included her corpse having been mutilated and bisected at the waist.