Main Page

Welcome to Wikipedia

,

From today's featured list

Marshal Foch

The position of Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford was founded in 1918 shortly after the end of the First World War. Ferdinand Foch, or "Marshal Foch" (pictured), was supreme commander of Allied forces from April 1918 onwards. The chair was endowed by an arms trader, Basil Zaharoff, in Foch's honour; he also endowed a post in English Literature at the University of Paris in honour of the British Field Marshal Earl Haig. Zaharoff wanted the University of Paris to have a right of veto over the appointment, but Oxford would not accept this. The compromise reached was that Paris should have a representative on the appointing committee (although this provision was later removed). In advance of the first election, Stéphen Pichon (the French Foreign Minister) unsuccessfully attempted to influence the decision. The first professor, Gustave Rudler, was appointed in 1920. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

• Constituencies of the Mizoram Legislative Assembly
• Awards and nominations received by Tyla
• Insect orders

• Archive
• More featured lists

Today's featured picture

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 is a United States federal law that was passed by the 89th Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 3, 1965. The act formally removed de facto discrimination against people of various ethnicities from the country's immigration policy and created a system giving priority to various categories of people such as relatives of US citizens, skilled professionals, and refugees. Previous policy consisted of the National Origins Formula of the 1920s, whose aim was to preserve American homogeneity by promoting immigration from Western and Northern Europe, an approach which came under attack during the civil rights movement for being racially discriminatory. This photograph shows President Johnson officially signing the Immigration and Nationality Act in a ceremony on Liberty Island in New York City. Photograph credit: Yoichi Okamoto Recently featured: Epinephelus marginatus Sarah Forbes Bonetta Child labor in the United States Archive More featured pictures

Other areas of Wikipedia

• Community portal – The central hub for editors, with resources, links, tasks, and announcements.
• Village pump – Forum for discussions about Wikipedia itself, including policies and technical issues.
• Site news – Sources of news about Wikipedia and the broader Wikimedia movement.
• Teahouse – Ask basic questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
• Help desk – Ask questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
• Reference desk – Ask research questions about encyclopedic topics.
• Content portals – A unique way to navigate the encyclopedia.