Era

Contemporary (1945–present)

Explore Wikipedia's Featured Articles from the Contemporary (1945–present) era — the encyclopedia's highest-quality entries covering this period of history.

Featured Articles

Periodic table

The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the elements, is an ordered arrangement of the chemical elements into rows ("periods") and columns ("gro…
Science

Pi

The number π (/paɪ/ ⓘ; spelled out as pi) is a mathematical constant, approximately equal to 3.14159, that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diame…
Mathematics

Pixies (band)

The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986. The original lineup consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar…

Platypus

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, in…
Nature

PlayStation (console)

The PlayStation (codenamed PSX, abbreviated as PS, and retronymically PS1 or PS one) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entert…

Premier League

The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, …
Sports

Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to Earth after the Sun, located 4.25 light-years (1.3 parsecs) away in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Discovered …

Radical Dreamers

Radical Dreamers is a 1996 text-based visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Su…

Radiocarbon dating

Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using…

Ride the Lightning

Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 27, 1984, by the independent record label Megaforce R…
Arts

Rumours (album)

Rumours is the eleventh studio album by the British and American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 4 February 1977, by Warner Bros. Records. Largely recorded…
Nature

Ryan White

Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United…
Biography Medicine History

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War…
Military Arts

Second Punic War

The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd …
Military

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally i…
Arts

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Adm…
Engineering Technology

Springbok

The springbok or springbuck (Antidorcas marsupialis) is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole living member of the genus Antidorcas, …
Nature

Star Trek Generations

Star Trek Generations is a 1994 American science fiction film and the seventh installment in the Star Trek film series. Malcolm McDowell joins cast members from…
Arts

Steve Biko

Bantu Stephen Biko OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African soc…
Biography Arts Society

Stonewall riots

The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots an…
History Society

Super Mario World

Super Mario World is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released in Japan in 1990, i…

Surtsey

Surtsey ("Surtr's island" in Icelandic, Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈsʏr̥(t)sˌeiː] ⓘ) is an uninhabited volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago …

System Shock

System Shock is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug …

Terry Fox

Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated d…
Biography