Why Wikipedia is a Wonder of the Modern World—That We’ll Never See the Likes of Again

Wikipedia is described as sui generis, meaning it is one-of-a-kind and unlike any other project before or since.

It is called the first digital wonder of the world, yet its recognition has been limited, with minimal fanfare and only a small statue in Słubice, Poland (population 16,000), commemorating its achievement.

Wikipedia became the largest encyclopedia in existence in 2007, surpassing the imperial Chinese Yongle Encyclopedia after 600 years.

Despite its vast scale—consulted trillions of times and read by billions—most users are unaware of its origins or how it functions.

Its public image is often tied to its co-founder, Jimmy Wales, whose bearded, kind face is frequently featured in donation appeals, though the encyclopedia operates without paid fact-checkers.

Wales once compared reading Wikipedia to eating a sausage, suggesting that while people value the outcome, they may not want to understand the process behind it.