> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Nupedia - URL: https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/nupedia/ - Published: 1999-01-02T21:25:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-01-03T20:41:26.000Z - Author: Liam Sturgess - Tags: Profiles, #docs, #organization **Nupedia** was an online encyclopedia created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. It was the predecessor to Wikipedia.[\[1\]](#fn1) ## History Wales hired Sanger to be editor of Nupedia.[\[1:1\]](#fn1) The project launched in March 2000, but saw very slow growth.[\[2\]](#fn2) One of Nupedia's earliest articles was on polymerase chain reaction (PCR), written by Magnus Manske.[\[3\]](#fn3) During a dinner on January 2, 2001, computer programmer Ben Kovitz introduced Sanger to the concept of "wikis" — webpages which could be edited by anyone.[\[4\]](#fn4) Sanger subsequently proposed to Wales that they incorporate a wiki into their online encyclopedia project.[\[1:2\]](#fn1) On January 10, 2001, Nupedia added its first wiki page.[\[5\]](#fn5) ### Wikipedia Shortly thereafter, Wales and Sanger decided to create a separate project from Nupedia which would allow the general public to participate in adding and editing content.[\[1:3\]](#fn1) On January 11, 2001, Sanger suggested naming the project "Wikipedia."[\[6\]](#fn6) The domain name "Wikipedia.org" was registered on January 13, 2001,[\[7\]](#fn7) and the first edit was made two days later on January 15.[\[8\]](#fn8) Wikipedia's launch was officially announced on January 17, 2001.[\[9\]](#fn9) Wakes announced the launch of the [Wikimedia Foundation](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Wikimedia-Foundation) on June 20, 2003\. The foundation assumed control of Nupedia and Wikipedia along with other related assets previously owned by Bomis.[\[10\]](#fn10) Nupedia's server crashed in September 2003 and was not restored.[\[11\]](#fn11) ## Organization Nupedia was funded by Bomis, Wales's startup company, which also provided the "initial bandwidth and server needs for the site."[\[12\]](#fn12)[\[13\]](#fn13) ### Personnel Nupedia employed a team of writers, editors and peer reviewers, who were listed on the website.[\[14\]](#fn14)[\[15\]](#fn15) | Name | Position | Notes | | -------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Larry Sanger | Co-creator and writer | Wikipedia | | Jimmy Wales | Co-creator | Wikipedia, Bomis | | Carl A. Anderson | Writer | Michigan State University | | James Allan Evans | Writer | University of British Columbia (UBC), [Royal Society of Canada](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Royal-Society-of-Canada) (RSC) | | Andrew R. Golding | Writer | Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) | | Gisle Hannemyr | Writer | University of Oslo Department of Informatics | | Christoph Hust | Writer | Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz | | Jan T. Kim | Editor | Institute for Neuro- and Bioinformatics (INB) | | Michael Kulikowski | Writer | Pennsylvania State University Department of History | | Dan Leggate | Editor | UCL School of Parmacy | | Phillip Lord | Editor | University of Manchester | | Magnus Manske | Writer | Wellcome Sanger Institute, MediaWiki | | Andrea Maria Marconi | Editor | Consorzio ZAI, University of Minnesota Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database, LatoServer.it, KBasic | | Ramin Nakisa | Editor | University of Oxford | | Jaime Nubiola | Writer | University of Navarra | | Mara Parker | Writer | Widener University | | Nagina Parmar | Writer[\[16\]](#fn16) | University Health Network (UHN), MD Pharma Consulting Group | | Karl J. Roberts | Writer | Prince George's Community College | | Stan Seibert | Writer | Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, University of Pennsylvania | | Stephen Thornton | Writer | \- | | Nancy Tinkham | Writer | Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, Rowan University College of Science & Mathematics | | Claus O. Wilke | Writer and editor | University of Texas at Austin Department of Integrative Biology, California Institute of Technology | | Michael Witbrock | Writer | Cycorp, Justsystem Pittsburgh Research Center, Infomedia Digital Library | ## External links - [Website (.com - archived)](https://web.archive.org/web/20000407072702/http://www.nupedia.com/) - [Website (.org)](https://www.nupedia.org/) - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nupedia) --- 1. Sidener, J. (2004, December 6). *Everyone’s Encyclopedia.* San Diego Union-Tribune. [↩︎](#fnref1) [↩︎](#fnref1:1) [↩︎](#fnref1:2) [↩︎](#fnref1:3) 2. Poe, M. (2006, September). *The Hive.* The Atlantic. [↩︎](#fnref2) 3. Manske, M. (2001, July 16). *Polymerase Chain Reaction.* Nupedia. [↩︎](#fnref3) 4. *Ben Kovitz.* (2012, May 3). WikiWikiWeb. [↩︎](#fnref4) 5. Sanger, L. (2001, January 10). *Nupedia’s wiki: try it out.* Nupedia. [↩︎](#fnref5) 6. Sanger, L. (2001, January 11). *Re: \[Advisory-l\] The wiki...* Nupedia. [↩︎](#fnref6) 7. *Wikipedia.org Whois Record.* DomainTools. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from [↩︎](#fnref7) 8. Bomis \[Office.bomis.com\]. (2001, January 15). *HomePage*. Wikipedia. [↩︎](#fnref8) 9. Sanger, L. (2001, January 17). *Wikipedia is up!* Nupedia. [↩︎](#fnref9) 10. Wales, J. (2003, June 20). *Announcing Wikimedia Foundation.* Wikipedia-l. [↩︎](#fnref10) 11. Reagle, J. (2010). Nazis and Norms. In *Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia* (p. 6). The MIT Press. [↩︎](#fnref11) 12. Chozick, A. (2013, June 27). *Jimmy Wales Is Not an Internet Billionaire.* The New York Times. [↩︎](#fnref12) 13. Russell, K. (2013, June 28). *Wikipedia Founded With Revenue From Soft Porn.* Business Insider. [↩︎](#fnref13) 14. *Nupedia Writers.* Nupedia. Retrieved October 21, 2001, from [↩︎](#fnref14) 15. *Editors - Molecular Biology.* Nupedia. Retrieved September 17, 2001, from [↩︎](#fnref15) 16. *Nupedia Writers.* Nupedia. Retrieved August 10, 2003, from [↩︎](#fnref16)