Fun Facts About Jimmy Wales
- Jimmy Wales started editing encyclopedias at age three: he pasted the update stickers that World Book mailed out into the set his mother bought from a door-to-door salesman.[1]
- Wales recalled that he wrote the very first words on Wikipedia: "Hello world," the phrase programmers often use to test new software.[1]
- Wales met Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger by arguing with him online: the two debated the philosophy of Objectivism on discussion lists before meeting offline and becoming friends.[1]
- Wales tried to write an article for Nupedia, Wikipedia's expert-reviewed predecessor, but was too intimidated to submit his draft to the finance professors who would review it.[1]
- Wales was at first so worried about letting anyone edit the encyclopedia that he would wake up at night to check what was being added.[1]
- Before Wikipedia, Wales was an options trader in Chicago. In graduate school he had been an obsessive player of multi-user dungeons, online role-playing games that showed him the power of online collaboration.[1]
- Jimmy Wales was alive at the same time as Bertrand Russell — their lives overlapped for 4 years (1966–1970).[1][2][3][4]
- Jimmy Wales's lifetime included this world event: Dolly the Sheep cloned (1997).[1][2][5]
Jimmy Donal Wales is an American and British internet entrepreneur and former financial trader. He is best known for co-founding Wikipedia, a non-profit free encyclopedia, and Fandom, a for-profit wiki hosting service. He has also worked on Bomis, Nupedia, WikiTribune, and Trust Café.[1]
Read more on Wikipedia →Contemporaries
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Questions About Jimmy Wales
When was Jimmy Wales born?
Jimmy Wales was born on August 7, 1966, and is alive today.
How old is Jimmy Wales?
Jimmy Wales was born on August 7, 1966, and turned 60 on August 7, 2026.
What is Jimmy Wales known for?
Jimmy Wales is known for: Co-founder of Wikipedia. Jimmy Donal Wales is an American and British internet entrepreneur and former financial trader. He is best known for co-founding Wikipedia, a non-profit free encyclopedia, and Fandom, a for-profit wiki hosting service. He has also worked on Bomis, Nupedia, WikiTribune, and Trust Café.
Who was alive at the same time as Jimmy Wales?
Jimmy Wales's closest contemporary was Noam Chomsky. Their lives overlapped for 60 years.
Sources
- Jimmy Wales — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Jimmy Wales (Q181) — Wikidata
- Bertrand Russell — Wikipedia
- Bertrand Russell (Q33760) — Wikidata
- Dolly (sheep) — Wikipedia
- Portrait: Jimmy Wales by Philip Romano (3x4 cropped).jpg — Wikimedia Commons. PhilipRomano, CC BY-SA 4.0