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revisiting wrong birth date
editThe current wording re the birth date makes no sense.
- "Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on August 7, 1966; however, his birth certificate lists his date of birth as August 8 [3]."
- The source given says "When I interviewed Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales... I asked him -- as journalists almost always do when interviewing people -- how old he is."
- "I am 40," Wales replied, adding that the date cited for his birthday on his Wikipedia biography -- Aug. 7, 1966 -- is incorrect.
- "They got it from (Encyclopedia) Britannica," Wales told me, "and Britannica got it wrong."
- "Wales declined to tell me what day he was actually born ("Nobody knows," he said mysteriously), but a public records search shows that his Florida driver's license lists his birthday as Aug. 8, 1966."
So, the given date source states that Aug 7th is wrong; Wales says it's wrong; the birth certitifcate says it's wrong. So why does the WP article say "Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on August 7"? To boot, the Britannica entry also gives Wales' date as Aug 8th.
The date should be changed, but why is it even listed wrongly in the WP article? It seems that it has been wrong since the article's inception in 2005. Anna (talk) 18:35, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
- With 17000 supposed watchers of this article, I'm surprised no editors have anything to say. I have now changed the birth date in the article, according to Britannica. Britannica link gives a discussion of its sources for the August 8th birth date. I have also added a footnote. Anna (talk) 20:20, 13 January 2026 (UTC)
Proposal of an amendment to the "Co-founder status dispute" section
editIn order to align Wales' two strongly -- and very similarly -- worded statements regarding the co-founder dispute, I would like to suggest to amend the section regarding his interview on the Jung & Naiv podcast as follows (proposed amendments in bold):
In 2013, Wales told The New York Times that the dispute is "the dumbest controversy in the history of the world". In November 2025, Wales appeared on the podcast Jung & Naiv for an interview with the German journalist Tilo Jung. Wales stood up and left after less than a minute, calling Jung's question about his founder status "the dumbest question in the world". ~2026-30988-8 (talk) 09:34, 15 January 2026 (UTC)
The very beginning of this article has only one citation.
editShouldn't there be at least more than just one? At least sources proving its claim? — Marblyn ♍ (talk) 14:08, 3 May 2026 (UTC)
- It doesn't have to have any citations at all, as long as text in the lead is supported by body text, which does have to be cited to WP:RS reliable sources. - Walter Still not in the Epstein Files Ego 15:02, 3 May 2026 (UTC)
- See WP:LEADCITE. 🫀 Crash // Organhaver ( it / he | talk to me, maybe? ) 16:21, 3 May 2026 (UTC)
Dual citizenship
editIt's hard to ponder why his nationality is stated as American when he has lived in the United Kingdom for several years. --DoveTheEditor (talk) 17:52, 15 May 2026 (UTC)
- Please see MOS:ETHNICITY. (This is a rather frequent point of discussion on BLPs). 海盐沙冰 / aka irisChronomia / Talk 17:55, 15 May 2026 (UTC)
- Shouldn't the article be written in British-English grammar seems that he does live in the UK? Like (born 8 August 1966)? --DoveTheEditor (talk) 17:57, 15 May 2026 (UTC)
- My opinion would be that it's just fine either way and readers won't notice the difference. 海盐沙冰 / aka irisChronomia / Talk 17:58, 15 May 2026 (UTC)
- Shouldn't the article be written in British-English grammar seems that he does live in the UK? Like (born 8 August 1966)? --DoveTheEditor (talk) 17:57, 15 May 2026 (UTC)
- For a long time it stated British-American, but it was only sourced to Twitter. See diff. There may be a better reference these days. -- zzuuzz (talk) 17:57, 15 May 2026 (UTC)
- I've re-added the British bit with a reference from the New Statesman. -- zzuuzz (talk) 21:19, 15 May 2026 (UTC)
misleading
editVery disappointed to discover that Jimmy wales is neither a whale nor in Wales. He also just said I was allowed to edit this page please unprotect it (he is on a stage in Melbourne at the moment making sweeping promises) ~2026-30241-94 (talk) 09:36, 20 May 2026 (UTC)
- Sweeping promises?! Yes, good luck will rub off, when he shakes hands with you! Gor' blimey, Moirey Pappins! Martinevans123 (talk) 09:57, 20 May 2026 (UTC)