Wikipedia

Jimmy Wales of Huntsville recalls how the windows of his boyhood home would rattle. NASA engineers, nearby, were testing the Saturn V rockets that would send astronauts to the moon. Wales is among the youngsters referred to as the "children of Apollo." Kids, including Steve Jobs of Apple and Bill Gates of Microsoft, were reportedly inspired by the Astronaut Neil Armstrong's "one small step" on the moon. Wales boyhood in Huntsville was one topic we take up in this encore presentation of "APR Notebook." It's at 8:30 am on Alabama Public Radio.

My guest tonight on APR notebook is Jimmy Wales. He's from Huntsville, and he created Wikipedia. No, I'm not kidding. Okay, raise your hand if you've ever been to this online encyclopedia. If your hand didn't go up, it's okay, but it's a fair bet you're in the minority. Published reports put the number of people who visit Wikipedia, the one in English and the 300 other foreign language editions in the billions every month. That's billions with a B.

Jimmy Wales, of Huntsville, is the founder of the online website Wikipedia. He also just authored his first book, “The Seven Rules of Trust,” which will available in bookstores starting tomorrow. It’s based on his work to establish the internet encyclopedia, which is reportedly visited by a billion people every month.