Good, long article with lots of information, with the headings of History, Design & Construction, Variations, Community (Film & Video Games), Other LEGO Figures, References, External Links)
"A Lego Minifigure, is a small plastic figurine available as part of the construction toy Lego, produced by Danish toy manufacturer the Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978, and have become hugely successful, with over 3.7 billion produced"
To go to the Wikipedia article just click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minifig