C++ Help [Introduction]

I'm pretty new to the whole programming thing and I've wanted to get into C++ programming. Can someone give a description on what exactly it is and what I need to know to start? Your help would be appreciated.

C++ ("C Plus Plus", pronounced /ˌsiːˌplʌsˈplʌs/) is a general-purpose programming language. C++ is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features.[1] It is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, generally a compiled language where compilation creates machine code for the target machine hardware, supports procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming.

Bjarne Stroustrup developed C++ in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and named it "C with Classes". In 1983 it was renamed to C++. Enhancements started with the addition of classes, followed by, among other features, virtual functions, operator overloading, multiple inheritance, templates, and exception handling. The C++ programming language standard was ratified in 1998 as ISO/IEC 14882:1998, the current version of which is the 2003 version, ISO/IEC 14882:2003. A new version of the standard (known informally as C++0x) is being developed.