Frequently asked questions Q1: Why is [Insert event here], an event that is "more important and significant" than all the others that are currently listed, not posted? A1: Relative article quality along with the mix of topics already listed are often deciding factors in what gets posted. Any given day of the year can have a great many important or significant historical events. The problem is that there is generally only room on the Main Page to list about 5 events at a time, so not everything can be posted. As stated on Wikipedia:FAQ/Main Page, the items and events posted on the Main Page are chosen based more on how well they are written, not based on how much important or significant their subjects are. It is easier for admins to select a well-written, cited, verifiable article over a poor one versus trying to determine objectively how much a subject is important or significant. Keep in mind that the quality requirements only apply to the selected bolded article, not the other links. Thus, an event may qualify for multiple dates in a year if there is an article written in a summary style and an article providing detailed content; if one of those pages have cleanup issues, the other page can be bolded as an alternate. Another criterion is to maintain some variety of topics, and not exhibit, just for example, tech-centrism, or the belief that the world stops at the edge of the English-speaking world. Many days have a large pool of potential articles, so they will rotate in and out every year to give each one some Main Page exposure. In addition, an event is not posted if it is also the subject of this year's scheduled featured article or featured picture. Q2: There are way too many 20th-century events listed. Why aren't there more events from the 19th century and before? A2: The short, basic reason is the systemic bias of Wikipedia. There are not enough good, well-written articles on 19th-century and earlier events for all 365 days in the year. Currently, a majority of users seem to be generally more interested in writing articles about recent events. If you would like to further help mitigate the systemic bias in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias. Q3: This page seems to be biased toward events based in [Insert country or region here]. What can be done about it? A3: This again is attributed to the systemic bias of Wikipedia. Many users are generally more interested in working on good, well-written articles pertaining to their home country. Since this is the English Wikipedia, there will be more English-speaking users, and thus more articles pertaining to English-speaking countries. And if there are more users who are from the United States, there will probably be more well-written articles about events based in the United States. Again, if you would like to further help mitigate the systemic bias in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias. Q4: Why is the birthday/death anniversary of [Insert name here] not listed? A4: There are only four slots available for birth and death anniversaries. As with the events, article quality and diversity in time period, geography, and reason for notability are all contributing factors in whether an article gets selected for inclusion. Q5: Are the holidays/observances listed in any particular order? A5: Yes, there is a specified order: International observances first, then alphabetically by where observed. Q6: Some of the holidays/observances that are listed have dates in parentheses beside them. What do they mean? A6: There are two reasons that some holidays/observances have dates next to them: Non- Gregorian-based holidays/observances are marked with the current year as a reminder to others that their dates do in fact vary from year to year. National Days, Independence Days, and other holidays celebrating the nationhood of a country are generally marked by the year of the significant historic date being observed.

Today's featured article for April 23, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 23, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for April 23, 2025
The Chandos portrait is the most famous of the portraits that are believed to depict William Shakespeare (1564–1616). Painted between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in his First Folio in 1623. John Taylor ( c. 1580–1653) is thought by several scholars to have painted the portrait. It is named for the 3rd Duke of Chandos, who formerly owned the painting. The portrait was given to the National Portrait Gallery, London, on its foundation in 1856, and it is listed as the first work in its collection. Image: National Portrait Gallery, retouched by Dcoetzee Recently featured: Archive More featured pictures view talk history watch file page create protected version (To create the protected version, replace the first line with {{subst:POTD row and save the page.)

• 1597 - The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed; Queen Elizabeth I of England was in attendance.
• 1994 - Physicists discover the top quark subatomic particle.
• 2001 - Intel introduces the Pentium 4 Processor.
• 2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks due to the SARS virus.

Since the The Merry Wives of Windsor article doesn't mention the date it was first performed, why is it listed here? RickK | Talk 05:51, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Whooops ! I missed that. Thanks. It's now gone. -- PFHLai 10:25, 2005 Apr 23 (UTC)

This page contains nonesense about the Conch Republic and not the birth/death of Will Shakespere? I know births/deaths are only to be included if no other event sare to be found but a doing both on the same date of year is quite notable and its certainly more mentionable than that Conch rubbish? Robdurbar 08:50, 24 April 2006 (UTC) reply

Thank you for posting here. (I was about to copy-&-paste the few objections from Talk:MainPage.) This should remind whichever admin updating the template in 2007 to look for something good. We have about 350 days to improve the stubs in Polish Constitution of 1935, Rhythm Night Club fire or the Treaty of Oliwa, and Baedeker Blitz. -- PFHLai 11:38, 24 April 2006 (UTC) reply

Or Algiers putsch? We have less than 2 weeks left to bump off the Conch Republic. -- PFHLai 19:15, 10 April 2007 (UTC) reply

Actually, this facetious declaration of independence has already been replaced by a serious declaration of declaration in an edit about a week ago. -- PFHLai 13:24, 23 April 2007 (UTC) reply

Once again, as we did last week with Yom HaShoah, we come to the dispute over whether the date is observed on Saturday night/Sunday or Sunday night/Monday. Israel seems to be doing the latter but most calendars again report it on its "traditional" date, 4 Iyar, Sat PM/Sunday. Yom Haatzmaut immediately follows. Obviously Israel is the authority on when we observe its Memorial Day and its Independence Day, but is this a new concept of moving "secular" legal holidays if they fall adjacent to the Sabbath? and, if not, why were the calendars unaware? -- Valley2city ^₪‽ 19:24, 22 April 2007 (UTC) reply

Please fix the Gregorian date in the Yom Hazikaron article as necessary. SA/OTD will follow. Thanks. -- PFHLai 13:22, 23 April 2007 (UTC) reply

Can we have Dr. Planck's picture (right) today instead of William Rowan Hamilton's, please? -- 199.71.174.100 ( talk) 05:30, 23 April 2008 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Charles II of England; Baedeker Blitz; Algiers putsch of 1961; Arizona SB 1070
• Included: William N. Oatis (first appearance); Soyuz 1 (first appearance); Blair Peach (2nd appearance, last in 2010); New Coke (4th appearance, last in 2010)
• Repeats: Order of the Garter (4th consecutive appearance, 5 total)

— howcheng { chat} 05:20, 22 April 2012 (UTC) reply

Note: Soyuz 1 is making its first appearance because Vladimir Komarov is on April 24. This should be removed from here in 2013 and combined with Komarov's death on the 24th. — howcheng { chat} 04:35, 23 April 2012 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Conch Republic (maintenance)
• Omitted: Order of the Garter; William N. Oatis; Soyuz 1 (deleted—normally appears on April 24); Blair Peach
• Included: Charles II of England (5th appearance, last in 2011); Baedeker Blitz (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Hank Aaron (5th appearance, last in 2009); Algiers putsch of 1961 (4th appearance, last in 2011); GRB 090423 (first appearance)
• Repeats: New Coke (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

— howcheng { chat} 05:44, 22 April 2013 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Order of the Garter (maintenance)
• Omitted: Baedeker Blitz; Algiers putsch of 1961; New Coke (ineligible—maintenance); GRB 090423
• Included: Battle of Clontarf (5th appearance, last in 2007; rescued from Ineligible; 1000th anniversary); Columbia University protests of 1968 (2nd appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible); Death of Blair Peach (3rd appearance, last in 2012)
• Repeats: Charles II of England (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total); Hank Aaron (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total; 60th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 06:07, 22 April 2014 (UTC) reply

Addendum: Columbia University protests of 1968 no longer eligible (maintenance); replaced with Algiers putsch of 1961 (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total). — howcheng { chat} 16:24, 23 April 2014 (UTC) reply

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

1979 – Activist Blair Peach suffered fatal head injuries after being knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration in Southall, London, against a National Front election meeting in the town hall. needs to be changed to: 1979 – Activist Blair Peach suffered fatal head injuries when he was knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration in Southall, London, against a National Front election meeting in the town hall. ( he died "after" being knocked unconscious, but suffered fatal injuries at the time he was knocked unconscious) Awien ( talk) 08:01, 22 April 2014 (UTC) reply

Done — Mr. Stradivarius ^{♪ talk ♪} 09:25, 22 April 2014 (UTC) reply

Thank you! This almost ubiquitous misuse of "after" really bugs me ("two people were killed after a collision on Highway 1": really unlucky, first in a collision, then someone or something killed them! Poor things!). Awien ( talk) 16:28, 22 April 2014 (UTC) reply

• New articles (unused): Edmund Ironside
• Omitted: Battle of Clontarf; Hank Aaron; Algiers putsch of 1961; Death of Blair Peach
• Included: Order of the Garter (6th appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Zeebrugge Raid (first appearance); New Coke (6th appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); GRB 090423 (2nd appearance, last in 2013)
• Repeats: Charles II of England (3rd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

— howcheng { chat} 07:28, 21 April 2015 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Order of the Garter; Charles II of England; New Coke (ineligible—maintenance); GRB 090423
• Included: Edmund Ironside (first appearance; 1000th anniversary); Reinheitsgebot (first appearance; 500th anniversary); William N. Oatis (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Arizona SB 1070 (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
• Repeats: Zeebrugge Raid (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 06:16, 22 April 2016 (UTC) reply

Um... why do we have nothing listed for the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death? :-/ Stolengood ( talk)

Because nobody bothered to put it in? I certainly didn't notice. — howcheng { chat} 22:51, 26 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Order of the Garter (maintenance); Algiers putsch of 1961 (maintenance)
• Omitted: Saint George's Day (ineligible—maintenance); Edmund Ironside; Zeebrugge Raid; William N. Oatis; Arizona SB 1070
• Included: Battle of Clontarf (6th appearance, last in 2014); Baedeker Blitz (3rd appearance, last in 2013; 75th anniversary); Hank Aaron (7th appearance, last in 2014); GRB 090423 (3rd appearance, last in 2015)
• Repeats: Reinheitsgebot (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 07:05, 23 April 2017 (UTC) reply

I refimproved the page Main Building (University of Notre Dame) and added all the appropriate citations. Can it be moved back to the stagin area? @Howcheng Eccekevin ( talk) 03:55, 22 April 2018 (UTC) reply

• New articles (unused): 1927 FA Cup Final; Main Building (University of Notre Dame)
• Omitted: Battle of Clontarf; Baedeker Blitz; Hank Aaron; GRB 090423; Joan of France, Duchess of Berry; Shirley Temple; Satyajit Ray
• Included: Charles II of England (8th appearance, last in 2015); Zeebrugge Raid (3rd appearance, last in 2016; 100th anniversary); William N. Oatis; (3rd appearance, last in 2016) New Coke (7th appearance, last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); William Shakespeare (first appearance); Karl Friedrich Bahrdt (first appearance); Kathy Lynch (first appearance)
• Repeats: Reinheitsgebot (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

— howcheng { chat} 03:18, 23 April 2018 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Charles II of England; Zeebrugge Raid; William N. Oatis; New Coke; Karl Friedrich Bahrdt; Kathy Lynch
• Included: Order of the Garter (7th appearance, last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); Main Building (University of Notre Dame) (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Death of Blair Peach (4th appearance, last in 2014; 40th anniversary); GRB 090423 (4th appearance, last in 2017; 10th anniversary); Pandita Ramabai (first appearance); Halston (first appearance)
• Repeats: Reinheitsgebot (4th consecutive appearance, 4 total); William Shakespeare (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 18:12, 23 April 2019 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: 1927 FA Cup Final ( TFA for 2020)
• New articles (unused): Wihtred of Kent; Jim Bottomley
• Omitted: Order of the Garter; Reinheitsgebot; Main Building (University of Notre Dame); Death of Blair Peach; GRB 090423; William Shakespeare (moved to May 3); Pandita Ramabai; Halston
• Included: National Sovereignty and Children's Day (rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Clontarf (7th appearance, last in 2017); Charles II of England (9th appearance, last in 2018); Grand National Assembly of Turkey (3rd appearance, last in 2008; 100th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible); Hank Aaron (8th appearance, last in 2017); Arizona SB 1070 (3rd appearance, last in 2016; 10th anniversary); Béla III of Hungary (first appearance); Joan of Acre (first appearance); Roy Orbison (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 01:05, 25 April 2020 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): 1927 FA Cup Final
• Omitted: Battle of Clontarf; Charles II of England; Main Building (University of Notre Dame); Grand National Assembly of Turkey; Hank Aaron; Arizona SB 1070; Béla III of Hungary; Joan of Acre; Roy Orbison
• Included: Edmund Ironside (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Reinheitsgebot (5th appearance, last in 2019); Zeebrugge Raid (4th appearance, last in 2018); William N. Oatis (4th appearance, last in 2018; 70th anniversary); Sticky Fingers (first appearance; 50th anniversary); Wihtred of Kent (first appearance); Jim Bottomley (first appearance); Leni Robredo (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 06:45, 27 April 2021 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Main Building (University of Notre Dame) (maintenance)
• New articles (ineligible): ZX Spectrum (maintenance)
• Omitted: Edmund Ironside; Reinheitsgebot; Zeebrugge Raid; William N. Oatis; Sticky Fingers; Wihtred of Kent; Jim Bottomley; Leni Robredo
• Included: Charles II of England (9th appearance, last in 2020); Battle of Caldera Bay (first appearance); 1927 FA Cup Final (first appearance); Baedeker Blitz (4th appearance, last in 2017; 80th anniversary); April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse (first appearance); Johannes Fibiger (2nd appearance, last in 2019; also appears on January 30, his death anniversary); Halston (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 90th birthday); Satyajit Ray (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 30th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 02:16, 24 April 2022 (UTC) reply