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.

• 1803 - Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million more than doubling the size of the young nation overnight.

Already featured on Dec.20th. -- PFHLai 18:44, 2005 Apr 13 (UTC)

I really think that Adolf Hitler's suicide should be on this list. I don't understand why it's not there. One of the most major leaders, in one of the most major wars. I would do it, but the article is locked, so could someone who can edit it do so?

User: Reub2000, Hitler was here yesterday for his last will and testament. Let's avoid featuring him on back-to-back days. -- PFHLai 19:57, 2005 Apr 30 (UTC)

Maybe the text should be " Queen's Day in the Kingdom of the Netherlands". – Ilse @ 19:23, 30 April 2007 (UTC) reply

Today (30 April) is Children's Day in Mexico. I think it should be included in the selected anniversaries. -- Cumbiagermen ( talk) 16:11, 30 April 2010 (UTC) reply

Shouldn't it say in "recorded" history? I am sure that in the span of 10 billion+ years, brighter supernovas have occurred. 71.169.183.93 ( talk) 21:51, 30 April 2010 (UTC) reply

• New articles (unused): Casey Jones
• Omitted: Louisiana Purchase; Death of Adolf Hitler; Bristol Bus Boycott, 1963; Iranian Embassy siege; 2009 attack on the Dutch Royal Family
• Included: SN 1006 (4th appearance, last in 2010); Battle of Mataquito (first appearance); Coxey's Army (first appearance); Operation Mincemeat (first appearance); Fall of Saigon/ Operation Frequent Wind (Saigon: 4th appearance, last in 2009, rescued from Ineligible; Frequent Wind: 2nd appearance, last in 2010)

— howcheng { chat} 06:15, 29 April 2012 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Iranian Embassy siege (moved to May 5)
• Moved to Ineligible: National Persian Gulf Day in Iran (maintenance)
• Omitted: SN 1006; Battle of Mataquito; Coxey's Army; Fall of Saigon (blurb also previously featured Operation Frequent Wind, which is now ineligible)
• Included: Licinius (3rd appearance, last in 2008; 1700th anniversary); Louisiana Purchase (7th appearance, last in 2011); Organization of American States (7th appearance, last in 2010); Bristol Bus Boycott, 1963 (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 50th anniversary); Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse (2nd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible)
• Repeats: Operation Mincemeat (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 70th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 16:08, 30 April 2013 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: George Washington (maintenance); Casey Jones (maintenance); Clint Eastwood (date not in article)
• New articles (unused): Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting
• Omitted: Koninginnedag (moved to April 27); Licinius; Louisiana Purchase; Operation Mincemeat; Organization of American States; Bristol Bus Boycott
• Included: SN 1006 (5th appearance, last in 2012); Siege of Schenkenschans (first appearance); Bijon Setu massacre (first appearance); Monica Seles (first appearance)
• Repeats: Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 10th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 09:42, 29 April 2014 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Licinius (maintenance)
• Omitted: Siege of Schenkenschans; Bijon Setu massacre; Monica Seles; Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse (ineligible—maintenance)
• Included: Battle of Mataquito (2nd appearance, last in 2012); George Washington (7th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Death of Adolf Hitler (7th appearance, last in 2011; u0th anniversary); Operation Frequent Wind/ Fall of Saigon (Operation: 3rd appearance; Fall: 5th appearance; both last in 2012; 40th anniversary)
• Repeats: SN 1006 (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

— howcheng { chat} 11:15, 28 April 2015 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Louisiana Purchase
• Omitted: SN 1006; Battle of Mataquito; George Washington; Death of Adolf Hitler; Operation Frequent Wind
• Included: Edict of Nantes (10th appearance, last in 2013; moved from April 13); William McIntosh (first appearance); Operation Mincemeat (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Bijon Setu massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 07:28, 28 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: SN 1006 (maintenance); Monica Seles (maintenance)
• Omitted: Edict of Nantes; William McIntosh (ineligible—maintenance); Operation Mincemeat; Bijon Setu massacre; Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting
• Included: Battle of Mataquito (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Siege of Schenkenschans (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Niagara Falls State Park (first appearance); Bristol Bus Boycott (3rd appearance, last in 2013); 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Dorival Caymmi (first appearance); A. E. Housman (first appearance); Alben W. Barkley (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 04:31, 30 April 2017 (UTC) reply

• Walpurgis Night and Reunification Day appear to have had references added since tagging. I have moved both to eligible. Cas Liber ( talk · contribs) 01:08, 27 April 2018 (UTC) reply
  • @ Casliber: Reunification Day was fine, but Walpurgis Night wasn't quite good enough. — howcheng { chat} 06:36, 30 April 2018 (UTC) reply

Fair enough. Where I was my internet access was dodgy so couldn't really do much sourcing. Cas Liber ( talk · contribs) 09:06, 30 April 2018 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Clint Eastwood (moved to May 31, birthday)
• Moved to Ineligible: Organization of American States (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Federal Prison Camp, Alderson; Faustina Kowalska
• Omitted: Persian Gulf National Day (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of Mataquito; Siege of Schenkenschans; Niagara Falls State Park; Bristol Bus Boycott; 2009 attack on the Dutch Royal Family; Dorival Caymmi; Alben W. Barkley; Kirsten Dunst (ineligible—maintenance)
• Included: Reunification Day (rescued from Ineligible); Licinius (4th appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); Edict of Nantes (11th appearance, last in 2016); Louisiana Purchase (8th appearance, last in 2013); Operation Mincemeat (4th appearance, last in 2016; 75th anniversary); Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline) (first appearance); Eugen Bleuler (first appearance); Roger L. Easton (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 02:15, 30 April 2018 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Licinius; Edict of Nantes; Louisiana Purchase (ineligible—maintenance); Operation Mincemeat; Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting; Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline); Eugen Bleuler; Roger L. Easton
• Included: Battle of Mataquito (4th appearance, last in 2017); Coxey's Army (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 125th anniversary); Death of Adolf Hitler (8th appearance, last in 2015); Bijon Setu massacre (3rd appearance, last in 2016); 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 10th anniversary); Robert Plot (first appearance); Dadasaheb Phalke (first appearance); Meredith L. Patterson (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 03:20, 28 April 2020 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: George Washington/ Presidency of George Washington ( POTD for 2020)
• Omitted: Battle of Mataquito; Coxey's Army; Bijon Setu massacre; 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family; Robert Plot; Meredith L. Patterson
• Included: Licinius/ Battle of Tzirallum (Licinius: 5th appearance, last in 2018; Battle: first appearance); Edict of Nantes (12th appearance, last in 2018); Federal Prison Camp, Alderson (first appearance); Faustina Kowalska (first appearance; 20th anniversary); Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (first appearance); Kirsten Dunst (2nd appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible)
• Repeats: Death of Adolf Hitler (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total; 75th anniversary); Dadasaheb Phalke (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 150th birthday)

— howcheng { chat} 02:59, 2 May 2020 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Mataquito (date contradicts related articles); Siege of Schenkenschans (maintenance)
• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): George Washington/ Presidency of George Washington
• Omitted: Licinius/ Battle of Tzirallum; Edict of Nantes (ineligible—date not certain); Federal Prison Camp, Alderson; Death of Adolf Hitler; Faustina Kowalska; Jean-Baptiste de La Salle; Dadasaheb Phalke; Kirsten Dunst
• Included: Niagara Falls State Park (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Grauman's Chinese Theatre (first appearance); Bijon Setu massacre (4th appearance, last in 2019); Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse (4th appearance, last in 2014); Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquis of Abrantes (first appearance); Luigi Russolo (first appearance); Roger L. Easton (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 100th birthday)

— howcheng { chat} 18:25, 1 May 2021 (UTC) reply

• New articles (ineligible): Charles S. Fairchild ( POTD for 2022)
• Omitted: Niagara Falls State Park; Grauman's Chinese Theatre; Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse; Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquis of Abrantes; Luigi Russolo; Roger L. Easton
• Included: SN 1006 (7th appearance, last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); George Washington/ Presidency of George Washington (GW: 8th appearance, last in 2015; Presidency: 3rd, last in 2010, previously appeared on September 26); Death of Adolf Hitler (10th appearance, last in 2020); The Puppy Episode (first appearance; 25th anniversary); Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline) (3rd appearance, last in 2018; 350th anniversary); Emily Stowe (first appearance); Kirsten Dunst (3rd appearance, last in 2020; 40th birthday)
• Repeats: Bijon Setu massacre (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total; 40th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 07:39, 1 May 2022 (UTC) reply