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 August 14, 2024
Landsat image of the Cerro Panizos region Cerro Panizos is a late Miocene-age shield-shaped volcano, made up of two depressions formed by the collapse of volcanos ( calderas) and a group of lava domes. It consists of ignimbrites and is in the Potosí Department of Bolivia and the Jujuy Province of Argentina. It is one of several ignimbrite or caldera systems that, along with 44 active stratovolcanoes, are part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ). Subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath South America is responsible for most of the volcanism in the CVZ. Panizos is the source of two major ignimbrites: Cienago ignimbrite erupted about 7.9 million years ago; and the more recent Panizos ignimbrite, erupted 6.7 million years ago. The Panizos ignimbrite has a total volume exceeding 650 cubic kilometres (160 cu mi). Several volcanic cones such as Limitayoc were active between the ignimbrite eruptions, and a plateau of lava flows and lava domes formed in the central area of the Panizos ignimbrite after the last eruptions. ( Full article...) Recently featured: Flag of Japan Worlds (Porter Robinson album) Yugoslav torpedo boat T2 Archive By email More featured articles About view – talk –  – history – watch
Picture of the day for August 14, 2024
Takht-i-Bahi are the ruins of a 1st century CE Buddhist monastery complex located in what was once the ancient Indian region of Gandhara, in present-day northern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Considered to be exceptionally well-preserved and particularly representative of Buddhist monastic architecture of its era, the ruins were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the neighbouring remains of an ancient town in 1980. Pictured here is an aerial view of the complex, showing its various chambers and courtyards. photographed by Muzamil Hussain Toori, retouched by UnpetitproleX Recently featured: ATLAS experiment Victorious Youth 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.)

The joint declaration by FDR and Churchill that was issued as a plain, typed press release on August 14, 1941 would later be called the "Atlantic Charter" by a Socialist London newspaper. There was never an actual signed legal document. That wasn't the real purpose of "Operation Riviera" which would later be called the "Atlantic Conference" but it was good press, and it helped cover the fact that the U.S. (still technically neutral at the time) was engaging in war plans with one of the belligerents engaged in World War II military conflicts. For more details, see "discussion" related to Wikipedia entry of "Atlantic Charter."

The 5th anniversary of this event is being covered very widely in hte media... I'm surprised not to see it in today's OTD. Radagast ( talk) 14:16, 14 August 2008 (UTC) reply

Remember that the selected articles (bolded items) on the Main Page are chosen based more on how well they are written, not based on how much their subjects are important or significant. Because there is only room for about five events each day, any article that has a bunch of cleanup, dispute, or "requesting sources and verification" tags, like this article, gets lower priority, even if it is only five years old. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 14:48, 14 August 2008 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Cologne Cathedral; Lech Wałęsa; Solomos Solomou
• Included: Second Seminole War (4th appearance, last in 2010); The Lost Chord (4th appearance, last in 2010); Carlos the Jackal (5th appearance, last in 2009); Helios Airways Flight 522 (3rd appearance, last in 2009); Youth Olympic Games (first appearance)
• Repeats: The Family (Australian New Age group) (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 09:30, 15 August 2012 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): 2007 Yazidi communities bombings
• Omitted: Second Seminole War; The Lost Chord; The Family (Australian New Age group); Carlos the Jackal; Helios Airways Flight 522; Youth Olympic Games
• Included: Tristan da Cunha (first appearance); Cologne Cathedral (7th appearance, last in 2011); Atlantic Charter (6th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (first appearance); 2006 Lebanon War (3rd appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible)

— howcheng { chat} 06:36, 13 August 2013 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: The Family (Australian New Age group) (maintenance)
• Omitted: Tristan da Cunha; Cologne Cathedral; Atlantic Charter; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; 2006 Lebanon War
• Included: Second Seminole War (5th appearance, last in 2012); The Lost Chord (5th appearance, last in 2012); Lech Wałęsa (8th appearance, last in 2011); Carlos the Jackal (6th appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary); 2007 Yazidi communities bombings (2nd appearance, last in 2010)

— howcheng { chat} 07:10, 13 August 2014 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Cologne Cathedral (maintenance)
• Omitted: Second Seminole War; Lech Wałęsa; Carlos the Jackal; 2007 Yazidi communities bombings
• Included: Tristan da Cunha (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Atlantic Charter (7th appearance, last in 2013); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 40th anniversary); Helios Airways Flight 522 (4th appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary)
• Repeats: The Lost Chord (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

— howcheng { chat} 06:19, 12 August 2015 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Lech Wałęsa (maintenance); 2006 Lebanon War (maintenance); August 2013 Rabaa massacre
• Omitted: The Lost Chord; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Helios Airways Flight 522
• Included: Gustave Whitehead (first appearance); Constitution of Pakistan (first appearance); Solomos Solomou (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 20th anniversary)
• Repeats: Tristan da Cunha (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 200th anniversary); Atlantic Charter (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total; 75th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 02:00, 14 August 2016 (UTC) reply

Victory over Japan Day says this was the day the Japanese formally surrendered in Japan, August 15, there, and August 14 in the United States and the day older people remember the celebration. It seems to me this should be on the Main Page today with clarification.-- Dthomsen8 ( talk) 23:38, 14 August 2016 (UTC) reply

Items are listed on the date they happened in the locality that they happened in. The surrender ceremony took place in Japan on the 15th, so we list it on the 15th. — howcheng { chat}

• Moved to Ineligible: Carlos the Jackal (maintenance)
• Omitted: Tristan da Cunha (ineligible—maintenance); Atlantic Charter; Constitution of Pakistan; Solomos Solomou
• Included: Villasur expedition (first appearance); The Lost Chord (7th appearance, last in 2015); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (3rd appearance, last in 2015); 2007 Yazidi communities bombings (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Tiberius II Constantine (first appearance); Pieter Coecke van Aelst (first appearance); Connie Smith (first appearance)
• Repeats: Gustave Whitehead (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 07:01, 14 August 2017 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): August 2013 Rabaa massacre
• New articles (unused): Project Thread
• Omitted: Villasur expedition; The Lost Chord; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; 2007 Yazidi communities bombings; Tiberius II Constantine; Pieter Coecke van Aelst; Connie Smith (ineligible—maintenance)
• Included: Second Seminole War (6th appearance, last in 2014); Atlantic Charter (9th appearance, last in 2016); Constitution of Pakistan (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Youth Olympic Games (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Doc Holliday (first appearance); Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (first appearance); Hugh Trumble (first appearance; 80th anniversary)
• Repeats: Gustave Whitehead (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

— howcheng { chat} 16:20, 14 August 2018 (UTC) reply

• New articles (unused): Bobby Eaton
• Omitted: Second Seminole War; Gustave Whitehead; Atlantic Charter; Youth Olympic Games; Doc Holliday; Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji; Hugh Trumble
• Included: Villasur expedition (2nd appearance, last in 2017); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (4th appearance, last in 2017); 2007 Yazidi communities bombings (4th appearance, last in 2017); Ponte Morandi (first appearance); Qian Hongzuo (first appearance); Pieter Coecke van Aelst (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Mila Kunis (first appearance)
• Repeats: Constitution of Pakistan (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

— howcheng { chat} 22:57, 20 August 2019 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Tiberius II Constantine (moved to December 7)
• Moved to Ineligible: Atlantic Charter (maintenance); Project Thread (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Connie Smith
• Omitted: Constitution of Pakistan (ineligible—maintenance); 2007 Yazidi communities bombings; Ponte Morandi; Qian Hongzuo; Pieter Coecke van Aelst; Mila Kunis
• Included: The Lost Chord (8th appearance, last in 2017); 2010 Summer Youth Olympics/ Youth Olympic Games (2010: first appearance; YOG: 3rd, last in 2018; 10th anniversary); Badr al-Mu'tadidi (first appearance); Charlotte Fowler Wells (first appearance); Bobby Eaton (first appearance)
• Repeats: Villasur expedition (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 300th anniversary); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

— howcheng { chat} 18:19, 15 August 2020 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Elsie Leslie
• Omitted: Villasur expedition; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; 2010 Summer Youth Olympics/ Youth Olympic Games; Badr al-Mu'tadidi; Charlotte Fowler Wells; Bobby Eaton
• Included: Battle of Saseno (first appearance); Atlantic Charter (10th appearance, last in 2018; 80th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible); Who's Next (first appearance; 50th anniversary); August 2013 Rabaa massacre (first appearance); Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (first appearance); Nüzhet Gökdoğan (first appearance); Connie Smith (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 80th birthday)
• Repeats: The Lost Chord (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

— howcheng { chat} 22:39, 14 August 2021 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Atlantic Charter; Who's Next; August 2013 Rabaa massacre; Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell; Nüzhet Gökdoğan; Connie Smith
• Included: Second Seminole War (7th appearance, last in 2018); 2010 Summer Youth Olympics/ Youth Olympic Games (2010: 2nd appearance; Games: 4th; both last in 2020); Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Hugh Trumble (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Mila Kunis (2nd appearance, last in 2019)
• Repeats: Battle of Saseno (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); The Lost Chord (3rd consecutive appearance, 10 total)

— howcheng { chat} 18:06, 16 August 2022 (UTC) reply

• Relatively good assortment to choose from
• Avoided the Atlantic Charter
• 10th anniversary of Rabaa massacre

Heart ^(talk) 16:14, 1 August 2023 (UTC) reply