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 23, 2024
Robert F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy at the president's early birthday party on May 19, 1962 In 1993, about 350 documents were forged by Lawrence X. Cusack III. These papers were supposedly from, or related to, John F. Kennedy. Some of them alleged that Kennedy had a secret first marriage and dealings with organized crime, had bribed FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and paid hush money to Marilyn Monroe. Cusack, son of a lawyer who had dealings with Monroe's family, claimed to have found the papers in the firm's files. He sold them for between six and seven million dollars. One of the buyers suggested showing them to Seymour Hersh, who was writing The Dark Side of Camelot (1997). Hersh began incorporating them into his book and proposed a TV documentary. Checks by the networks uncovered flaws in the forgeries. These included the use of a ZIP Code in a paper dated two years before the ZIP Code was introduced, and the use of typeball that had not yet been invented. Cusack was convicted of fraud, sentenced to nearly ten years in prison and ordered to refund the money to the buyers. ( Full article...) Recently featured: Total Recall (1990 film) Turabay dynasty Outer Wilds Archive By email More featured articles About view – talk –  – history – watch
Picture of the day for August 23, 2024
The featured picture for this day has not yet been chosen. In general, pictures of the day are scheduled in order of promotion to featured status. See Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Guidelines for full guidelines. create

This may be a good candidate:

• 1989 - Baltic way: Approximately two million people joined their hands to form an over 600 km long human chain across the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet republics during the Singing Revolution.

-- PFHLai 16:06, 15 March 2006 (UTC) reply

Balti tee : nii sundis 600 km pikkune inimkett= Baltic way : the story of a 600 km long human chain in the Baltic by, Peeter Simm, Otav Osolin ; Maurum ERF video SP VHS video tape. Tallinn 1989 34262783 SelAnniv 65.92.98.29 ( talk) 03:59, 23 August 2011 (UTC) 22 August, 2011 11:58 p.m. reply

• Moved to Ineligible: 1929 Hebron massacre (date not verified)
• New articles (unused): Manila hostage crisis
• Omitted: Battle of Chaldiran; Albert Bridge, London; World Council of Churches; Salad Bowl strike; Natascha Kampusch
• Included: William Wallace (5th appearance, last in 2007); St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (6th appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible); Cry of Pugad Lawin (first appearance; blurb appeared in 2010 and featured Andrés Bonifacio, but was deleted in 2011 because Bonifacio also appears on November 30); Battle of Kursk (first appearance); Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia/ Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (first appearance for both)

— howcheng { chat} 10:01, 22 August 2012 (UTC) reply

I created today Day of the National Flag (Ukraine); may it please you to include it in this in this Template? — Yulia Romero •  Talk to me! 21:52, 15 February 2013 (UTC) reply

• New articles (ineligible): Day of the National Flag (Ukraine) (stub); Albert Bridge, London ( TFA for 2013)
• Deleted: Hong Kong (moved to August 29)
• Omitted: William Wallace; St. Bartholomew's Day massacre; Cry of Pugad Lawin; Natascha Kampusch; Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia/ Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (Anastasia was TFA on July 17)
• Included: European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism (first appearance); Battle of Chaldiran (3rd appearance, last in 2011); 1929 Hebron massacre (4th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Baltic Way (6th appearance, last in 2010); Manila hostage crisis (first appearance)
• Repeats: Battle of Kursk (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 70th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 06:10, 22 August 2013 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: World Council of Churches (maintenance); Salad Bowl strike (maintenance)
• Omitted: 1929 Hebron massacre; Battle of Kursk; Manila hostage crisis
• Included: Albert Bridge, London (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Battle of Mons (2nd appearance, last in 2009; 100th anniversary); King Michael's Coup/ Ion Antonescu (Coup: 3rd appearance, last in 2009; Antonescu: 4th appearance, last in 2010)
• Repeats: Battle of Chaldiran (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 500th anniversary); Baltic Way (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total; 25th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 09:44, 22 August 2014 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia/ Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (Alexei: maintenance)
• Omitted: Battle of Chaldiran; Albert Bridge, London; King Michael's Coup/ Ion Antonescu; Baltic Way; Natascha Kampusch
• Included: St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (7th appearance, last in 2012); Coldstream Guards (first appearance); Cry of Pugad Lawin (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Sacco and Vanzetti (2nd appearance, last in 2007; rescued from Ineligible); Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (10th appearance, last in 2010)

— howcheng { chat} 09:14, 21 August 2015 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Kursk (maintenance)
• Omitted: St. Bartholomew's Day massacre; Coldstream Guards; Sacco and Vanzetti; Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
• Included: Flag of Ukraine (first appearance); Battle of Chaldiran (5th appearance, last in 2014); 1929 Hebron massacre (5th appearance, last in 2013); Salad Bowl strike (2nd appearance, last in 2011; rescued from Ineligible); Natascha Kampusch (4th appearance, last in 2014; 10th anniversary)
• Repeats: Cry of Pugad Lawin (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

— howcheng { chat} 06:14, 23 August 2016 (UTC) reply

• New articles (unused): 2011 Virginia earthquake
• Omitted: Flag of Ukraine; Battle of Chaldiran; Cry of Pugad Lawin; 1929 Hebron massacre; Salad Bowl strike; Natascha Kampusch
• Included: Albert Bridge, London (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Southern Cross Expedition (first appearance); Sacco and Vanzetti (3rd appearance, last in 2015; 90th anniversary); Battle of Kursk (3rd appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); Manila hostage crisis (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Ali al-Ridha (first appearance); Henry Every (first appearance); Oscar Hammerstein II (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 03:41, 23 August 2017 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Coldstream Guards (moved to August 13)
• Omitted: Albert Bridge, London (ineligible—maintenance); Sacco and Vanzetti; Manila hostage crisis; Ali al-Ridha (deleted—date not certain); Henry Every (moved to August 20); Oscar Hammerstein II
• Included: Battle of Chaldiran (6th appearance, last in 2016); R38-class airship (first appearance); 2011 Virginia earthquake (first appearance); Radagaisus (first appearance); Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (first appearance); Keith Moon (first appearance)
• Repeats: Southern Cross Expedition (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Battle of Kursk (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 75th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 15:55, 23 August 2018 (UTC) reply

• New articles (ineligible): Fall of Tenochtitlan (maintenance; moved from August 13)
• New articles (unused): John Sherman Cooper; Marjorie Paxson; Rex Grossman; Jeremy Lin
• Omitted: Southern Cross Expedition; R38-class airship; Battle of Kursk; 2011 Virginia earthquake; Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal; Keith Moon
• Included: 1929 Hebron massacre (6th appearance, last in 2016; 90th anniversary); Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (11th appearance, last in 2015; 80th anniversary); Baltic Way (8th appearance, last in 2014; 30th anniversary); Natascha Kampusch (5th appearance, last in 2016); Abraham Yates Jr. (first appearance); Denny Bautista (first appearance)
• Repeats: Battle of Chaldiran (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total); Radagaisus (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 17:16, 23 August 2019 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Sacco and Vanzetti (maintenance); Salad Bowl strike (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Denny Bautista
• Omitted: Battle of Chaldiran; 1929 Hebron massacre; Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact; Baltic Way; Natascha Kampusch; Radagaisus; Denny Bautista
• Included: William Wallace (6th appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Albert Bridge, London (4th appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Kursk (5th appearance, last in 2018); Manila hostage crisis (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 10th anniversary); Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Oscar Hammerstein II (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 60th anniversary)
• Repeats: Abraham Yates Jr. (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; unintentional repeat)

— howcheng { chat} 16:28, 24 August 2020 (UTC) reply

Does International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition (commemorating the Haitian revolution) already appear on a different part of the main page? Sparafucil ( talk) 22:26, 17 August 2021 (UTC) reply

@ Sparafucil: Unfortunately that article is ineligible to appear due to the big orange maintenance banner on it. — howcheng { chat} 18:02, 21 August 2021 (UTC) reply

Yes, I now see you tagged it as it stood in 2015. The UN has quite a few pages and I've added two for the opening paragraphs; do you have specific reservations about detagging now? Sparafucil ( talk) 04:17, 22 August 2021 (UTC) reply

Item 3 is the Hebron riot, which took place on Aug. 24: I'd suggest replacing "Hebron" with "Jerusalem" and linking 1929_Palestine_riots#Jerusalem_riots,_23_August Sparafucil ( talk) 22:00, 22 August 2021 (UTC) reply

@ Sparafucil: Damn, a whole lot of people missed that. The other article looks fine now, but I didn't see your update until just now. Next time, use the {{ ping}} template so I get notified. — howcheng { chat} 08:02, 24 August 2021 (UTC) reply

Good to learn about pinging, thanks! Sparafucil ( talk) 03:02, 25 August 2021 (UTC) reply

• New articles (unused): Proclamation of Rebellion
• Omitted: William Wallace; Albert Bridge, London; Battle of Kursk; Manila hostage crisis; Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal; Abraham Yates Jr.; Oscar Hammerstein II
• Included: Battle of Chaldiran (8th appearance, last in 2019); Southern Cross Expedition (3rd appearance, last in 2018); 1929 Hebron massacre (7th appearance, last in 2019); Ion Antonescu (5th appearance, last in 2014; blurb previously also featured 1944 Romanian coup d'état, which is currently ineligible); 2011 Virginia earthquake (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 10th anniversary); Ebussuud Efendi (first appearance); Minna Craucher (first appearance); Keith Moon (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 75th birthday)

— howcheng { chat} 07:58, 24 August 2021 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Battle of Chaldiran; 1929 Hebron massacre (moved to August 24); Ion Antonescu; 2011 Virginia earthquake; Ebussuud Efendi; Minna Craucher; Keith Moon
• Included: Albert Bridge, London (5th appearance, last in 2020); Baltic Way (9th appearance, last in 2019); Manila hostage crisis (4th appearance, last in 2020); Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (3rd appearance, last in 2020); John Sherman Cooper (first appearance); Jeremy Lin (first appearance)
• Repeats: Southern Cross Expedition (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

— howcheng { chat} 17:14, 7 September 2022 (UTC) reply

• Nothing notable other than two new people in b/d and a new image.

Heart ^(talk) 02:40, 10 August 2023 (UTC) reply