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.

A good candidate: Moscow Victory Parade of 1945. But somewhat stubby right now. -- PFHLai 20:21, 8 May 2006 (UTC) reply

A better candidate: 1948 start of the Berlin Blockade. -- PFHLai 07:08, 10 May 2006 (UTC) reply

I'd also add the June 1976 protests (in Poland). -- _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 22:39, 24 June 2011 (UTC) reply

Looking at the current choices, I'd use one of the above to replace "The United States' first two "fast battleships", the North Carolina class (pictured), were ordered from the New York and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards." (trivia for military fans). The "1374 – An outbreak of dancing mania, wherein crowds of people danced themselves to exhaustion, took place in Aachen (present-day Germany), before spreading to other cities and countries." is cute, but also without any significant historical significance. Please consider replacing those with the Berlin Blockade and June 1976 protests. -- _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 22:41, 24 June 2011 (UTC) reply

I also don't see why Canadian anniversary is mentioned twice: once as "1880 – "O Canada", today the national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, Quebec, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet." and once as "National Holiday/Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Quebec, Canada" in the heading of festivals/holidays. Surely, one would be enough? -- _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 22:42, 24 June 2011 (UTC) reply

Sorry for the late reply, but the answer to the first question as to why dancing mania and fast battleships are on even when you don't consider them to be particularly significant, the answer is just to have more variety of articles show up from year to year. But there is a good reason to omit both Berlin Blockade and the Victory Parade: both of those articles have serious maintenance tags on them. Finally, for Canada, it's actually two different anniversaries: one is the holiday and the second is the anniversary of the song. howcheng { chat} 21:01, 13 July 2011 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Dancing mania; O Canada; North Carolina class battleship
• Included: Battle of Macau (first appearance); Humber Bridge (2nd appearance, last in 2008); British Airways Flight 9 (first appearance; 30th anniversary)
• Repeats: French invasion of Russia (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 200th anniversary); Siamese revolution of 1932 (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 11:54, 24 June 2012 (UTC) reply

How's the Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting for a historical event?

Example sentence: " 1947 -- Washington pilot Kenneth Arnold sees nine strangely shaped aircraft near Mount Rainier. — Preceding unsigned comment added by XndrK ( talk • contribs) 03:21, 19 June 2013 (UTC) reply

Sorry, but the article has two orange-level maintenance tags on it, which makes it ineligible to appear. — howcheng { chat} 06:40, 19 June 2013 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Battle of Macau; French invasion of Russia; Siamese revolution of 1932 (ineligible—maintenance); Humber Bridge; British Airways Flight 9
• Included: Manila (first appearance); Premier Grand Lodge of England (first appearance); O Canada (5th appearance, last in 2011); North Carolina-class battleship (2nd appearance, last in 2011); 1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash (4th appearance, last in 2010)

— howcheng { chat} 11:10, 23 June 2013 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Battle of Sluys
• Omitted: Manila; Premier Grand Lodge of England; North Carolina-class battleship
• Included: Battle of Bannockburn (7th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible; 700th anniversary); Battle of Macau (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships (first appearance)
• Repeats: O Canada (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total); 1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total; 20th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 09:54, 23 June 2014 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Battle of Bannockburn; O Canada; 1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash; Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships
• Included: Battle of Sluys (first appearance); French invasion of Russia (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Humber Bridge (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Julia Gillard (first appearance)
• Repeats: Battle of Macau (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

— howcheng { chat} 08:22, 23 June 2015 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Battle of Sluys; Battle of Macau; Humber Bridge; Julia Gillard
• Included: Dancing mania (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Manila (2nd appearance, last in 2013); North Carolina-class battleship (3rd appearance, last in 2013); British Airways Flight 9 (2nd appearance, last in 2012)
• Repeats: French invasion of Russia (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

— howcheng { chat} 17:09, 23 June 2016 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Bannockburn (maintenance)
• Omitted: Nativity of St John the Baptist (ineligible—maintenance); Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (ineligible—maintenance); Dancing mania; French invasion of Russia (ineligible—maintenance); British Airways Flight 9
• Included: Premier Grand Lodge of England (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 300th anniversary); O Canada (7th appearance, last in 2014); Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (first appearance); Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (first appearance); Carolyn S. Shoemaker (first appearance)
• Repeats: Manila (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total); North Carolina-class battleship (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 80th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 07:15, 24 June 2017 (UTC) reply

• New articles (ineligible): Marjorie Cameron (discrepancy in date of death)
• New articles (unused): V. V. Giri (moved from June 23)
• Omitted: Premier Grand Lodge of England; O Canada; North Carolina-class battleship; Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships; Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford; Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui; Carolyn S. Shoemaker
• Included: Battle of Sluys (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Battle of Bamber Bridge (first appearance; 75th anniversary); UpStairs Lounge arson attack (first appearance); Julia Gillard (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Mustafa I (first appearance); Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (first appearance); Minor White (first appearance)
• Repeats: Manila (3rd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

— howcheng { chat} 00:01, 25 June 2018 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: British Airways Flight 9 (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Eleanor Norcross
• Omitted: Battle of Sluys; Manila; Battle of Bamber Bridge; UpStairs Lounge arson attack; Julia Gillard; Mustafa I; Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener; Minor White
• Included: Battle of Macau (4th appearance, last in 2015); French invasion of Russia (4th appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); O Canada (8th appearance, last in 2017); Thai cultural mandates (first appearance; 80th anniversary); 1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash (6th appearance, last in 2014; 25th anniversary); Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens (first appearance); Carolyn S. Shoemaker (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 90th birthday); Rodrigo (musician) (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 21:17, 15 July 2019 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Marjorie Cameron (moved to July 24)
• Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Sluys ( TFA for 2020)
• Omitted: Battle of Macau; French invasion of Russia; O Canada; Thai cultural mandates; 1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash; Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens; Carolyn S. Shoemaker; Rodrigo (musician)
• Included: Glycerius (first appearance); Battle of Bannockburn (8th appearance, last in 2014; rescued from Ineligible); Premier Grand Lodge of England (3rd appearance, last in 2017); Operation Collar (commando raid) (first appearance; 80th anniversary); Julia Gillard (3rd appearance, last in 2018; 10th anniversary); William Arnold (settler) (first appearance); Eleanor Norcross (2nd appearance, last in 2017; also appears on October 19, her death date); V. V. Giri (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 40th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 16:35, 25 June 2020 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Manila ( POTD for 2021)
• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Battle of Sluys
• Omitted: Glycerius; Battle of Bannockburn; Premier Grand Lodge of England; Operation Collar (commando raid); Julia Gillard; William Arnold (settler); Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener; V. V. Giri
• Included: Dancing mania (3rd appearance, last in 2016); French invasion of Russia (6th appearance, last in 2016); O Canada (3rd appearance, last in 2019); USS North Carolina (BB-55)/ USS Washington (BB-56)/ North Carolina-class battleship (ships: first appearance; class: 5th, last in 2017); Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships (3rd appearance, last in 2017); Ernst Heinrich Weber (first appearance); Matthew Thornton (first appearance); Lionel Messi (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 02:29, 26 June 2021 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Macau (maintenance); Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (maintenance)
• Omitted: Dancing mania; French invasion of Russia; O Canada; Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships; Ernst Heinrich Weber; Matthew Thornton; Lionel Messi
• Included: Glycerius (2nd appearance, last in 2020); Battle of Sluys (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Siamese revolution of 1932 (3rd appearance, last in 2012; 90th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible); Julia Gillard (4th appearance, last in 2020); John Hampden (first appearance); Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Minor White (2nd appearance, last in 2018)
• Repeats: USS North Carolina (BB-55)/ USS Washington (BB-56)/ North Carolina-class battleship (all: 2nd consecutive appearance; Ships: 2 total; Class: 6 total)

— howcheng { chat} 21:45, 25 June 2022 (UTC) reply