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.

2006 notes

May 15th marks Nakba Day. -- Fjmustak 03:39, 15 May 2006 (UTC) reply

Thanks for the suggestion. I've just posted this. I've also added this to May 15#Holidays and observances. -- PFHLai 04:21, 15 May 2006 (UTC) reply

2007 notes

Bartholomew Gosnold @ Cape Cod

Moved from Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors.

The Cape Cod page mentions at least two Europeans to have approached or named the Cape before Bartholomew Gosnold is claimed to have been the first European to discover it. 59.167.51.4 10:34, 15 May 2007 (UTC)Dave reply

• Bartholomew Gosnold indicates he was the first, and neither article has a source. If someone has a source to settle this, it would be helpful.-- Chaser - T 10:48, 15 May 2007 (UTC) reply
  • Esteban Gómez indicates he sailed down the entire east coast of North America in 1525, and the Cape Cod article mentions him naming the cape. There is an image of a map on the Gomez page which is a 19th century copy of a 1529 map by Diego Ribero which has the east coast charted. Unfortunately neither has the resolution to pick out the cape per se. I would suggest the Gosnold article claims he was the first because of the Archer source which mentions the naming of the cape, presumably because the party was unaware of the previous discovery. 59.167.51.4 13:48, 15 May 2007 (UTC)Dave reply

I've removed this from MainPage for now. -- PFHLai 15:03, 15 May 2007 (UTC) reply

Cape Cod continued

Please at least change the wording from "discover Cape Cod" to "sight/see Cape Cod." I'm not trying to be overly PC, but that just seems POV/Eurocentric as it is now. — Over My Head 16:27, 15 May 2008 (UTC) reply

2010 notes

Ton That Dinh

Per the guideline about article quality, I ask that this late-2009 era FA be included. There are undersourced start class articles there YellowMonkey ( vote in the Southern Stars and White Ferns supermodel photo poll) 03:46, 14 May 2010 (UTC) reply

2013 notes

In 1953, Cubmaster Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, in Manhattan Beach, California, by Pack 280c. Murphy's son was too young to participate in the popular Soap Box Derby races, so he came up with the idea of racing miniature wood cars. The pinewood derby was selected as part of "America's 100 Best" in 2006 as "a celebrated rite of spring" by Reader's Digest.

There are couple of sections in that article that need more references. Two months should be plenty of time to fix it up. Thanks. — howcheng { chat} 16:49, 5 March 2013 (UTC) reply

• New articles (ineligible): United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands
• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Mickey Mouse/ Minnie Mouse
• New articles (unused): Battle of New Market
• Omitted: Valentinian II; Bartholomew Gosnold; Diego Marín Aguilera; Bloody Island Massacre; Portrait of Dr. Gachet (ineligible— Starry Night is POTD for 2013)
• Included: Independence Day in Paraguay (rescued from Ineligible); Rerum Novarum (first appearance); Las Vegas (2nd appearance, last in 2010); Pinewood derby (first appearance); Ton That Dinh (3rd appearance, last in 2011); Jessica Watson (first appearance)
• Repeats: Australian cricket team in England in 1948 (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 06:35, 14 May 2013 (UTC) reply

• New articles (unused): Cloud Gate
• Omitted: Paraguay (ineligible—maintenance); Rerum Novarum; Las Vegas; Australian cricket team in England in 1948; Pinewood derby; Tôn Thất Đính; Jessica Watson
• Included: Diego Marín Aguilera (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Battle of New Market (first appearance; 150th anniversary); Mickey Mouse/ Minnie Mouse (Mickey: 2nd appearance; Minnie: 5th appearance; both last in 2010); Ma'alot massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 40th anniversary); Portrait of Dr. Gachet (7th appearance, last in 2012)

— howcheng { chat} 01:50, 14 May 2014 (UTC) reply

• Added and deleted: Niamh Kavanagh (not notable enough)
• Omitted: Battle of New Market; Mickey Mouse/ Minnie Mouse; Ma'alot massacre; Portrait of Dr. Gachet
• Included: Bartholomew Gosnold (5th appearance, last in 2012); National Woman Suffrage Association (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Laotian Civil War (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Jessica Watson (2nd appearance, last in 2013)
• Repeats: Diego Marín Aguilera (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

— howcheng { chat} 08:19, 13 May 2015 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Cloud Gate (not notable enough)
• Omitted: Bartholomew Gosnold; Diego Marín Aguilera; National Woman Suffrage Association; Laotian Civil War; Jessica Watson
• Included: Valentinian II (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Francis Baily (4th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Lynching of Jesse Washington (first appearance; 100th anniversary); Australian cricket team in England in 1948 (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Tôn Thất Đính (4th appearance, last in 2013; 50th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 06:35, 15 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• Pentecost in Western Christianity in 2016. Optimist on the run ( talk) 10:33, 5 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Las Vegas (maintenance); Mickey Mouse/ Minnie Mouse (both: maintenance); Laotian Civil War (maintenance)
• Omitted: Valentinian II (ineligible—maintenance); Francis Baily; Lynching of Jesse Washington; Australian cricket team in England in 1948; Tôn Thất Đính
• Included: Diego Marín Aguilera (4th appearance, last in 2015); Bloody Island massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Japanese battleship Hatsuse/ Japanese battleship Yashima (both: first appearance); Jackson State killings (first appearance); Portrait of Dr. Gachet (8th appearance, last in 2014); Klemens von Metternich (first appearance); Emily Dickinson (first appearance); Patrice Evra (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 17:55, 15 May 2017 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Pinewood derby (maintenance); Ma'alot massacre (maintenance)
• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): 1948 Arab–Israeli War; Operation Grapple; United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands
• New articles (unused): Joe DiMaggio; Bleiburg repatriations; 2003–04 Arsenal F.C. season
• Omitted: Diego Marín Aguilera (ineligible—maintenance); Bloody Island massacre; Japanese battleship Hatsuse/ Japanese battleship Yashima; Jackson State killings; Portrait of Dr. Gachet; Klemens von Metternich; Emily Dickinson; Patrice Evra
• Included: Mo Chutu of Lismore (moved from May 14); Bartholomew Gosnold (6th appearance, last in 2015); Battle of New Market; Torreón massacre (first appearance); Australian cricket team in England in 1948 (4th appearance, last in 2016; 70th anniversary); Tôn Thất Đính (5th appearance, last in 2016); Mleh, Prince of Armenia (first appearance); Levi Lincoln Sr. (first appearance); Mohamed Brahmi (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 16:07, 15 May 2018 (UTC) reply

Note: Australian cricket team in England in 1948 probably best moved to August 18, when they concluded the tour. — howcheng { chat} 17:17, 17 August 2018 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Pinewood derby
• Omitted: Bartholomew Gosnold; Battle of New Market; Torreón massacre; Australian cricket team in England in 1948 (moved to August 15); Tôn Thất Đính; Mleh, Prince of Armenia; Levi Lincoln Sr.; Mohamed Brahmi
• Included: Francis Baily (5th appearance, last in 2016); National Woman Suffrage Association (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Japanese battleship Hatsuse/ Japanese battleship Yashima (both: 2nd appearance, last in 2017); 1948 Arab–Israeli War (first appearance); 2003–04 Arsenal F.C. season (first appearance); Élie Metchnikoff (first appearance); Jakucho Setouchi (first appearance); Elisabeth Bing (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 15:45, 15 May 2019 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Joe DiMaggio (maintenance); Mleh, Prince of Armenia (maintenance)
• Omitted: National Woman Suffrage Association; Japanese battleship Hatsuse/ Japanese battleship Yashima; 1948 Arab–Israeli War; 2003–04 Arsenal F.C. season; Élie Metchnikoff; Jakucho Setouchi; Elisabeth Bing
• Included: Battle of Frankenhausen (first appearance; blurb previously featured German Peasants' War, which is ineligible); Bleiburg repatriations (first appearance; 75th anniversary); Jackson State killings (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 50th anniversary); Jessica Watson (3rd appearance, last in 2015; 10th anniversary); Williamina Fleming (first appearance); Ida Freund (first appearance); Esther Fischer-Homberger (first appearance; 80th birthday)
• Repeats: Francis Baily (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

— howcheng { chat} 17:54, 16 May 2020 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Bloody Island massacre (maintenance); 1948 Arab–Israeli War (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Lawrence Sabatini
• Omitted: Battle of Frankenhausen; Francis Baily; Bleiburg repatriations; Jackson State killings; Jessica Watson; Williamina Fleming; Ida Freund; Esther Fischer-Homberger
• Included: Valentinian II (3rd appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); Bartholomew Gosnold (7th appearance, last in 2018); Japanese battleship Hatsuse/ Japanese battleship Yashima (both: 3rd appearance, last in 2019); Tôn Thất Đính (6th appearance, last in 2018); Portrait of Dr. Gachet (9th appearance, last in 2017); Hilary of Galeata (first appearance); Emily Dickinson (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Patrice Evra (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 40th birthday)

— howcheng { chat} 07:22, 18 May 2021 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Élie Metchnikoff ( POTD for 2022)
• Omitted: Valentinian II; Bartholomew Gosnold; Japanese battleship Hatsuse/ Japanese battleship Yashima; Tôn Thất Đính; Portrait of Dr. Gachet; Hilary of Galeata; Emily Dickinson; Patrice Evra
• Included: Ad extirpanda (3rd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Francis Baily (7th appearance, last in 2020); Battle of New Market (3rd appearance, last in 2018); United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (first appearance); Jessica Watson (4th appearance, last in 2020); Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (first appearance); Jakucho Setouchi (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 100th birthday); Jean-Luc Dehaene (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 07:29, 16 May 2022 (UTC) reply