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.

• New articles (unused): German battleship Tirpitz
• Omitted: Zoe Porphyrogenita; Durand Line; San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge; Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
• Included: William Heffelfinger (first appearance); Robert Falcon Scott (first appearance; 100th anniversary); SS Vestris (first appearance); American Airlines Flight 587 (first appearance)
• Repeats: Santa Cruz massacre (3rd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

— howcheng { chat} 07:07, 11 November 2012 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: William Heffelfinger; Robert Falcon Scott; SS Vestris; Santa Cruz massacre; American Airlines Flight 587 (ineligible—maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision
• Included: Zoe Porphyrogenita (5th appearance, last in 2011); Battle of Posada (first appearance); Durand Line (6th appearance, last in 2011); San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (6th appearance, last in 2011); 1970 Bhola cyclone (8th appearance, last in 2011; moved from November 13)

— howcheng { chat} 08:14, 11 November 2013 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Zoe Porphyrogenita; Durand Line; San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge; 1970 Bhola cyclone
• Included: William Heffelfinger (2nd appearance, last in 2012); German battleship Tirpitz (first appearance; 70th anniversary); Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision (first appearance); South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006 (2nd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible)
• Repeats: Battle of Posada (3rd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

— howcheng { chat} 08:05, 11 November 2014 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: Battle of Posada; William Heffelfinger; German battleship Tirpitz; Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision; South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006
• Included: Zoe Porphyrogenita (6th appearance, last in 2013); Durand Line (7th appearance, last in 2013); German–Soviet Axis talks (first appearance; 75th anniversary); Sudirman (first appearance; 70th anniversary); Exploding whale (7th appearance, last in 2010)

— howcheng { chat} 08:01, 10 November 2015 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (maintenance)
• Omitted: Durand Line; German–Soviet Axis talks; Sudirman; Exploding whale
• Included: William Heffelfinger (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Robert Falcon Scott (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Santa Cruz massacre (7th appearance, last in 2012; 25th anniversary); South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006 (3rd appearance, last in 2014; 10th anniversary)
• Repeats: Zoë Porphyrogenita (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

— howcheng { chat} 07:58, 11 November 2016 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Posada (maintenance); Durand Line (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Battle of Gabon; Seymour Hersh; Silvio Berlusconi; Naomi Wolf
• Omitted: Zoë Porphyrogenita; Santa Cruz massacre; South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006
• Included: Norwegian monarchy referendum, 1905 (first appearance); Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (3rd appearance, last in 2011; 75th anniversary); 1970 Bhola cyclone (9th appearance, last in 2013); Philae (spacecraft)/ 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (both: first appearance); Peter Martyr Vermigli (first appearance); Rachel Barrett (first appearance); Jo Stafford (first appearance)
• Repeats: William Heffelfinger (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 125th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 05:54, 12 November 2017 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Zoë Porphyrogenita (date not certain)
• Moved to Ineligible: Seymour Hersh (maintenance)
• Omitted: Norwegian monarchy referendum, 1905; Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; 1970 Bhola cyclone; Philae (spacecraft)/ 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko; Peter Martyr Vermigli; Rachel Barrett; Jo Stafford
• Included: Robert Falcon Scott (3rd appearance, last in 2016); SS Vestris (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 90th anniversary); Battle of Gabon (first appearance); Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam (first appearance); Claude of France (1547–1575) (first appearance) (first appearance); William Henry Barlow (first appearance); Naomi Wolf (first appearance)
• Repeats: William Heffelfinger (3rd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

— howcheng { chat} 04:23, 13 November 2018 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Silvio Berlusconi (maintenance)
• Omitted: William Heffelfinger; SS Vestris; Battle of Gabon; Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam; Claude of France (1547–1575) (ineligible—maintenance); William Henry Barlow; Naomi Wolf
• Included: 1905 Norwegian monarchy referendum (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Exploding whale (8th appearance, last in 2015); 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision (2nd appearance, last in 2014); 2006 South Ossetian independence referendum (4th appearance, last in 2016); Zhang Jing (Ming dynasty) (first appearance); Auguste Rodin (first appearance); Edward Soriano (first appearance)
• Repeats: Robert Falcon Scott (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

— howcheng { chat} 16:45, 13 November 2019 (UTC) reply

• New articles (ineligible): Yazid I (date not certain)
• Omitted: 1905 Norwegian monarchy referendum; Robert Falcon Scott; Exploding whale; 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision; 2006 South Ossetian independence referendum; Zhang Jing (Ming dynasty); Edward Soriano
• Included: SS Vestris (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Sudirman (2nd appearance, last in 2015; 75th anniversary); 1970 Bhola cyclone (10th appearance, last in 2017; 50th anniversary); Philae (spacecraft)/ 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (both: 2nd appearance, last in 2017); Peter Martyr Vermigli (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Naomi Wolf (2nd appearance, last in 2018)
• Repeats: Auguste Rodin (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 05:05, 14 November 2020 (UTC) reply

• Omitted: SS Vestris; Sudirman; 1970 Bhola cyclone; Philae (spacecraft)/ 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko; Peter Martyr Vermigli; Auguste Rodin; Naomi Wolf
• Included: Battle of Posada (7th appearance, last in 2014; rescued from Ineligible); Pudge Heffelfinger (6th appearance, last in 2018); German–Soviet Axis talks (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Santa Cruz massacre (8th appearance, last in 2016; 30th anniversary); Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 10th anniversary); Zhang Jing (Ming dynasty) (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Ben Travers (first appearance); Edward Soriano (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 75th birthday)

— howcheng { chat} 17:21, 15 November 2021 (UTC) reply