To report an error when this list is currently on the
Main Page, see
Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Before making a suggestion, please read the
selected anniversaries guidelines. Please remember that this list usually defers to supporting pages when there is disagreement, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
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?
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.
This
edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.
is1816 – The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was established as The Royal University of Warsaw after
Warsaw was separated from
Kraków, the oldest and most influential Polish academic centre.
should be corrected to1816 – The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was established as
Congress Poland found itself a territory without any university.
because Actually Kraków became a part of Habsburg Austria already in 1795. The immediate reason was the separation from University of Vilnius, as in 1815 Warsaw became a part of autonomous
Congress Poland, and Vilnius did not. The historical name of university is unsourced and looks dubious, so I wouldn't include that.
That article was corrected to include the details.
World Toilet Day was excluded from the top line, where it should be next to the International Mens' Day and Independence Day in Mali. Is this because the Wikipedia article coverage is quite poor?
JamesA>talk 12:15, 19 November 2012 (UTC)reply
1) I didn't know about it; 2) You are correct, it would be excluded for article quality issues. Thanks. —howcheng {
chat} 17:17, 19 November 2012 (UTC)reply
I am happy to see that
World Toilet Day is currently in the staging area.
User:Howcheng, is it likely to stay there or could any particular concerns with the article still come up? And is there any chance that Picture of the Day on 19 November could be a really groovy toilet picture? I looked into this and saw the featured photos on Wikimedia Commons. Seems like they are more meant to be photos from superb photographers so it might be a bit hard to get into that league with a toilet photo, but would it be worth a shot?
EMsmile (
talk) 14:05, 12 July 2017 (UTC)reply
@
EMsmile: There are two sections that could use more references: "Organization at the global level" and "Activities". Our quality requirements have increased in the last year, so articles that were included in previous years may no longer be eligible. As for the photo, that's doubtful. We almost never use photos for the observances. The only time that happens is when the blurbs have no good subjects for the photo. The only time I can think of in recent memory was May 5, when I used a Cinco de Mayo photo. —howcheng {
chat} 15:47, 12 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Thanks, I will work on those. I didn't quite understand this sentence: "The only time that happens is when the blurbs have no good subjects for the photo."? Does photo of the day have any connection to any of the other things on the main page, like "did you know", or is it uusually totally unrelated. I guess my first step would have to be to get the photo in question into the "featured photo" collection.
EMsmile (
talk) 20:59, 12 July 2017 (UTC)reply
@
EMsmile: We usually feature 5 text blurbs. 99% of the time, the accompanying picture will be related to one of those items. When none of the text blurbs has an adequate free photo, then we might use one from the births/deaths or the observances. Is that clearer? —howcheng {
chat} 22:02, 13 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Ah, now I know what you mean. I wasn't actually referring to the picture that appears with "on this day" but the picture that is called "Picture of the Day", see
here. I asked whether that picture ever has a reference to a UN Observance Day? And the format for "on this day" seems to have changed, I don't see the UN Observance Days mentioned anymore? For the 22 March the format was different if I remember right (is there a way of looking at how the 22 March 2017 main page looked like?).
EMsmile (
talk) 13:56, 14 July 2017 (UTC)reply
POTD is pulled from the
Featured pictures. I kind of doubt there's a featured picture of a toilet, but if there is one, let
User:Crisco 1492 know your request. For OTD, the UN days do get included, as long as the article is in good shape. Historical main pages are at
Wikipedia:Main Page history. —howcheng {
chat} 02:32, 15 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Hi
Chris Woodrich: that's not a bad image if it's the closest we have to something resembling the topic of toilets/sanitation. How did you find it? I looked
here but I couldn't find a "search" field. Browsing through different categories seems cumbersome. - Is there any chance that any of
these photos showing "poor sanitation" or "lack of sanitation" or "no toilets" could make it into a featured photo. They are all in Wikimedia Commons, we uploaded them to there; but the search there is so cumbersome that I find it easier to give you this link for now. If any of the photos could potentially be a suitable candidate, I can dig them up in Wikimedia Commons. (any inputs from
Doc_James?)
EMsmile (
talk) 10:37, 18 July 2017 (UTC)reply
You can give it a shot. I knew the Homme au bain from being involved in FPC for six years. I can't recall any toilets being granted FP status. —
Chris Woodrich (
talk) 11:19, 18 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Thanks. How about my question of a search tool for "Featured pictures" and for the Wikimedia Commons photos? Is there one or is the only option to use browse? The search field at the top doesn't seem to work properly but only brings up categories, not individual images. - Has anyone thought about including a Google site search?
EMsmile (
talk) 14:53, 18 July 2017 (UTC)reply
By the way,
User talk:Howcheng, I have done some more work on the article (e.g. for "activities") so I think it is well deserving to be in the staging area list for "on this day". :-) I didn't pursue the thing with the photo of the day any further - that was too difficult to tackle for me.
EMsmile (
talk) 23:51, 14 November 2017 (UTC)reply
Is
world Toilet Day going to be included again? I hope so. If in doubt, let me know what improvements are necessary.
EMsmile (
talk) 13:18, 12 October 2018 (UTC)reply
I have a suggestion for an anniversary for this day (which will have happened 30 years ago): Romance by
Luis Miguel and its commercial success lead to renewed interested in the
bolero genre.
Erick (
talk) 01:10, 16 October 2021 (UTC)reply
To report an error when this list is currently on the
Main Page, see
Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Before making a suggestion, please read the
selected anniversaries guidelines. Please remember that this list usually defers to supporting pages when there is disagreement, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
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?
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.
This
edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.
is1816 – The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was established as The Royal University of Warsaw after
Warsaw was separated from
Kraków, the oldest and most influential Polish academic centre.
should be corrected to1816 – The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was established as
Congress Poland found itself a territory without any university.
because Actually Kraków became a part of Habsburg Austria already in 1795. The immediate reason was the separation from University of Vilnius, as in 1815 Warsaw became a part of autonomous
Congress Poland, and Vilnius did not. The historical name of university is unsourced and looks dubious, so I wouldn't include that.
That article was corrected to include the details.
World Toilet Day was excluded from the top line, where it should be next to the International Mens' Day and Independence Day in Mali. Is this because the Wikipedia article coverage is quite poor?
JamesA>talk 12:15, 19 November 2012 (UTC)reply
1) I didn't know about it; 2) You are correct, it would be excluded for article quality issues. Thanks. —howcheng {
chat} 17:17, 19 November 2012 (UTC)reply
I am happy to see that
World Toilet Day is currently in the staging area.
User:Howcheng, is it likely to stay there or could any particular concerns with the article still come up? And is there any chance that Picture of the Day on 19 November could be a really groovy toilet picture? I looked into this and saw the featured photos on Wikimedia Commons. Seems like they are more meant to be photos from superb photographers so it might be a bit hard to get into that league with a toilet photo, but would it be worth a shot?
EMsmile (
talk) 14:05, 12 July 2017 (UTC)reply
@
EMsmile: There are two sections that could use more references: "Organization at the global level" and "Activities". Our quality requirements have increased in the last year, so articles that were included in previous years may no longer be eligible. As for the photo, that's doubtful. We almost never use photos for the observances. The only time that happens is when the blurbs have no good subjects for the photo. The only time I can think of in recent memory was May 5, when I used a Cinco de Mayo photo. —howcheng {
chat} 15:47, 12 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Thanks, I will work on those. I didn't quite understand this sentence: "The only time that happens is when the blurbs have no good subjects for the photo."? Does photo of the day have any connection to any of the other things on the main page, like "did you know", or is it uusually totally unrelated. I guess my first step would have to be to get the photo in question into the "featured photo" collection.
EMsmile (
talk) 20:59, 12 July 2017 (UTC)reply
@
EMsmile: We usually feature 5 text blurbs. 99% of the time, the accompanying picture will be related to one of those items. When none of the text blurbs has an adequate free photo, then we might use one from the births/deaths or the observances. Is that clearer? —howcheng {
chat} 22:02, 13 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Ah, now I know what you mean. I wasn't actually referring to the picture that appears with "on this day" but the picture that is called "Picture of the Day", see
here. I asked whether that picture ever has a reference to a UN Observance Day? And the format for "on this day" seems to have changed, I don't see the UN Observance Days mentioned anymore? For the 22 March the format was different if I remember right (is there a way of looking at how the 22 March 2017 main page looked like?).
EMsmile (
talk) 13:56, 14 July 2017 (UTC)reply
POTD is pulled from the
Featured pictures. I kind of doubt there's a featured picture of a toilet, but if there is one, let
User:Crisco 1492 know your request. For OTD, the UN days do get included, as long as the article is in good shape. Historical main pages are at
Wikipedia:Main Page history. —howcheng {
chat} 02:32, 15 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Hi
Chris Woodrich: that's not a bad image if it's the closest we have to something resembling the topic of toilets/sanitation. How did you find it? I looked
here but I couldn't find a "search" field. Browsing through different categories seems cumbersome. - Is there any chance that any of
these photos showing "poor sanitation" or "lack of sanitation" or "no toilets" could make it into a featured photo. They are all in Wikimedia Commons, we uploaded them to there; but the search there is so cumbersome that I find it easier to give you this link for now. If any of the photos could potentially be a suitable candidate, I can dig them up in Wikimedia Commons. (any inputs from
Doc_James?)
EMsmile (
talk) 10:37, 18 July 2017 (UTC)reply
You can give it a shot. I knew the Homme au bain from being involved in FPC for six years. I can't recall any toilets being granted FP status. —
Chris Woodrich (
talk) 11:19, 18 July 2017 (UTC)reply
Thanks. How about my question of a search tool for "Featured pictures" and for the Wikimedia Commons photos? Is there one or is the only option to use browse? The search field at the top doesn't seem to work properly but only brings up categories, not individual images. - Has anyone thought about including a Google site search?
EMsmile (
talk) 14:53, 18 July 2017 (UTC)reply
By the way,
User talk:Howcheng, I have done some more work on the article (e.g. for "activities") so I think it is well deserving to be in the staging area list for "on this day". :-) I didn't pursue the thing with the photo of the day any further - that was too difficult to tackle for me.
EMsmile (
talk) 23:51, 14 November 2017 (UTC)reply
Is
world Toilet Day going to be included again? I hope so. If in doubt, let me know what improvements are necessary.
EMsmile (
talk) 13:18, 12 October 2018 (UTC)reply
I have a suggestion for an anniversary for this day (which will have happened 30 years ago): Romance by
Luis Miguel and its commercial success lead to renewed interested in the
bolero genre.
Erick (
talk) 01:10, 16 October 2021 (UTC)reply