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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.
Today's featured article for August 15, 2024
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 15, 2024
The Kefermarkt altarpiece is a richly decorated wooden altarpiece in the Late Gothic style in the parish church of Kefermarkt in Upper Austria. Commissioned by the knight Christoph von Zelking, it was completed around 1497. Saints Peter, Wolfgang and Christopher are depicted in the central section. The wing panels depict scenes from the life of Mary, and the altarpiece also has an intricate superstructure and two side figures of Saints George and Florian. The identity of its maker, known by the notnameMaster of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece, is unknown, but at least two skilled sculptors appear to have created the main statuary. Throughout the centuries, it has been altered and lost its original paint and gilding; a major restoration was undertaken in the 19th century under the direction of Adalbert Stifter. The altarpiece has been described as "one of the greatest achievements in late-medieval sculpture in the German-speaking area". This image shows the lower-left wing panel of the Kefermarkt altarpiece, depicting the death of Mary. She is peacefully lying in her deathbed, while a diminutive angel holds the curtain apart so that the viewer can see Mary better. The twelve apostles are all present, each one depicted with individual traits. Above the head of Saint Peter, Christ appears in a cloud, receiving the soul of his mother in the form of a small figure.
Sculpture credit: Master of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece; photographed by Uoaei1
I added the link to the article today - hope it's not too late to do this as the anniversary is on Friday. Autarch (talk) 19:16, 11 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Only 3 holidays are allowed per day; could an admin take one off, please? Mouseisback 14:59, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Today is also The Feast of the Assumption. See Holidays in France especially for the significance of this holiday. This is an important holiday in the Roman Catholic tradition. Many shops, etc. are even closed in many European countries throughout the world. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nalco (talk • contribs) 11:23, 15 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, since 3 holidays are allowed per day, which ones should I add and which ones should I remove? Zzyzx11(Talk) 14:56, 15 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The Assumption, the Independence Days and the Ghost Festival. The flooding of the Nile and the Victory over Japan are not nearly as important. The Assumption, particularly, is a national holiday in many European countries. —Nalco (talk) 15:27, 15 August 2008 (UTC) [reply]
Also, as I noted here, I do not count non-Gregorian calendar based holidays like Ghost Festival as part of the 3 holiday limit. Zzyzx11(Talk) 20:29, 15 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
But the Allied Forces' victory over Japan is already in this day's template as an event. --Yvesnimmo (talk) 21:52, 15 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I suggest replacing the Omagh bombing with "President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital." The Trois Glorieuses would mark Congolese politics until the early 1990s, and was a highly significant historical event. Events in Francophone Africa are generally given far less attention in Wikipedia than events in Western Europe. --Soman (talk) 13:20, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.
Re the queue for OTD, Aug. 15
As it stands, the wording of the item about the founding of the Jesuits, "Ignatius of Loyola and six others at Montmartre near Paris took the vows that led to the establishment of the Society of Jesus", is rather awkward because the phrase "at Montmartre" is misplaced.
Wiki-uk, it currently does not meet the article quality standards for this project. There is too much of the article that is unsourced. If you improve it, we can add it for next year. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 08:46, 15 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Under the August 15 (2021) on this day section, under "1080", it says "Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles captured and blinded Ibatzes of Bulgaria by means of a ruse, ending the last resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.", why does it say "Ibatzes" and not "Ivats" "of Bulgaria", shouldn't it say that as the page links there, and there is no one mention of this nickname on the article about him. Omniscientmoose42 (talk) 23:48, 14 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Omniscientmoose42: The blurbs in OTD defer to the article being highlighted. He is called "Ibatzes" there, so that's how he is listed here. Please change this in the article or bring this up on the article talk page, and once it's changed there we'll be happy to change it here as well. —howcheng {chat} 07:41, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Howcheng: When I made that comment, the name "Ibatzes" was not in the article (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ivats&oldid=1038846957), hence why I brought it up, now that the article has changed, I see no reason to change it. Also, is there any proof that this guy is named Ibatzes and that somebody didn't just change it because it was brought up? Omniscientmoose42 (talk) 14:07, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]