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.

• 1529 - Treaty of Saragossa divides the western hemisphere between Spain and Portugal that the dividing line should lay 297.5 leagues west of the Moluccas. Spain gets monetary compensation in return for giving Portugal more territory that was in the earlier treaty.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
• 1870 - Vladimir Lenin is born in Simbirsk, Russia.
• 1930 - The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
• 1970 - First Earth Day celebrated

Perhaps the 1914 Babe Ruth item could be moved to May25 to feature his page on the anniversary of his last three of his 714 home runs. -- PFHLai 08:21, 16 May 2006 (UTC) reply

its on the 23, not the 22... 89.0.16.15 02:17, 22 April 2007 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Army–McCarthy hearings (moved to June 9)
• Omitted: Pedro Álvares Cabral; In God We Trust; Chemical weapons in World War I (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of Kapyong; Elián González affair
• Included: Veracruz, Veracruz (first appearance); Oklahoma City (first appearance); Tsinghua University (first appearance); Jasenovac concentration camp (4th appearance, last in 2010); Ryongchon disaster (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 08:23, 21 April 2012 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Treaty of Zaragoza (maintenance)
• Omitted: Veracruz, Veracruz; Land Run of 1889 (blurb previously featured Oklahoma City, which is now ineligible); Tsinghua University; Jasenovac concentration camp (ineligible—maintenance); Ryongchon disaster
• Included: Pedro Álvares Cabral (6th appearance, last in 2011); Capture of Ormuz (1622) (first appearance); London Naval Treaty (4th appearance, last in 2008); Battle of Haifa (1948) (first appearance); Sunday Times Golden Globe Race (first appearance); Disney's Animal Kingdom (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 05:36, 21 April 2013 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Two-cent piece/ In God we trust ( TFA for 2014 )
• Omitted: Capture of Ormuz (1622); London Naval Treaty; Battle of Haifa (1948); Disney's Animal Kingdom
• Included: Land Run of 1889 (4th appearance, last in 2010; 125th anniversary); Tsinghua University (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Ryongchon disaster (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary)
• Repeats: Pedro Álvares Cabral (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total); Sunday Times Golden Globe Race (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

— howcheng { chat} 01:53, 21 April 2014 (UTC) reply

Two-cent piece is schedule for both tomorrow's TFA and tomorrow's OTD. See WP:ERRORS. If no one replaces it or says not to do so by 23:00 tomorrow, I will simply remove it from OTD. -- ThaddeusB ( talk)

 Done. Thanks. — howcheng { chat} 05:06, 21 April 2014 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Elián González affair (maintenance)
• Omitted: Pedro Álvares Cabral; Land Run of 1889; Tsinghua University; Sunday Times Golden Globe Race; Ryongchon disaster
• Included: Veracruz (city) (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Two-cent piece (United States)/ In God we trust (coin: first appearance; phrase: 4th appearance, last in 2011); London Naval Treaty (5th appearance, last in 2013); Battle of Kapyong (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Hitler Diaries (first appearance)

— howcheng { chat} 06:50, 20 April 2015 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Pravda (moved to WP:Selected anniversaries/May 5, Gregorian date)
• Omitted: Veracruz (city); Two-cent piece (United States)/ In God we trust; London Naval Treaty; Battle of Kapyong; Hitler Diaries
• Included: Capture of Ormuz (1622) (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Land Rush of 1889 (5th appearance, last in 2014); Tsinghua University (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Battle of Haifa (1948) (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Elián González affair (4th appearance, last in 2011; rescued from Ineligible)

— howcheng { chat} 06:36, 20 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Veracruz (city) (maintenance); London Naval Treaty (maintenance); Disney's Animal Kingdom (maintenance); Ryongchon disaster (maintenance)
• Omitted: Land Rush of 1889 (ineligible—maintenance); Tsinghua University (moved to April 29); Battle of Haifa (1948); Elián González affair (ineligible—maintenance)
• Included: Pedro Álvares Cabral (8th appearance, last in 2014); Two-cent piece (United States)/ In God We Trust (2-cent: 2nd appearance; motto: 5th appearance; both last in 2015); Sunday Times Golden Globe Race (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Hitler Diaries (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Lewis Powell (conspirator) (first appearance); Kathleen Ferrier (first appearance); Emilio Segrè (first appearance)
• Repeats: Capture of Ormuz (1622) (2nd appearance, 3 total)

— howcheng { chat} 08:11, 22 April 2017 (UTC) reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Ryongchon disaster
• Omitted: Capture of Ormuz (1622); Two-cent piece (United States)/ In God We Trust; Hitler Diaries; Sunday Times Golden Globe Race (ineligible—maintenance); Lewis Powell (conspirator); Kathleen Ferrier; Emilio Segrè
• Included: Land Rush of 1889 (6th appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); Second Battle of Ypres (first appearance; blurb previously featured Chemical weapons in World War I, which is currently ineligible, and last appeared in 2011; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Haifa (1948) (3rd appearance, last in 2016; 70th anniversary); 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot (first appearance); Germaine de Staël (first appearance); James Hargreaves (first appearance); Wilhelm Cauer (first appearance)
• Repeats: Pedro Álvares Cabral (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

— howcheng { chat} 03:05, 23 April 2018 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Mosaic (web browser) (moved to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/January 23)
• Moved to Ineligible: Hitler Diaries (date not in article)
• Omitted: Pedro Álvares Cabral; Second Battle of Ypres; Battle of Haifa (1948); 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot; Germaine de Staël; James Hargreaves; Wilhelm Cauer
• Included: Capture of Ormuz (1622) (4th appearance, last in 2017); Battle of Kapyong (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Ryongchon disaster (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Pope Caius (first appearance); Emily Davies (first appearance); Jack Nicholson (first appearance)
• Repeats: Land Rush of 1889 (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

— howcheng { chat} 16:00, 22 April 2019 (UTC) reply

• Deleted: Hitler Diaries (moved to April 28)
• Moved to Ineligible: Lewis Powell (conspirator) (maintenance)
• New articles (ineligible): Henry Conwell ( TFA for 2020)
• New articles (unused): James Sullivan (governor); Princess Margaret of Prussia
• Omitted: Anglo-Persian capture of Ormuz; Land Rush of 1889; Battle of Kapyong; Ryongchon disaster; Pope Caius; Emily Davies; Jack Nicholson
• Included: Pedro Álvares Cabral (10th appearance, last in 2018); Two-cent piece (United States)/ In God We Trust (Coin: 3rd appearance, IGWT: 6th, both last in 2017); Second Battle of Ypres (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Sunday Times Golden Globe Race (4th appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Elián González (5th appearance, last in 2016; 20th anniversary); Miguel de Cervantes (first appearance); Laura Gilpin (first appearance); Wilhelm Cauer (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 75th anniversary)

— howcheng { chat} 18:35, 23 April 2020 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: 1876 in baseball (not a good article to use); Paris Agreement (maintenance); Princess Margaret of Prussia (maintenance)
• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Henry Conwell
• Omitted: Second Battle of Ypres; Sunday Times Golden Globe Race; Elián González; Miguel de Cervantes; Laura Gilpin; Wilhelm Cauer
• Included: Battle of Kapyong (4th appearance, last in 2019; 70th anniversary); Murder of Stephen Lawrence (first appearance); 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot (2nd appearance, last in 2018); James Sullivan (governor) (first appearance); Emily Davies (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Käthe Kollwitz (2nd appearance, last in 2018; also appears on July 8, her birthday)
• Repeats: Pedro Álvares Cabral (2nd consecutive appearance, 11 total); Two-cent piece (United States)/ In God We Trust (both: 2nd consecutive appearance; Coin: 4 total; Slogan: 7 total)

— howcheng { chat} 07:40, 24 April 2021 (UTC) reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Land Rush of 1889 (maintenance); Second Battle of Ypres (maintenance)
• New articles (ineligible): Regine Velasquez ( TFA for 2022)
• Omitted: Battle of Kapyong; Murder of Stephen Lawrence; 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot; James Sullivan (governor); Emily Davies; Käthe Kollwitz
• Included: Anglo-Persian capture of Ormuz (5th appearance, last in 2019; 400th anniversary); Jasenovac concentration camp (5th appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Ryongchon disaster (4th appearance, last in 2019); Germaine de Staël (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Henry Conwell (first appearance); Donna Williams (first appearance)
• Repeats: Pedro Álvares Cabral (3rd consecutive appearance; 12 total); Two-cent piece (United States)/ In God We Trust (both: 3rd consecutive appearance; Coin: 5 total; IGWT: 8 total)

— howcheng { chat} 07:34, 23 April 2022 (UTC) reply