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.
To discuss improvements to the corresponding April 5 article, see Talk:April 5 instead.
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?
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.
I've removed both these suggestions from the born/died this day section as neither seem to be at main-page standard on referencing. There are whole paragraphs in both articles which lack citations. MurielMary (talk) 10:31, 29 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The entry for Hansik erroneously suggests that it is exclusive to the Republic of Korea - it is in fact celebrated accross the Vietnam, China, and the two Koreas. BrxBrx(talk)(please reply with ((SUBST:re|BrxBrx)))01:38, 5 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
"The Libyan secret service bombed a discotheque in West Berlin, resulting in three deaths and 229 others injured."
This is alleged and has never been proven, and this is even alluded to in the article on the topic itself:
"Libya was accused by the US government of sponsoring the bombing, and US President Ronald Reagan ordered retaliatory strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya ten days later. The operation was widely seen as an attempt to kill Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.[4] However, in the bombing's aftermath, this claim was met with widespread skepticism. In 1987, Manfred Ganschow, the head of the West German team investigating the bombing, said that there was no evidence pointing the finger at Libya, a belief which was corroborated by numerous intelligence agencies in Europe at the time, according to a BBC report.[5]: 81 In 2001, following a four-year German trial called murky,[2] and marred by what the court called a "limited willingness" by the American and German governments to share evidence,[2][1] a court found that the bombing had been "planned by the Libyan Intelligence Service and the Libyan embassy",[1] but absolved Gaddafi of responsibility.[2][1][6]"
"A West Berlin discotheque is bombed in a terrorist attack, resulting in three deaths and 229 others injured; The United States alleges the Libyan Government is behind the incident"
Short of any objections, I think the language on this one is far more neutral and reflects both the content of the article and the reality of the situation far more at hand; Perhaps the wording 'terrorist attack' might be controversial, but I cannot see how anyone would dispute that this bombing was anything but. PeaceThruPramana26 (talk) 04:52, 11 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]