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.
Today's featured article for January 10, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 10, 2025
I don't know the criteria for selecting anniversaries, but January 10 was the day of execution of Marinus van der Lubbe.
Replace Image:Tintin-and-Snowy.png with Image:Tintin&Snowy.png. The fair use argument is listed on its image page. Ahseaton 05:54, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Error -- it was the 13th legion (Legio XIII Gemina) that crossed the Rubicon with Caesar. 199.214.218.45 15:34, 10 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If this weren't page protected I'd add the Battle of Vaslui. BTW Empress Josephine wasn't childless. She had two children by her first husband. Durova 01:16, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I've unprotected it, as it won't be on the Main Page again for almost a year. Edit away :)--Pharos 01:27, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I've just rewritten the 1810 item regarding Empress Josephine, and added 1475 Battle of Vaslui. Please review. -- PFHLai 05:52, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't understand why you reverted my edit here [1]? Why only five per day? And who determines the importance? Surely some of these are considered more important. --Maniwar (talk) 17:20, 11 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Maniwar, this is a template for use on MainPage, and there is only so much dedicated space for selected anniversaries. The usual number of selected anniversaries featured each day is 5. Occasionally, a 6th item is used to balance the layout on MainPage when TFA is too long, but this is rarely done. Please note that importance is not the only criterion used to determine what wikiarticles get featured (with the link bolded) on MainPage in the selected anniversaries templates. Pls see WP:SA for details. Suggestions are welcome from anyone on talkpages of individual templates (such as here). Any admins can post them on the 'live' template. Hope this helps. --PFHLai 23:59, 13 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Can we please add the following, as it's a 30th anniversary? I'd suggest running it in place of the Tintin repeat. Prioryman (talk) 22:32, 9 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]
1985 – Sir Clive Sinclair launches the Sinclair C5 personal electric vehicle, a notorious commercial failure and later a cult collector's item.
I replaced Capture of Klisura Pass instead to maintain the chronological diversity. Thanks for the suggestion. —howcheng {chat} 02:49, 10 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]