Frequently asked questions Q1: Why is , 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 . 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 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.

• New articles (unused): Super Mario Bros.
• Omitted: John Calvin/Calvinism; Phineas Gage; Elizabeth McCombs; Lin Biao
• Included: Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (first appearance); Ögedei Khan (first appearance); Battle of the Plains of Abraham (4th appearance, last in 2010); September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt (2nd appearance, last in 2010); Goiânia accident (7th appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:03, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Omitted: Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus; Ögedei Khan; Phineas Gage; September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt; Goiânia accident
• Included: Francis Scott Key (first appearance; blurb previously featured Fort McHenry and Battle of Baltimore, both of which are currently ineligible; blurb is making its 6th appearance, last in 2010); Elizabeth McCombs (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 80th anniversary); Hurricane Gilbert (first appearance; 25th anniversary); 13 September 2008 Delhi bombings (first appearance)
• Repeats: Battle of the Plains of Abraham (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:21, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Blatantly biased request - Could we have Phineas Gage back this year? EEng (talk) 14:16, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

• Moved to Ineligible: September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt (TFA for 2014)
• Omitted: Battle of the Plains of Abraham; Francis Scott Key; Elizabeth McCombs (ineligible—maintenance); Hurricane Gilbert; 13 September 2008 Delhi bombings
• Included: Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (2nd appearance, last in 2012); John Calvin/Calvinism (both: 3rd appearance, last in 2011); Phineas Gage (4th appearance, last in 2012); Lin Biao (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Dawson College shooting (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:21, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

As much as Phineas Gage is my pet topic, I recognize overexposure isn't a good thing, so I suggest he be rotated out this year. Howcheng, let me mention in passing that I doubt you get the recognition you deserve for your consistent hard work at OTD. If only DYK ran so smoothly! EEng (talk) 16:53, 9 August 2015 (UTC)reply

Re-pinging Howcheng. EEng (talk) 04:26, 11 September 2015 (UTC)reply

 Done. —howcheng {chat} 07:22, 11 September 2015 (UTC)reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Goiânia accident (maintenance)
• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt
• Omitted: Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus; Phineas Gage; Lin Biao; Dawson College shooting
• Included: Battle of the Plains of Abraham (6th appearance, last in 2013); Francis Scott Key (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Elizabeth McCombs (3rd appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); Super Mario Bros. (first appearance; 30th anniversary)
• Repeats: John Calvin/Calvinism (both: 2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:22, 11 September 2015 (UTC)reply

Howcheng, can we have Phineas Gage back (but no image, for reasons that should become clear in the next year or so)? EEng 21:13, 7 September 2016 (UTC)reply

@EEng: Sure, let's get him back in. —howcheng {chat} 16:01, 8 September 2016 (UTC)reply

Weird... I can't remember what the reasons "that should become clear in the next year or so" were for not using the image. EEng 23:07, 13 September 2018 (UTC)reply

I guess the reasons didn't become clear, then! :) —howcheng {chat} 06:27, 14 September 2018 (UTC)reply

• Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Omitted: Francis Scott Key; Elizabeth McCombs; Super Mario Bros.
• Included: John Chrysostom (rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Tangier (1437) (first appearance); Phineas Gage (5th appearance, last in 2014); September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Dawson College shooting (2nd appearance, last in 2014; 10th anniversary)
• Repeats: John Calvin/Calvinism (both: 3rd consecutive appearance, 5 total; 475th anniversary); Battle of the Plains of Abraham (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:38, 14 September 2016 (UTC)reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (maintenance); Francis Scott Key (maintenance); Battle of Tell El Kebir (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Mary Brewster Hazelton
• Omitted: Battle of Tangier (1437) (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of the Plains of Abraham; Phineas Gage; September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt; Dawson College shooting (ineligible—maintenance)
• Included: Mount Kenya (first appearance); Elizabeth McCombs (4th appearance, last in 2015); Lin Biao (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2nd appearance, last in 2010; 10th anniversary); Michel de Montaigne (first appearance); Marguerite LeHand (first appearance); Lili Elbe (first appearance)
• Repeats: John Calvin/Calvinism (both: 4th consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 15:46, 13 September 2017 (UTC)reply

Hi Howcheng, Petros Voulgaris article has 1884 as year of birth 3 times (lede, infobox, category) but the only referenced (Ref 2) date of birth at section Life has 1883. (Ref 1 per infobox doesn't help.) Should all (and main page) change to 1883? Thanks for all you do. JennyOz (talk) 03:26, 12 September 2018 (UTC)reply

• @JennyOz: It looks like 1883 is correct, per 1 .. not sure how reliable that is, but "Πολιτιστικό Ινστιτούτο" (the text next to the copyright notice) translates to "Cultural Institute". I didn't find anything that said 1884 except for WP mirrors. —howcheng {chat} 07:13, 12 September 2018 (UTC)reply

Thanks Howcheng, I adjusted birth year category too, Regards, JennyOz (talk) 07:42, 12 September 2018 (UTC)reply

@JennyOz: It turns out that my reference was no good after all, because it put his birth date as 13 July. I think the Greek Navy can be trusted to correctly state the biographical details of one its long-serving officers. —howcheng {chat} 17:16, 12 September 2018 (UTC)reply

All good, thank you, JennyOz (talk) 04:03, 13 September 2018 (UTC)reply

• New articles (unused): Fiona Apple
• Omitted: Mount Kenya; Elizabeth McCombs; Lin Biao; Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Michel de Montaigne; Marguerite LeHand; Lili Elbe
• Included: Phineas Gage (6th appearance, last in 2016); September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt (4th appearance, last in 2016); Hurricane Gilbert (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 30th anniversary); 13 September 2008 Delhi bombings (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 10th anniversary); Hezqeyas (first appearance); Petros Voulgaris (first appearance); Mary Brewster Hazelton (2nf appearance, last in 2017; also appeared on November 23, her death anniversary)
• Repeats: John Calvin (5th consecutive appearance, 8 total; blurb also previously featured Calvinism, but that articles does not include this date or fact)

—howcheng {chat} 21:04, 13 September 2018 (UTC)reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Lin Biao (maintenance)
• Omitted: John Calvin; Phineas Gage; September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt; Hurricane Gilbert; 13 September 2008 Delhi bombings; Hezqeyas; Petros Voulgaris; Mary Brewster Hazelton
• Included: Francis Scott Key (3rd appearance, last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); Mount Kenya (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Luna 2 (5th appearance, last in 2007; 60th anniversary; moved from September 14); Super Mario Bros. (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Kavad I (first appearance); Clara Schumann (first appearance; 200th birthday); Fiona Apple (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 15:51, 16 September 2019 (UTC)reply

• Moved to Ineligible: Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (maintenance)
• New articles (unused): Claude-Hélène Perrot
• Omitted: Francis Scott Key; Mount Kenya (ineligible—maintenance); Luna 2; Kavad I; Clara Schumann; Fiona Apple
• Included: Battle of the Plains of Abraham (8th appearance, last in 2016); Phineas Gage (7th appearance, last in 2018); September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt (5th appearance, last in 2018); Lucy Goode Brooks (first appearance); Emmanuel Chabrier (first appearance); Helen Filarski (first appearance)
• Repeats: Super Mario Bros. (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:17, 15 September 2020 (UTC)reply

• New articles (ineligible): Distance education in Chicago Public Schools in 1937 (appearing on DYK)
• Omitted: Battle of the Plains of Abraham; Phineas Gage; September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt; Super Mario Bros.; Lucy Goode Brooks; Emmanuel Chabrier; Helen Filarski
• Included: John Calvin (8th appearance, last in 2018); Francis Scott Key (4th appearance, last in 2019); Battle of Grand Couronné (2nd appearance, last in 2020; moved from September 4); Luna 2 (6th appearance, last in 2019); Attica Prison riot (3rd appearance, last in 2007; normally appears on September 9, but was recently improved enough to be included for its 50th anniversary); 2008 Delhi bombings (3rd appearance, last in 2018); William Birdwood (first appearance); Claude-Hélène Perrot (first appearance); Luiz Gushiken (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:12, 14 September 2021 (UTC)reply

• Omitted: John Chrysostom (ineligible—maintenance); Francis Scott Key; Battle of Grand Couronné; Attica Prison riot (ineligible—maintenance); 2008 Delhi bombings; William Birdwood; Claude-Hélène Perrot; Luiz Gushiken
• Included: Battle of the Plains of Abraham (9th appearance, last in 2020); September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt (6th appearance, last in 2020); Kavad I (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Clara Schumann (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Emmanuel Chabrier (2nd appearance, last in 2020)
• Repeats: John Calvin (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total); Luna 2 (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:59, 21 September 2022 (UTC)reply