Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 12

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 12.

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 August 12 article, see Talk:August 12 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?

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.

Today's featured article for August 12, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 12, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for August 12, 2025
The featured picture for this day has not yet been chosen. In general, pictures of the day are scheduled in order of promotion to featured status. See Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Guidelines for full guidelines. create

← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 11 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 13 →

Tyrannosaurus

Is a fossil discovery noteworthy? Is there something special about this fossil? Rick K 06:10, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC)

That's the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. Is this significant enough to be included on the MainPage ? I'd say it's a weak case. -- PFHLai 18:57, 2005 August 9 (UTC)

The History Channel currently seems to think it's noteworthy that it is the current lead story on its "This Day in History" page for Aug 12.[1] I just re-added it here to replace another item that needs cleanup – the only two reasons I picked that one first is because of The History Channel page, and an excuse to bold and feature the current FA Tyrannosaurus. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 06:14, 10 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Lakshman Kadirgamar (maintenance)
Omitted: Treaty of Nöteborg; King Philip's War; Night of the Murdered Poets; Battle of the Bogside; IBM Personal Computer
Included: Cleopatra VII (first appearance); Battle of Didgori (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Deimos (moon) (5th appearance, last in 2010); Wola massacre (first appearance); Bloody Gulch massacre (first appearance); Sue (dinosaur) (2nd appearance, last in 2010)

—howcheng {chat} 03:07, 11 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: Cleopatra; Battle of Didgori; Deimos (moon); Wola massacre; Bloody Gulch massacre; Sue (dinosaur)
Included: King Philip's War (6th appearance, last in 2011); Quagga (2nd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Night of the Murdered Poets (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Battle of the Bogside (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Russian submarine Kursk explosion (3rd appearance, last in 2010)

—howcheng {chat} 10:31, 11 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Japan Airlines Flight 123
Omitted: King Philip's War; Quagga (ineligible—TFA for 2014); Night of the Murdered Poets; Battle of the Bogside; Kursk submarine disaster
Included: Treaty of Nöteborg (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Battle of Didgori (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Deimos (moon) (6th appearance, last in 2012); Wola massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2012); IBM Personal Computer (%th appearance, last in 2011)

—howcheng {chat} 06:25, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Battle of Didgori; Treaty of Nöteborg; Deimos (moon); Wola massacre; IBM Personal Computer
Included: Sirikit (rescued from Ineligible); Cleopatra (2nd appearance, last in 2012); King Philip's War (7th appearance, last in 2013); Quagga (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Japan Airlines Flight 123 (4th appearance, last in 2008; 30th anniversary); Sue (dinosaur) (3rd appearance, last in 2012)

—howcheng {chat} 08:49, 11 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: King Philip's War (ineligible—maintenance); Quagga; Japan Airlines Flight 123; Sue (dinosaur)
Included: Treaty of Nöteborg (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Deimos (moon) (7th appearance, last in 2014); Joe 4 (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); IBM Personal Computer (6th appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Cleopatra (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:36, 11 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Didgori (maintenance); Night of the Murdered Poets (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Abraham Zacuto; Robert Southey; Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh; William Blake
Omitted: Cleopatra; Treaty of Nöteborg (ineligible—maintenance); Joe 4 (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Quagga (4th appearance, last in 2015); Battle of Halen (first appearance); Kursk submarine disaster (4th appearance, last in 2013); Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (first appearance); Helena Blavatsky (first appearance); Charles Blackman (first appearance)
Repeats: Deimos (moon) (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total); IBM Personal Computer (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 02:42, 12 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Robert Southey (maintenance); William Blake (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Joe 4
Omitted: Deimos (moon); IBM Personal Computer; Kursk submarine disaster; Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick; Helena Blavatsky; Charles Blackman (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Battle of Ascalon (6th appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Babrra massacre (first appearance; 70th anniversary); Sue (dinosaur) (4th appearance, last in 2015); Abraham Zacuto (first appearance); Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (2nd appearance, last in 2017; previously appeared on June 18, his birthday); George Soros (first appearance)
Repeats: Quagga (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total); Battle of Halen (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 03:44, 12 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Wola massacre (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Cecil B. DeMille
Omitted: Quagga; Babrra massacre; Sue (dinosaur); Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh; George Soros
Included: Smyth Report (first appearance); IBM Personal Computer (8th appearance, last in 2017); Jænberht (first appearance); Maurice Fernandes (first appearance)
Repeats: Battle of Ascalon (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total); Battle of Halen (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Abraham Zacuto (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 22:42, 20 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Deimos (moon) (maintenance); Bloody Gulch massacre (maintenance); Joe 4 (maintenance); Kursk submarine disaster (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Thomas F. Mulledy
Omitted: Battle of Ascalon; IBM Personal Computer (ineligible—maintenance); Jænberht; Abraham Zacuto; Maurice Fernandes
Included: Quagga (6th appearance, last in 2018); 1969 Northern Ireland riots (first appearance; blurb previously featured Battle of the Bogside which remains ineligible and is making its 3rd appearance, last in 2013); Sue (dinosaur) (5th appearance, last in 2018; 25th anniversary); Cecil B. DeMille (2nd appearance, last in 2020; also appeared on January 21, his death anniversary); Percy Mayfield (first appearance; 100th birthday); Mario Balotelli (first appearance; 30th birthday)
Repeats: Battle of Halen (4th consecutive appearance, 4 total); Smyth Report (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 75th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:39, 14 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (ineligible): Russo-Georgian War (maintenance; moved from August 7)
New articles (unused): Evaline Ness
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Night of the Murdered Poets
Omitted: Battle of Halen; Smyth Report; 1969 Northern Ireland riots; Helena Blavatsky; Percy Mayfield; Mario Balotelli
Included: Battle of Ascalon (8th appearance, last in 2019); Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre (first appearance); Japan Airlines Flight 123 (5th appearance, last in 2015); Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria (first appearance); Thomas F. Mulledy (first appearance); Ladi Kwali (first appearance)
Repeats: Quagga (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total); Sue (dinosaur) (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:47, 13 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Babrra massacre (maintenance); George Soros (maintenance)
Omitted: Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre; Japan Airlines Flight 123; Sue (dinosaur); Thomas F. Mulledy; Ladi Kwali
Included: Smyth Report (3rd appearance, last in 2020); Kursk submarine disaster (5th appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Beer in North Korea (first appearance); Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Maurice Fernandes (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 125th birthday)
Repeats: Battle of Ascalon (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total); Quagga (3rd consecutive appearance, 8 total); Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:49, 16 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

2023 rationale

1099 is included due to wanting to have at least one not from the 20th century
Avoided Fort Andross as the article was featured on June 16
Avoided quagga since it would have been the 4th consecutive time it has appeared, despite it being it's 90th anniversary
Avoided the 1914 and 1944 entry as to avoid having a war heavy day since I included the 1099 entry on the Battle of Ascalon

Heart ^(talk) 13:05, 1 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi HeartGlow30797. Thanks again for working in this area. Couple of comments - Dumelow (talk) 10:09, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Abraham Zacuto is undercited in general and I couldn't see a citation for the birth date?
For 2023 we have started featuring four borths/deaths a day, so another should be added. I am trying to improve our coverage of non-American and non-European figures so would be good if one of these is eligible - Dumelow (talk) 10:09, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the notes on this one! I have removed Abraham Zacuto. In my off time, I have been trying to find new articles in general to feature here. Heart ^(talk) 01:32, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
User:Dumelow, I have completed them. Thanks so much for the feedback as it helps me improve! Heart ^(talk) 01:37, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]