Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/April 16

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 16.

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 16 article, see Talk:April 16 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 April 16, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 16, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for April 16, 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/April 15 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/April 17 →

1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy
1746 - Battle of Culloden, in Scotland, the last battle of the Jacobite Rising destroys Highland clans
1828 - Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter dies
1917 - Vladmir Lenin returns from exile

Editprotected

{Editprotected} Yom Hashoah is currently redirected to Yom HaShoa (though I have put in a request to restore it to Yom Hashoah). In the meantime, please change the link in the Holocaust Remembrance Day to Yom HaShoa so we don't have to deal with a redirect off the main page. Thanks, --Valley2city^₪‽ 00:50, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Done SGGH 09:52, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks SGGH, but after you fulfilled the edit request the move request (from Yom HaShoa to Yom HaShoah) was surprisingly fulfilled (the backlog on WP:RM is still a week). If you want, you can change it to Yom HaShoah, but the day is almost over in GMT and a single redirect won't screw up things like the previous double redir. Your choice. --Valley2city^₪‽ 16:21, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Meh, why not? All done. SGGH 19:10, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I thought we are not supposed to fix links to redirects that aren't broken. No ? Anyway, to request small changes on MainPage, please use WP:ERRORS next time. Response is usually quicker. --PFHLai 05:45, 17 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Omitted: Rush–Bagot Treaty; Cold War (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Revolt of the Comuneros (first appearance); Indian Railways (5th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Vilna offensive (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); 2001 Indian–Bangladeshi border conflict (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Virginia Tech massacre (4th consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 11:15, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Change

1853 – The first passenger line of what would become Indian Railways, the state-owned railway company of India, opened between Bombay and Thane.

: Should be changed to: The first passenger line of what would become Indian Railways, the state-owned railway company of India, opened between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Thane. Add the highlighted one if possible! -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 13:46, 16 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

NOTE: WP:Today's articles for improvement debuts on the Main Page today, necessitating the inclusion of 6 OTD items.

New articles (unused): District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act; Second Battle of the Aisne
Omitted: Vilna offensive; Virginia Tech massacre
Included: Bat Masterson (first appearance); Vladimir Lenin (6th appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible); Cold War (3rd appearance, last in 2011; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Revolt of the Comuneros (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Indian Railways (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total); 2001 Indian–Bangladeshi border conflict (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:05, 15 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Texas City disaster
New articles (unused): Battle of the Seelow Heights
Omitted: Revolt of the Comuneros; Indian Railways; Bat Masterson; Cold War; 2001 Bangladeshi-Indian border skirmish
Included: Wanganui Campaign (first appearance); District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act (first appearance); Ustaše (first appearance); Letter from Birmingham Jail (first appearance)
Repeats: Vladimir Lenin (2nd consecutive appearance 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 05:48, 15 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act; Vladimir Lenin; Ustaše; Letter from Birmingham Jail
Included: Margrethe II of Denmark (rescued from Ineligible); Revolt of the Comuneros (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Harriet Quimby (5th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of the Seelow Heights (first appearance; 70th anniversary); Virginia Tech shooting (5th appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Wanganui Campaign (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:42, 14 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Checking list

I checked the lists and did some clean ups. Some of the articles were moved to the ineligible section. Mhhossein (talk) 07:25, 13 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Indian Railways (maintenance); Ustaše (maintenance)
Omitted: Wanganui Campaign; Harriet Quimby; Battle of the Seelow Heights; Virginia Tech shooting
Included: Rush–Bagot Treaty (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Vladimir Lenin (8th appearance, last in 2014); Letter from Birmingham Jail (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Sinking of MV Sewol (first appearance)
Repeats: Revolt of the Comuneros (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:46, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Battle of the Seelow Heights (maintenance); Texas City disaster (maintenance)
Omitted: Rush–Bagot Treaty; Vladimir Lenin; Letter from Birmingham Jail; Sinking of MV Sewol
Included: Wanganui Campaign (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Second Battle of the Aisne (first appearance; 100th anniversary); Cold War (6th appearance, last in 2013; 70th anniversary); Virginia Tech shooting (6th appearance, last in 2015; 10th anniversary); Tabinshwehti (first appearance); Francisco Goya (first appearance); John Millington Synge (first appearance)
Repeats: Revolt of the Comuneros (3rd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 23:16, 13 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Deleted: 2001 Bangladesh–India border clashes (moved to April 15)
Moved to Ineligible: Bat Masterson (maintenance)
Omitted: Revolt of the Comuneros; Second Battle of the Aisne; Cold War; Virginia Tech shooting; Tabinshwehti; Francisco Goya; John Millington Synge
Included: Rush–Bagot Treaty (3rd appearance, last in 2016; 200th anniversary); Harriet Quimby (6th appearance, last in 2015); Vladimir Lenin (9th appearance, last in 2016); Sinking of MV Sewol (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Molly Brant (first appearance); Ponnambalam Ramanathan (first appearance); Khalil al-Wazir (first appearance)
Repeats: Wanganui Campaign (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 01:47, 16 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019

I've added the federal observance of Education and Sharing Day. per its page, it's on April 16 this year. Hydromania (talk) 08:35, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Rush–Bagot Treaty; Wanganui Campaign (ineligible—maintenance); Harriet Quimby; Vladimir Lenin; Molly Brant; Ponnambalam Ramanathan
Included: Revolt of the Comuneros (6th appearance, last in 2017); District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Vilna offensive (3rd appearance, last in 2012; 100th anniversary); Cold War (7th appearance, last in 2017); John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (first appearance); Francisco Goya (2nd appearance, last in 2017)
Repeats: Sinking of MV Sewol (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Khalil al-Wazir (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:45, 16 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Rush–Bagot Treaty (maintenance)
New articles (unused): R. Carlos Nakai
Omitted: District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act; Vilna offensive; Cold War (ineligible—maintenance); John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke; Francisco Goya; Khalil al-Wazir
Included: Bernadette Soubirous (first appearance); Great Indian Peninsula Railway (first appearance; blurb previously featured Indian Railways, which is currently ineligible, and is making its 7th appearance, last in 2013); Letter from Birmingham Jail (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Fructuosus of Braga (first appearance); Harry Chauvel (first appearance); Joan Bakewell (first appearance)
Repeats: Revolt of the Comuneros (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total); Sinking of MV Sewol (3rd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 18:19, 17 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (unused): 2001 Bangladesh–India border clashes (moved back from April 15); Gertrude Chandler Warner
Omitted: Bernadette Soubirous (ineligible—maintenance); Revolt of the Comuneros; Great Indian Peninsula Railway; Fructuosus of Braga; Harry Chauvel; Joan Bakewell
Included: Battle of Mount Tabor (1799) (first appearance); Whanganui campaign (5th appearance, last in 2018; rescued from Ineligible); Vladimir Lenin (10th appearance, last in 2018); Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg) (first appearance); John Millington Synge (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 150th birthday); Johnnie Lewis (first appearance; 75th birthday)
Repeats: Letter from Birmingham Jail (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Sinking of MV Sewol (4th consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:12, 20 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Great Indian Peninsula Railway (maintenance)
New articles (ineligible): OECD (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of Mount Tabor (1799); Whanganui campaign; Vladimir Lenin; Sinking of MV Sewol; Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg); John Millington Synge; Johnnie Lewis
Included: Revolt of the Comuneros (8th appearance, last in 2020); District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act (3rd appearance, last in 2019); Harriet Quimby (7th appearance, last in 2018); 2001 Bangladesh–India border clashes (4th appearance, last in 2013); Tabinshwehti (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Farran Zerbe (first appearance); Johnny Peirson (first appearance)
Repeats: Letter from Birmingham Jail (3rd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 03:05, 17 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]