Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/January 16

Skip to table of contents

This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/January 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 January 16 article, see Talk:January 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 January 16, 2025
Flyer for the Broadway production of the play Night of January 16th is a play by Ayn Rand inspired by the death of Ivar Kreuger, an industrialist and accused swindler known as the Match King. The play is set in a courtroom during a murder trial and audience members are chosen to play the jury. The court hears the case of Karen Andre, a former secretary and lover of businessman Bjorn Faulkner, of whose murder she is accused. The jury must rely on character testimony to decide whether Andre is guilty; the play's ending depends on their verdict. Rand wanted to dramatize a conflict between individualism and conformity. The play was first produced in 1934 in Los Angeles under the title Woman on Trial. Producer A. H. Woods took it to Broadway for the 1935–36 season and re-titled it Night of January 16th. It became a hit and ran for seven months. The play has been adapted as a film, as well as for television and radio. Rand had many disputes with Woods over the play, and in 1968 re-edited it for publication as her "definitive" version. (Full article...) Recently featured: Cherry-throated tanager Josette Simon Mount Edziza volcanic complex Archive By email More featured articles About view – talk – edit – history – watch
Picture of the day for January 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/January 15 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/January 17 →

Copied from Talk: January 16:

Is there any "best practice" for dates? The attack on Iraq in 1991 started at 3am local time (January 17), 7pm Washington time (January 16). If you consider Operation Desert Storm more as media event, then Jan 16 is correct as the starting date. But I personally would prefer local time for local events, and GMT for global ones. What do you think --zeno 07:08 Jan 16, 2003 (UTC)

7pm on Jan.16 in Washington is 0h on Jan.17 by UTC. So, January 17 is preferred, I suppose. -- PFHLai 09:50, 2005 Feb 21 (UTC)

BBC says its January 17th (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/861164.stm). -- PFHLai 09:56, 2005 Feb 21 (UTC)

MLK Day for 2006

I moved MLK Day and copyright safe picture for MLK day from Jan 17 Ahseaton 02:40, 2 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Deleted: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (appears on November 23)
Moved to Ineligible: Abd-ar-Rahman III (maintenance)
Omitted: Ivan the Terrible, Don Quixote (ineligible—maintenance), Zimmermann Telegram (ineligible—maintenance), League of Nations, Führerbunker
Included: Mattu Pongal (first appearance), Augustus (7th appearance, last in 2010), Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) (first appearance), Benny Goodman (first appearance), Jan Palach (3rd appearance, last in 2009)
Repeats: Marcha Real (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:08, 15 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum: Magen David Day deleted (does not seem to exist). —howcheng {chat} 04:48, 18 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Does "Magen David Day" exist?

I never heard of it and anyway most Israeli days are linked to Jewis, not Gregorian, calander, so it's even less likely to be real. DGtal (talk) 23:30, 16 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, a Google search turns up nothing reliable. Deleted now. —howcheng {chat} 04:47, 18 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Ivan the Terrible (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780); Jan Palach; Marcha Real
Included: Battle of Corunna (4th appearance, last in 2010); Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (3rd appearance, last in 2010); Führerbunker (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Augustus (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total); Benny Goodman (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 75th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 12:06, 15 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Augustus; Battle of Corunna; Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; Benny Goodman; Führerbunker
Included: Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Hartley Colliery Disaster (first appearance); League of Nations (8th appearance, last in 2011); TWA Flight 3 (first appearance); Hello, Dolly! (musical) (first appearance; 50th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:55, 15 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum: Augustus was added to August 19 for the bimillennium of his death. —howcheng {chat} 16:11, 18 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Internet Engineering Task Force
Omitted: League of Nations; TWA Flight 3; Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Included: Augustus (10th appearance, last in 2013 (was on August 19, 2014 for death anniversary)); Führerbunker (3rd appearance, last in 2013; 70th anniversary); Jan Palach (4th appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Hartley Colliery Disaster (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:47, 14 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780); Hartley Colliery disaster; Führerbunker; Jan Palach
Included: Battle of Corunna (5th appearance, last in 2013); Benny Goodman (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Internet Engineering Task Force (first appearance; 30th anniversary); Marcha Real (3rd appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Augustus (2nd consecutive appearance, 11 total)

—howcheng {chat} 11:50, 14 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Hartley Colliery disaster (maintenance); Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (maintenance)
Omitted: Augustus; Battle of Corunna; Benny Goodman; Internet Engineering Task Force; Marcha Real (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Rungholt (first appearance); Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) (4th appearance, last in 2015); League of Nations (9th appearance, last in 2014); TWA Flight 3 (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Hello, Dolly! (musical) (2nd appearance, last in 2014)

—howcheng {chat} 08:03, 16 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Augustus (maintenance); Benny Goodman (maintenance); Jan Palach (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Frank McGee (ice hockey)
Omitted: Rungholt; Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780); League of Nations; TWA Flight 3; Hello, Dolly! (musical) (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Battle of Corunna (6th appearance, last in 2016); Hartley Colliery disaster (3rd appearance, last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); Führerbunker (4th appearance, last in 2015); Internet Engineering Task Force (3rd appearance, last in 2016); 2016 Ouagadougou attacks (first appearance); Guru Har Rai (first appearance); Miguel Ángel Mancera (first appearance); Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 04:29, 16 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Protected edit request on 17 January 2018

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Change "twenty-one United States-government-funded researchers" to "21 United States government–funded researchers" Holy (talk) 22:41, 17 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, per WP:MOSNUM, Integers greater than nine expressible in one or two words may be expressed either in numerals or in words (16 or sixteen, 84 or eighty-four, 200 or two hundred). Numbers between 21 and 99 are hyphenated (including when part of a larger number): fifty-six or fifty-six thousand but five hundred or five thousand. The Rambling Man (talk) 22:44, 17 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Battle of Corunna; Hartley Colliery disaster; Führerbunker; Internet Engineering Task Force; 2016 Ouagadougou attacks; Guru Har Rai; Miguel Ángel Mancera; Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri
Included: Augustus (12th appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) (5th appearance, last in 2017); Frank McGee (ice hockey) (first appearance); League of Nations (10th appearance, last in 2017); Hello, Dolly! (musical) (3rd appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Nikephoros Choumnos (first appearance); William Hall-Jones (first appearance); Pauline Phillips (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 17:15, 16 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

New articles (unused): Jose Calugas; Mrauk U riot
Omitted: Augustus; Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780); Frank McGee (ice hockey); Hello, Dolly! (musical); Nikephoros Choumnos; William Hall-Jones; Pauline Phillips
Included: Rungholt (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Battle of Corunna (7th appearance, last in 2018); Führerbunker (7th appearance, last in 2018; 75th anniversary); Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I) (first appearance); Edward Gibbon (5th appearance, last in 2015; moved from October 15); Marjorie Williams (first appearance)
Repeats: League of Nations (2nd consecutive appearance, 11 total; 100th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 16:37, 17 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Internet Engineering Task Force (maintenance)
New articles (ineligible): Richard Goodwin Keats (maintenance); John C. Breckinridge (TFA for 2021)
Omitted: Rungholt (deleted—date unknown); Battle of Corunna; League of Nations; Führerbunker; Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I); Edward Gibbon; Marjorie Williams
Included: Hartley Colliery disaster (4th appearance, last in 2018); Jose Calugas (first appearance); Hello, Dolly! (musical) (4th appearance, last in 2019); Mrauk U riot (first appearance); Anton Schindler (first appearance); Miguel Ángel Mancera (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Lorna Kesterson (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 03:27, 19 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Omitted: Hartley Colliery disaster; Jose Calugas; Hello, Dolly! (musical); Mrauk U riot; Anton Schindler; Miguel Ángel Mancera
Included: Bigod's rebellion (first appearance); Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) (6th appearance, last in 2019); Frank McGee (ice hockey) (2nd appearance, last in 2019); TWA Flight 3/Carole Lombard (Flight: 3rd appearance, last in 2017; Lombard: first); 2016 Ouagadougou attacks (2nd appearance, last in 2018); John C. Breckinridge (first appearance); Osip Brik (first appearance)
Repeats: Lorna Kesterson (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 10th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 18:57, 17 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]