Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/April 20

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 20.

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 20 article, see Talk:April 20 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 20, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 20, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for April 20, 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 19 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/April 21 →

Please do not add Hitler's birthday to the MainPage. We don't do birthdays unless we don't have enough historic anniversaries to feature. Thanks. -- PFHLai 11:20, 2005 Apr 19 (UTC)

what about chron blazing day! im high

I think you mean Bicycle Day on April 19. -- 199.71.174.100 08:22, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Missing Word

This is missing a "the" before Baha'i Faith. —Cuivi é nen, Thursday, 20 April 2006 @ 01:50 UTC

Fixed. -- PFHLai 00:38, 21 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

420

Why is the 420 (cannabis culture) anniversary omitted from today’s anniversaries? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.242.114.115 (talk • contribs) 11:29, 2006 April 20.

'Coz it's not significant enough, and LSD was already featured very recently on April 16. Furthermore, the wikipage needs to be cleaned up -- problem pages will not get featured on MainPage. -- PFHLai 00:38, 21 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Considerable work has been done to the 420 (cannabis culture) article over the past year. Its observance among the counterculture is notable, with many private and public celebrations taking place. Please consider for inclusion. — Hiplibrarianship 06:39, 19 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It seems pretty significant to me, and perhaps celebrated by more people than many holidays listen in selected anniversaries. Since there isn't much competition for space, I'm going to go ahead and add it. Please feel free to modify or revert. However, the recent inclusion of LSD and the alleged poor quality of the article itself are not valid reasons to omit it. I agree with Hiplibrarianship that the article has undergone considerable improvement from last year. Savidan 20:33, 20 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Remove Birthday

I am a new user and unable to edit this page, but discovered that filipina singer Regine Velasquez is listed here as having a birthday on April 20 AND April 22. The link to her wiki page suggests the actual birthdate is April 22. Could someone with the proper authority/credentials please remove her from the April 20 page? Thanks.. Autonutt 01:40, 21 April 2007 (UTC)autonutt[reply]

She isn't listed in this template (which is the only thing that is protected). If you meant somewhere else, then you probably have the capacity to fix that yourself. Savidan 18:00, 21 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

a candidate for 2009

Next year will be the 10th anniversary for the Columbine High School massacre. --199.71.174.100 (talk) 03:42, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Deleted: Elmer Gedeon (not notable enough for Main Page)
Moved to Ineligible: New Amsterdam (maintenance; also we should find a new date for this)
New articles (unused): Danica Patrick
Omitted: Vädersolstavlan; Ashford v Thornton; Rivers of Blood speech; Korean Air Lines Flight 902; Deepwater Horizon explosion (POTD for 2012)
Included: French Revolutionary Wars (first appearance); Fenway Park/Tiger Stadium (Detroit) (both: first appearance, 100th anniversary); Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday (first appearance); Pierre Trudeau (3rd appearance, last in 2006); Red Army Faction (first appearance); Paraguayan general election, 2008 (2nd appearance, last in 2010)

—howcheng {chat} 07:30, 19 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Danica Patrick (maintenance)
Omitted: French Revolutionary Wars (ineligible—maintenance); Fenway Park/Tiger Stadium (Detroit); Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday; Pierre Trudeau; Red Army Faction; Fernando Lugo/Paraguayan general election, 2008
Included: Vädersolstavlan (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657) (first appearance); Strange Fruit (first appearance); Rivers of Blood speech (5th appearance, last in 2011); Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (3rd appearance, last in 2011); Deepwater Horizon explosion (2nd appearance, last in 2011)

—howcheng {chat} 09:04, 19 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): French Revolutionary Wars
Omitted: Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657); Strange Fruit (ineligible—maintenance); Rivers of Blood speech; Korean Air Lines Flight 902; Deepwater Horizon explosion
Included: René Caillié (first appearance); Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 75th anniversary); Columbine High School massacre (7th appearance, last in 2010); Fernando Lugo/Paraguayan general election, 2008 (Lugo: first appearance; election: 3rd appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Vädersolstavlan (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 04:31, 19 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Deleted: New Amsterdam (appears on February 2)
Omitted: Vädersolstavlan; René Caillié; Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday; Columbine High School massacre; Fernando Lugo/Paraguayan general election, 2008
Included: French Revolutionary Wars (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Ashford v Thornton (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Ludlow Massacre (5th appearance, last in 2007; rescued from Ineligible); Pierre Trudeau (4th appearance, last in 2012); Deepwater Horizon explosion (3rd appearance, last in 2013)

—howcheng {chat} 07:24, 18 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Fenway Park/Tiger Stadium (Detroit) (maintenance); Columbine High School massacre (maintenance)
Omitted: French Revolutionary Wars; Ashford v Thornton; Ludlow Massacre; Pierre Trudeau; Deepwater Horizon explosion/Deepwater Horizon oil spill (ineligible—POTD for 2016)
Included: Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657) (2nd appearance, last in 2013); René Caillié (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Humanum genus (5th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Rivers of Blood speech (6th appearance, last in 2013); Red Army Faction (5th appearance, last in 2012)

—howcheng {chat} 06:48, 18 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 request

I have written a new article about Bacatá, the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation, that was conquered by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and his heavily reduced troops on this day, 480 years ago. Added the selected anniversary for April 20. Rationale for addition:

480 years ago makes a nice rounded number
next to the much better known Aztec Empire, Maya civilization and Inca Empire, the Muisca had the fourth well-developed pre-Columbian civilisation of the New World
the first conquest of the Muisca settlements, after a strenuous expedition from Santa Marta up the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, the heaviest of the four great expeditions by the Spanish conquistadors
the most important of the Muisca Confederation settlements, referred to in popular literature as "capital", but that would be an unscientific wording, as there was no central authority in Muisca society
article is built new, with references and extensive bibliography, see alsos, main articles and reviewed links

Cheers, Tisquesusa (talk) 22:41, 17 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: French Revolutionary Wars (maintenance); Ludlow Massacre (maintenance); Pierre Trudeau (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657) (ineligible—maintenance); René Caillié; Humanum genus (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Bacatá (first appearance); Battle of Abensberg (first appearance); Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Deepwater Horizon explosion/Deepwater Horizon (Explosion: 4th appearance, last in 2015; DH: first appearance); Cædwalla of Wessex (first appearance); Allegra Byron (first appearance); Frances Ames (first appearance)
Repeats: Rivers of Blood speech (2nd consecutive appearance; 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:10, 20 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Omitted: Bacatá; Battle of Abensberg; Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday; Deepwater Horizon explosion/Deepwater Horizon oil spill; Cædwalla of Wessex; Allegra Byron; Frances Ames
Included: Vädersolstavlan (4th appearance, last in 2014); Ashford v Thornton (3rd appearance, last in 2015; 200th anniversary); Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (4th appearance, last in 2013; 40th anniversary); Danica Patrick (first appearance; 10th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible); John Clarke (Baptist minister) (2nd appearance, last in 2015; normally appears on July 8); John Abernethy (surgeon) (first appearance); Nina Davuluri (first appearance)
Repeats: Rivers of Blood speech (3rd consecutive appearance, 8 total; 50th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 03:35, 20 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Deleted: Wisconsin Territory (wrong date, and date not cited either)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Ludlow Massacre
Omitted: Vädersolstavlan; Ashford v Thornton; Rivers of Blood speech; Korean Air Lines Flight 902; Danica Patrick; John Clarke (Baptist minister) (already appears on July 8); John Abernethy (surgeon)
Included: Bacatá (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657) (3rd appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); René Caillié (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday (4th appearance, last in 2017; 80th anniversary); Columbine High School massacre (8th appearance, last in 2014; 20th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible); Elizabeth Barton (first appearance); Paul Poiret (first appearance)
Repeats: Nina Davuluri (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 30th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 15:44, 22 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Fernando Lugo/2008 Paraguayan general election
New articles (unused): Elmer Gedeon
Omitted: Bacatá; Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657); René Caillié; Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday; Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (blurb previously featured Columbine High School massacre, which is currently ineligible); Elizabeth Barton; Paul Poiret; Nina Davuluri
Included: Vädersolstavlan (5th appearance, last in 2018); Battle of Abensberg (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Strange Fruit (2nd appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); Pierre Trudeau (5th appearance, last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); Deepwater Horizon explosion/Deepwater Horizon/Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Explosion: 5th appearance, DH: first, Oil spill: 3rd, last in 2017); Peter Bartholomew (first appearance); Dave Bancroft (first appearance); Frances Ames (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 100th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 16:35, 21 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Omitted: Vädersolstavlan; Battle of Abensberg; Strange Fruit; Pierre Trudeau; Deepwater Horizon explosion/Deepwater Horizon/Deepwater Horizon oil spill; Peter Bartholomew; Dave Bancroft; Frances Ames
Included: Bacatá (3rd appearance, last in 2019); Ashford v Thornton (4th appearance, last in 2018); Ludlow Massacre (6th appearance, last in 2015); Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (5th appearance, last in 2018); Fernando Lugo/2008 Paraguayan general election (Lugo: 2nd appearance; Election: 4th; both last in 2014); William Bedloe (first appearance); David Brainerd (first appearance); Vjekoslav Luburić (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:09, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Omitted: Bacatá; Ashford v Thornton; Korean Air Lines Flight 902; Fernando Lugo/2008 Paraguayan general election; William Bedloe; David Brainerd; Vjekoslav Luburić
Included: Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657) (4th appearance, last in 2019); René Caillié (4th appearance, last in 2019); Rivers of Blood speech (9th appearance, last in 2018); Peter Bartholomew (2nd appearance, last in 2020); Allegra Byron; (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 200th anniversary) Toller Cranston (first appearance)
Repeats: Ludlow Massacre (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:19, 21 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]