Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 20

This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 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 August 20 article, see Talk:August 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 August 20, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 20, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for August 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/August 19 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 21 →

Image to replace the Flag of Estonia ?

Latest comment: 19 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion

Can we replace the with Crown of St. Stephen of Hungary, or or , please ? There are too many flags on the Main Page at the same time today. Thanks. -- 199.71.174.100 02:45, 20 August 2005 (UTC)Reply

There's only one flag on the main page. The images may not be familiar by many users. =Nichalp «Talk»= 08:57, August 20, 2005 (UTC)

The Flag of Burundi was removed from 'In The News'. [1] BTW, I find it strange that Wikipedians would be unfamiliar with Tchaikovsky. If they are indeed unfamiliar, maybe they should see the photo of him. It goes with the 1882 event. -- 199.71.174.100 20:20, 20 August 2005 (UTC)Reply

2012 notes

Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Omitted: Battle of Achelous (917); 1812 Overture; Marchioness disaster; Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory/Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998)
Included: Battle of Yarmouk (2nd appearance, last in 2010); Battle of Saragossa (first appearance); Yellowstone fires of 1988 (first appearance); O-Bahn Busway (2nd appearance, last in 2010); Spanair Flight 5022 (2nd appearance, last in 2010)

—howcheng {chat} 19:10, 19 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

2013 notes

Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory/Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998) (Al-Shifa currently undergoing major revision)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Estonia (still appears as observance)
New articles (unused): Prince of Ning rebellion (appeared on DYK in June 2013); Battle of Taegu; NS Savannah
Omitted: Battle of Yarmouk; Battle of Saragossa; 1812 Overture; Yellowstone fires of 1988; O-Bahn Busway; Spanair Flight 5022
Included: Battle of Achelous (917) (5th appearance, last in 2011); Siege of Pensacola (1707) (first appearance); Great Fire of 1910 (first appearance); Never was so much owed by so many to so few (first appearance); Ballygawley bus bombing (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 16:05, 19 August 2013 (UTC)Reply

Edit request on 20 August 2013

Latest comment: 11 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

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

the link within 'on this day' to Washington is to a disambiguation page - it seems like it ought to say Washington. EdwardLane (talk) 11:51, 20 August 2013 (UTC)Reply

Agreed,

Done --Redrose64 (talk) 15:21, 20 August 2013 (UTC)Reply

2014 notes

Latest comment: 10 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Deleted: Prince of Ning rebellion (featured on July 10)
Moved to Ineligible: O-Bahn Busway (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory/Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998)
Omitted: Battle of Achelous (917); Siege of Pensacola (1707); Great Fire of 1910; Never was so much owed by so many to so few; Ballygawley bus bombing
Included: Battle of Saragossa (2nd appearance, last in 2012); 1812 Overture (7th appearance, last in 2012); KLB Club (first appearance; 70th anniversary); NS Savannah (first appearance); Marchioness disaster (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:33, 19 August 2014 (UTC)Reply

2015 notes

Latest comment: 9 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion

Omitted: Battle of Saragossa; KLB Club; NS Savannah; Marchioness disaster
Included: Battle of Yarmouk (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Siege of Pensacola (1707) (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Never was so much owed by so many to so few (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 75th anniversary); O-Bahn Busway (3rd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: 1812 Overture (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:53, 18 August 2015 (UTC)Reply

request: Would an admin please add this entry which I just made on the larger list of August 20 anniversaries? It would mean a great deal to Ruby Sales, whose life was saved by Jonathan Daniels, and who will be appearing in Keene NH this week in anniversary observances:

1965 – Keene, NH Episcopal seminarian Jonathan Daniels, 26, is martyred; murdered by shotgun at point-blank range in Hayneville, AL, by an unpaid sheriff's deputy, sacrificing his life for young black activist Ruby Sales whom he pushed out of the way of the blast. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JohnWilmerding (talk • contribs) 21:03, 19 August 2015 (UTC)Reply

Sorry, that entry is not notable enough for inclusion on the Main Page. —howcheng {chat} 21:33, 20 August 2015 (UTC)Reply

2016 notes

Latest comment: 8 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Taegu (maintenance)
Omitted: Estonia (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of Yarmouk; Siege of Pensacola (1707); Never was so much owed by so many to so few; O-Bahn Busway (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Agrippa Postumus (first appearance); Battle of Saragossa (3rd appearance, last in 2014); NS Savannah (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Operation Infinite Reach (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: 1812 Overture (3rd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:25, 20 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

2017 notes

Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

The 1812 Overture line had better be amended, if the article is correct:

Although Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was written with the building's completion in mind, it had its world premiere in a tent outside the unfinished church in August 1882.

Sparafucil (talk) 23:03, 12 August 2017 (UTC)Reply

2017 notes

Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Never was so much owed by so many to so few (maintenance)
Omitted: Agrippa Postumus (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of Saragossa; NS Savannah; Operation Infinite Reach
Included: Battle of Achelous (917) (6th appearance, last in 2013; 1100th anniversary); Siege of Pensacola (1707) (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Yellowstone fires of 1988 (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Spanair Flight 5022 (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Jerónimo Osório (first appearance); James Prinsep (first appearance); Ron Paul (first appearance)
Repeats: 1812 Overture (4th consecutive appearance, 10 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:40, 20 August 2017 (UTC)Reply

2018 notes

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: KLB Club
New articles (ineligible): Amy Adams (TFA for 2018)
Omitted: Battle of Achelous (917); Siege of Pensacola (1707); 1812 Overture; Operation Infinite Reach; James Prinsep; Ron Paul; Narendra Dabholkar
Included: Battle of Yarmouk (4th appearance, last in 2015); Battle of Saragossa (4th appearance, last in 2016); Pluto (3rd appearance, last in 2015; moved from March 19); Battle of Taegu (first appearance); Jeremi Wiśniowiecki (first appearance); Rudolf Bultmann (first appearance); Mika Yamamoto (first appearance)
Repeats: Yellowstone fires of 1988 (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 30th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 04:11, 20 August 2018 (UTC)Reply

2019 notes

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: 1812 Overture (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Bolesław Prus; H. P. Lovecraft; Andrew Garfield; Jack King (footballer, born 1985)
Omitted: Battle of Saragossa; Pluto; Battle of Taegu; Yellowstone fires of 1988; Jeremi Wiśniowiecki; Rudolf Bultmann; Mika Yamamoto
Included: Siege of Pensacola (1707) (4th appearance, last in 2017); National Football League (first appearance); Ballygawley bus bombing (2nd appearance, last in 2013); O-Bahn Busway (4th appearance, last in 2015; 30th anniversary); Henry Every (2nd appearance, last in 2017; moved from August 23); Phil Lynott (first appearance; 70th birthday); Amy Adams (first appearance)
Repeats: Battle of Yarmouk (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:51, 23 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

2020 notes

Latest comment: 4 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Deleted: Agrippa Postumus (date unknown)
Moved to Ineligible: H. P. Lovecraft (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Battle of Fallen Timbers; Marchioness disaster
New articles (unused): Terry Sanford; Leona Helmsley
Omitted: Battle of Yarmouk; Siege of Pensacola (1707); Ballygawley bus bombing; O-Bahn Busway; Phil Lynott; Amy Adams
Included: Simeon I of Bulgaria (6th appearance, last in 2017 on his death anniversary; blurb previously featured Battle of Achelous (917), which is currently ineligible); 1812 Overture (11th appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Taegu (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 70th anniversary); Spanair Flight 5022 (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Bolesław Prus (first appearance); Kelsey Weems (first appearance)
Repeats: National Football League (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 100th anniversary); Henry Every (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 01:32, 22 August 2020 (UTC)Reply

2021 notes

Latest comment: 3 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

New articles (ineligible): Tongmenghui (maintenance); Eadberht of Northumbria (date not certain)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): George Tucker (politician)
Omitted: Simeon I of Bulgaria; 1812 Overture (ineligible—maintenance); National Football League; Battle of Taegu; Spanair Flight 5022; Henry Every; Bolesław Prus; Kelsey Weems
Included: Battle of Saragossa (5th appearance, last in 2018); Battle of Fallen Timbers (5th appearance, last in 2010); Pluto (10th appearance, last in 2018); Stanford prison experiment (first appearance; 50th anniversary); Marchioness disaster; (3rd appearance, last in 2014) Jeremi Wiśniowiecki (2nd appearance, last in 2018); H. P. Lovecraft (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); B. K. S. Iyengar (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 17:54, 21 August 2021 (UTC)Reply

2022 notes

Latest comment: 2 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: NS Savannah (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of Saragossa; Battle of Fallen Timbers; Stanford prison experiment (ineligible—maintenance); Marchioness disaster; Jeremi Wiśniowiecki; B. K. S. Iyengar
Included: Simeon I of Bulgaria (7th appearance, last in 2020); Battle of Taegu (3rd appearance, last in 2020); O-Bahn Busway (5th appearance, last in 2019); Bolesław Prus (2nd appearance, last in 2020; 175th birthday); Amy Adams (2nd appearance, last in 2019)
Repeats: Pluto (2nd consecutive appearance, 11 total); H. P. Lovecraft (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:54, 22 August 2022 (UTC)Reply

2023 rationale

Latest comment: 1 year ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Good selection to choose from
Added a new picture, it should be creative commons license, no fair use justification needed.

Heart ^(talk) 05:38, 6 August 2023 (UTC)Reply

Add topic