Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 9

This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 9.

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 9 article, see Talk:August 9 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 9, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 9, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for August 9, 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 8 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 10 →

Richard Nixon's resignation

Did Nixon resign the day before ? August 9 should be the anniversary of Ford taking over, the 1st US president in office without an election.

Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, effective August 9. To quote: "Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow." I suppose you could argue that he committed the act of resigning on August 8 by making the announcement, but I think announcing resignation and resigining (actually handing over the reigns) are two different things. Regardless, Ford's role in history on August 9 was rather trivial compared to Nixon's, and we probably don't need to make a big fuss about both days. August 9 is the day most historians point to. -- RobLa 05:47, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Gretsky

Latest comment: 14 years ago8 comments6 people in discussion

Copied from WP:ERRORS[1][2]

'Ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, leading to the popularization of the sport in California, but also upsetting so many Canadians that some even considered him a "traitor" to his home country.' is of no significance or importance whatsoever. The inclusion of this item is an abuse. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.196.38.6 (talk) 08:38, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

Not necessarily abuse per se, but definitely an issue with WP:NPOV. Changed. Jmlk 1 7 19:01, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

The "and the United States" part should be cut-off, as the article only says California. ~DC _{Let's Vent} 19:14, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

DC's suggestion is done. The article says nothing of the kind. --Mkativerata (talk) 19:17, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

Agreed; my bad. Good looking out you two! Jmlk 1 7 19:26, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

It was based on the sentence which read "Gretzky himself was considered a "traitor" by some Canadians for turning his back on his adopted hometown, his home province, and his home country; his motivation was widely rumoured to be the furtherance of his wife's acting career""The Trade". Zzyzx11 (talk) 04:43, 10 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

'1988 – Ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, leading to the popularization of the sport in California...' is a rubbish item to place in OTD. It is not in the slightest momentous. There are much more important and interesting facts to choose from. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.196.159.39 (talk) 22:48, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

Unfortunately, with the blurb shortened as per above, it made it now appear that way. Zzyzx11 (talk) 04:43, 10 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

2012 notes

Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

New articles (unused): Battle of the Big Hole; Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark; Smokey Bear
Omitted: Sistine Chapel; Battle of Savo Island; Singapore; Richard Nixon
Included: Leaning Tower of Pisa (7th appearance, last in 2010); Battle of Cedar Mountain (first appearance); Fat Man (8th appearance, last in 2010); Wayne Gretzky (5th appearance, last in 2010); 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot (2nd appearance, last in 2010; moved from August 10)

—howcheng {chat} 17:14, 8 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

2013 notes

Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Smokey Bear (maintenance)
Omitted: Leaning Tower of Pisa; Battle of Cedar Mountain; Fat Man; Singapore; 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
Included: Sistine Chapel (8th appearance, last in 2011); Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark (Edward: 5th appearance, last in 2008; previously appeared on January 22; Alexandra: first appearance); Operation Demetrius (first appearance); Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing (first appearance)
Repeats: Wayne Gretzky (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 10:05, 8 August 2013 (UTC)Reply

2014 notes

Latest comment: 10 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Omitted: Sistine Chapel; Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark; Operation Demetrius; Wayne Gretzky; Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing
Included: Leaning Tower of Pisa (8th appearance, last in 2012); Walden (first appearance); Battle of Mulhouse (first appearance; 100th anniversary); Singapore (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Richard Nixon (9th appearance, last in 2011; 40th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:34, 8 August 2014 (UTC)Reply

2015 notes

Latest comment: 9 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion

New articles (unused): Shooting of Michael Brown
Omitted: Walden; Battle of Mulhouse; Richard Nixon
Included: Battle of the Big Hole (first appearance); Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark (Edward: 6th appearance; Alexandra: 2nd appearance; both last in 2013); 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot (3rd appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Leaning Tower of Pisa (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total); Singapore (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 50th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:49, 7 August 2015 (UTC)Reply

I know this is a bit late, but, really, nothing on Nagasaki? It's the 70th anniversary of that, after all... Stolengood (talk) 08:23, 9 August 2015 (UTC)Reply

We had Hiroshima on, and we don't run both that and Nagasaki in the same year to avoid topic repetition. —howcheng {chat} 19:05, 10 August 2015 (UTC)Reply

2016 notes

Latest comment: 8 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Sistine Chapel (maintenance); Walden (maintenance); Battle of Cedar Mountain (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of the Big Hole; Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark; Singapore
Included: Battle of Mulhouse (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Bockscar/Fat Man (Bockscar: first appearance; Fat Man: 9th appearance, last in 2012); Operation Demetrius (2nd appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Leaning Tower of Pisa (3rd consecutive appearance, 10 total); 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 10th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:00, 9 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

2017 notes

Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark (both: maintenance)
New articles (ineligible): Women's March (South Africa) (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Philip Larkin
Omitted: Leaning Tower of Pisa; Bockscar/Fat Man; Operation Demetrius; 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
Included: National Women's Day (rescued from Ineligible); Battle of the Big Hole (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Battle of Mulhouse (2nd appearance, last in 2014); South Kasai (first appearance); Singapore (5th appearance, last in 2015); Shooting of Michael Brown (first appearance); Hieronymus Bosch (first appearance); Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (first appearance); Gillian Anderson (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 10:54, 9 August 2017 (UTC)Reply

2018 notes

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Omitted: Battle of the Big Hole; Battle of Mulhouse (deleted—moved to August 7); Singapore (ineligible—maintenance); South Kasai; Shooting of Michael Brown; Hieronymus Bosch; Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton; Gillian Anderson (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark (Edward: 7th appearance; Alexandra: 3rd appearance; both last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); Bockscar/Fat Man (Bockscar: 2nd appearance, last in 2016; Fat Man: 9th appearance, last in 2012); Women's March (South Africa) (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Wayne Gretzky (7th appearance, last in 2013; 30th anniversary); Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Michael the Brave (first appearance); Eileen Gray (first appearance); Philip Larkin (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 16:25, 9 August 2018 (UTC)Reply

2019 notes

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Gillian Anderson
New articles (unused): Albert Ketèlbey; Bob Cousy; Brett Hull
Omitted: Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark; Bockscar/Fat Man; Women's March (South Africa); Wayne Gretzky; Michael the Brave; Eileen Gray; Philip Larkin
Included: Leaning Tower of Pisa (11th appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); Smokey Bear (first appearance); Richard Nixon (10th appearance, last in 2014); Shooting of Michael Brown (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Annie Malone (first appearance; 150th birthday); Ernst Haeckel (first appearance; 100th birthday); Jason Heyward (first appearance; 30th birthday)
Repeats: Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:52, 14 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

2020 notes

Latest comment: 4 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Eileen Gray (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Singapore; Tate–LaBianca murders (blurb previously featured Sharon Tate, which remains ineligible)
New articles (unused): Roman Dmowski; John Key
Omitted: Smokey Bear; Richard Nixon; Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing; Shooting of Michael Brown; Annie Malone; Ernst Haeckel; Jason Heyward
Included: Battle of Cedar Mountain (2nd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Savo Island (2nd appearance, last in 2011); South Kasai (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 60th anniversary); 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot (5th appearance, last in 2016); Walter of Kirkham (first appearance); Albert Ketèlbey (first appearance); Brett Hull (first appearance)
Repeats: Leaning Tower of Pisa (2nd consecutive appearance, 12 total)

—howcheng {chat} 02:40, 11 August 2020 (UTC)Reply

2021 notes

Latest comment: 3 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Omitted: Leaning Tower of Pisa; Battle of Cedar Mountain; Battle of Savo Island; South Kasai; 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot; Walter of Kirkham; Albert Ketèlbey; Brett Hull
Included: Battle of the Big Hole (3rd appearance, last in 2017); Bockscar/Fat Man (Bockscar: 3rd appearance; Fat Man: 11th; both last in 2018); Operation Demetrius (3rd appearance, last in 2016; 50th anniversary); Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing (4th appearance, last in 2019; 20th anniversary); Stephen of Anjou (first appearance); Roman Dmowski (first appearance); John Key (first appearance; 60th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 16:00, 10 August 2021 (UTC)Reply

2022 notes

Latest comment: 2 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Moved to Ineligible: Leaning Tower of Pisa (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of the Big Hole; Bockscar/Fat Man; Operation Demetrius; Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing; Roman Dmowski; John Key
Included: Edward VII/Alexandra of Denmark (Edward: 8th appearance; Alexandra: 4th; both last in 2018); The Blue Lotus (first appearance); Smokey Bear (2nd appearance, last in 2019); South Kasai (3rd appearance, last in 2020); Singapore (7th appearance, last in 2016); Evelina Haverfield (2nd appearance, last in 2020; also appears on March 21, her death anniversary); Albert Ketèlbey (2nd appearance, last in 2020)
Repeats: Stephen of Anjou (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:24, 16 August 2022 (UTC)Reply

Add topic