Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/November 18

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/November 18.

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 November 18 article, see Talk:November 18 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 November 18, 2024

Donkey Kong Country is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It follows the gorilla Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy Kong as they set out to recover their stolen banana hoard from the crocodile King K. Rool and his army, the Kremlings. Nintendo commissioned Rare to revive the dormant Donkey Kong franchise as it sought a game to compete with Sega's Aladdin (1993). Donkey Kong Country was one of the first home-console games to feature pre-rendered graphics, achieved through a compression technique that converted 3D models into sprites with little loss of detail. It was released on 18 November 1994 to acclaim. Critics hailed its visuals as groundbreaking and praised its gameplay and music; it is frequently listed as one of the greatest games of all time. Donkey Kong Country re-established Donkey Kong as a popular Nintendo franchise and was followed by sequels and ports for subsequent Nintendo consoles. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

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Picture of the day for November 18, 2024

The Apennine Colossus is a stone statue, approximately 11 m (36 ft) tall, in the estate of Villa Demidoff (originally Villa di Pratolino) in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. Giambologna created the colossal figure, a personification of the Apennine Mountains, in the late 1580s. The statue has the appearance of an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake, squeezing the head of a sea monster through whose open mouth water originally emanated into the pond in front of the statue. The colossus is depicted naked, with stalactites in the thick beard and long hair to show the metamorphosis of man and mountain, blending his body with the surrounding nature. It is made of stone and plaster and the interior houses a series of chambers and caves on three levels. Initially, the back of the Colossus was protected by a structure resembling a cave, which was demolished around 1690 by the sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini, who built a statue of a dragon to adorn the back of the colossus. More recently, the Italian sculptor Rinaldo Barbetti renovated the statue in 1876. This photo shows the Apennine Colossus in 2023.

Photograph credit: Rhododendrites

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← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/November 17 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/November 19 →

Poorly sourced and low quality articles

diff link = Please do not remove high quality WP:GA rated or WP:FA rated materials and replace it with poor quality, inadequately sourced low rated pages. -- Cirt (talk) 17:48, 18 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

diff link = Articles Time zone and 1929 Grand Banks earthquake have multiple problems and unaddressed issues. Please, do not add these poor quality pages back to this Selected anniversaries page. Thank you, -- Cirt (talk) 12:03, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

diff link = Battle of Berlin (air) and Push-button telephone = these articles are poor quality and have multiple problems, and should not be displayed on the Main Page in their present states. They were added replacing high quality pages, Calvin and Hobbes and Aggie Bonfire. For the 3rd time, high quality pages were removed and replaced with poor quality pages. Talk page discussion, here, would be appreciated. -- Cirt (talk) 17:32, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See the bolded wording at page, Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/doc, which reads: "Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are.". (Bolding emphasis is in the original) Cheers, -- Cirt (talk) 17:59, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Poorly sourced entries have been added back, see diff link. These should not be added back to the page, hidden commented out or otherwise, until properly sourced. -- Cirt (talk) 13:29, 28 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No no no, they should stay hidden at least. Look at any other day's page; there are usually a number of hidden items that are noted as needing better citations or whatever. Then next year, when someone comes around to update the page, they can always check those articles to see if they've improved. This makes it more convenient for this editor, even if it's yourself -- now you don't need to go and do the research anymore. If the article is still in poor quality, then you leave it hidden. If it's improved, it can be moved back into the pool. But if you remove it, you just make more work for the updating editor. Get it? howcheng {chat} 01:06, 20 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Respectfully disagree, we do not want to allow for the possibility of someone carelessly adding back poorly sourced entries or articles with tagged issues for display on the Main Page. However, you appear to be determined to repeatedly add back the poorly sourced entries, so it is not worth getting into a tiffy over. Hopefully the poorly sourced entries will not be displayed in the future until all issues have been appropriately fixed. -- Cirt (talk) 02:46, 20 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Steamboat Willie

Steamboat Willie

Removed this one. Multiple unaddressed issues, including WP:NOR violations, WP:V violations, and completely unreferenced chunks. -- Cirt (talk) 17:46, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

King's Cross fire

King's Cross fire

Removed this entry, as there are multiple unaddressed issues with the page, including significant sourcing concerns throughout the entire article. -- Cirt (talk) 17:48, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Unam sanctam

Unam sanctam

Removed this entry, due to multiple unaddressed issues, including sourcing concerns - over-usage of primary sources and under-usage of secondary references, as well as referencing issues throughout the article page. -- Cirt (talk) 17:50, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII of Norway

Removed this entry, due to sourcing concerns. Multiple unaddressed issues with this article. Large portions are unsourced. Entire sections of this page on a person have no references whatsoever. The article fails core Wikipedia policies, including WP:V. -- Cirt (talk) 17:52, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Omitted: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor; Steamboat Willie; Battle of Berlin (air); Jonestown/Leo Ryan; Aggie Bonfire
Included: Battle of Krasnoi (first appearance; 200th anniversary); The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (first appearance); Susan B. Anthony (8th appearance, last in 2007; moved from November 5; rescued from Ineligible); King's Cross fire (3rd appearance, last in 2007; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Vukovar (6th appearance, last in 2010)

—howcheng {chat} 13:38, 17 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County; Susan B. Anthony; King's Cross fire; Battle of Vukovar
Included: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign) (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 70th anniversary); Push-button telephone (first appearance; 50th anniversary); Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (first appearance)
Repeats: Battle of Krasnoi (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:54, 17 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor; Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign); Push-button telephone; Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
Included: Susan B. Anthony (9th appearance, last in 2012); Steamboat Willie (3rd appearance, last in 2011); King's Cross fire (4th appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Battle of Vukovar (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:00, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Susan B. Anthony; Steamboat Willie; King's Cross fire; Battle of Vukovar
Included: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (3rd appearance, last in 2013); The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 150th anniversary); Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign) (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Calvin and Hobbes (4th appearance, last in 2010; 30th anniversary)
Repeats: Battle of Krasnoi (4th consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:34, 16 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

May I recommend the pictured one be changed to Calvin and Hobbes, seeing as it is its 30th anniversary and thus noteworthy? :-) Stolengood (talk) 02:35, 17 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Alas, there are no public domain images of the comic strip. —howcheng {chat} 07:19, 17 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Damn. :-( Not even a free use? Stolengood (talk) 19:35, 17 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Battle of Krasnoi; The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County; Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign); Calvin and Hobbes
Included: Marie Selika Williams (first appearance); Steamboat Willie (4th appearance, last in 2014); We will bury you (first appearance; 60th anniversary); Battle of Vukovar (8th appearance, last in 2014; 25th anniversary)
Repeats: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:33, 18 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Krasnoi (maintenance); Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign) (maintenance)
New articles: Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover; Margaret Atwood; Wilma Mankiller; Chloë Sevigny
Omitted: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (ineligible—maintenance); Marie Selika Williams; Steamboat Willie (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of Vukovar
Included: Action of 18 November 1809 (first appearance); Susan B. Anthony (10th appearance, last in 2014); King's Cross fire (5th appearance, last in 2014; 30th anniversary); Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria (first appearance); Thomas of Bayeux (first appearance); Asa Gray (first appearance); Maribel Domínguez (first appearance)
Repeats: We will bury you (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:22, 18 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Margaret Atwood (maintenance)
New articles (unused): 2007 Zasyadko mine disaster; 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack; Cyclone Numa; Wilma Mankiller (just appeared in DYK)
Omitted: Susan B. Anthony; King's Cross fire; Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria; Asa Gray; Maribel Domínguez
Included: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Jonestown/Leo Ryan (Jonestown: 7th appearance; Ryan: 5th appearance; both last in 2011); Flag of Uzbekistan (first appearance); Chloë Sevigny (first appearance); Conn Smythe (first appearance)
Repeats: Action of 18 November 1809 (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); We will bury you (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Thomas of Bayeux (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 02:17, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Action of 18 November 1809; The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County; We will bury you; Jonestown/Leo Ryan; Flag of Uzbekistan; Thomas of Bayeux; Chloë Sevigny; Conn Smythe
Included: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (5th appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); King's Cross fire (6th appearance, last in 2017); 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse (first appearance; blurb previously featured Aggie Bonfire and is making its 4th appearance, last in 2011; 20th anniversary); Cyclone Numa (first appearance); Philibert Commerson (first appearance); Rose Philippine Duchesne (first appearance); Wilma Mankiller (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 17:05, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Marie Selika Williams (date uncertain); Push-button telephone (maintenance); Calvin and Hobbes (maintenance); 2007 Zasyadko mine disaster (maintenance); Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Dorothy Dix
Omitted: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor; King's Cross fire; 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse; Cyclone Numa; Philibert Commerson; Rose Philippine Duchesne
Included: Action of 18 November 1809 (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Susan B. Anthony (11th appearance, last in 2017); We will bury you (4th appearance, last in 2018); Jonestown/Leo Ryan (Jonestown: 8th appearance; Ryan: 6th; both last in 2018); Itzam Kʼan Ahk II (first appearance); Adam Weishaupt (first appearance)
Repeats: Wilma Mankiller (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 75th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 05:08, 20 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Calvin and Hobbes
Omitted: Action of 18 November 1809; Susan B. Anthony; Jonestown/Leo Ryan; Itzam Kʼan Ahk II; Adam Weishaupt; Wilma Mankiller
Included: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (6th appearance, last in 2019); The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (4th appearance, last in 2018); Battle of Vukovar (9th appearance, last in 2016; 30th anniversary); 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack (first appearance); Thomas Burgess (bishop of Salisbury) (first appearance); Dorothy Dix (first appearance); Tara Singh Hayer (first appearance)
Repeats: We will bury you (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:31, 19 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]