Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/November 4

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/November 4.

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 4 article, see Talk:November 4 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 4, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 4, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for November 4, 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/November 3 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/November 5 →

Iranian radical is a lable. They known as Muslim student followers of the Imam's line. It proposed using this title.--Sa.vakilian 11:09, 3 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The link has been added. Thanks for the suggestion. --PFHLai 16:47, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Recommend adding link to Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin since the event itself is what happened on Nov. 4. Kelvinc 00:51, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The link has been added. Thanks for the suggestion. --PFHLai 16:47, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Howard Carter and King Tut's tomb? For next year, I guess... — E ditor at Large ^(speak) 14:28, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the suggestion. The discovery of KV62 is scheduled to be featured on November 26, the anniversary of their entering the tomb, when Carter made the famous "tiny breach in the top left hand corner" of the doorway. Please see Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/November 26. --PFHLai 16:47, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps should say Iranian students supporting the Iranian Revolution or the revolutionary government. Right now it sounds pejorative, like as to say "Bush regime." 67.194.202.113 (talk) 03:27, 4 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Today is National Unity Day and Armed Forced Day in Italy

http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Holidays_in_Italy

Celebrating victory over Austria-Hungary, on November 4th 1918. This definitely deserves a mention. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fertuno (talk • contribs) 13:56, 4 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please create the National Unity and Armed Forces Day article first, or add a section to a currently existing article that specifically mentions this holiday. Thanks. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 15:56, 4 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Obama election

Barack Obama was elected the United States' first African-American President in 2008 on this day. Is this appropriate? - Talk to you later, Presidentman (talk) Random Picture of the Day 21:30, 25 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Deleted: Dell (not notable enough to appear)
Moved to Ineligible: Chloroform (maintenance)
Omitted: Menelik II; Sturmabteilung; Kasakela Chimpanzee Community; 1966 Flood of the Arno River; Genie (feral child)
Included: Battle of Johnsonville (first appearance); City and South London Railway (6th appearance, last in 2010); USS Nevada (BB-36) (first appearance); Altare della Patria (first appearance); Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (2nd appearance, last in 2008)

—howcheng {chat} 07:25, 3 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Menelik II (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of Johnsonville; USS Nevada (BB-36); Altare della Patria
Included: Sturmabteilung (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Kasakela Chimpanzee Community (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Barack Obama (first appearance)
Repeats: City and South London Railway (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total); Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 03:17, 3 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Day of Ashura 2014

@Howcheng: Although Ashura is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ashura moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ashura may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not. According to the calendar, this year Ashura coincides with November 4, in Iran, Pakistan, India, US and some other countries. Mhhossein (talk) 03:49, 28 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: City and South London Railway; Sturmabteilung, Kasakela Chimpanzee Community; Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin; Barack Obama
Included: Chloroform (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Johnsonville (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 150th anniversary); Altare della Patria (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Salvador Allende (first appearance); Imelda Marcos (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 12:06, 3 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Howcheng:: Any particular reason not to put Election Day (United States) up today? Just an idea... --Jayron32 10:37, 4 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Historically, it's not something we've done. My one concern would be that if we add it for the US, we'd have to do it for most other countries as well. —howcheng {chat} 11:39, 4 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And if we have good enough articles for all those other countries, why not? --Jayron32 04:07, 5 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't mind, but I don't know when other countries have elections. —howcheng {chat} 16:30, 5 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Battle of Johnsonville; Altare della Patria; Kasakela Chimpanzee Community; Salvador Allende; Imelda Marcos
Included: City and South London Railway (8th appearance, last in 2013); Sturmabteilung (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (4th appearance, last in 2013; 20th anniversary); Qantas Flight 32 (first appearance)
Repeats: Chloroform (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 11:03, 2 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: City and South London Railway; Sturmabteilung; Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin; Qantas Flight 32
Included: Menelik II (2nd appearance, last in 2011); 1966 flood of the Arno (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 50th anniversary); Imelda Marcos (2nd appearance, last in 2014; 25th anniversary); Barack Obama (2nd appearance, last in 2013)
Repeats: Chloroform (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:24, 4 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Altare della Patria (maintenance); Sturmabteilung (maintenance); Salvador Allende (maintenance); Iran hostage crisis (maintenance)
Omitted: Unity Day (Russia) (ineligible—maintenance); Menelik II (ineligible—maintenance); 1966 flood of the Arno (ineligible—maintenance); Imelda Marcos; Barack Obama
Included: City and South London Railway (9th appearance, last in 2015); Kasakela Chimpanzee Community (4th appearance, last in 2014); Genie (feral child) (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (5th appearance, last in 2015); Felix Mendelssohn (first appearance); Carlos Castillo Armas (2nd appearance, last in 2017; also appeared on July 7); Matthew McConaughey (first appearance)
Repeats: Chloroform (4th consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 01:35, 4 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Imelda Marcos (maintenance)
New articles (ineligible): Ruhollah Khomeini's life in exile (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): St. Clair's Defeat
Omitted: Chloroform; Genie (feral child); Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin; Felix Mendelssohn; Carlos Castillo Armas; Matthew McConaughey
Included: Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (first appearance); Qantas Flight 32 (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Hu Zongxian (2nd appearance, last in 2017; previously appeared on November 25, his birthday); La Belle Otero (first appearance; 150th birthday); Shoghi Effendi (first appearance)
Repeats: City and South London Railway (2nd consecutive appearance, 10 total); Kasakela chimpanzee community (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:32, 5 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal for 2019

@Howcheng: I wonder if you nominate Ruhollah Khomeini's life in exile for 4 November due to Khomeini's exile to Turkey? Three was some issue but they were solved.It is the first time to nominate it for OTD while there is no issue in the article.Saff V. (talk) 06:42, 1 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Deleted: Carlos Castillo Armas (already appears on July 7)
New articles (unused): Joseph Rotblat
Omitted: City and South London Railway; Kasakela chimpanzee community (ineligible—maintenance); Qantas Flight 32; Hu Zongxian; La Belle Otero; Shoghi Effendi
Included: St. Clair's defeat (4th appearance, last in 2010); USS Nevada (BB-36) (3rd appearance, last in 2014; also appeared on July 11); Ruhollah Khomeini's life in exile (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (6th appearance, last in 2017); John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester (first appearance); Shakuntala Devi (first appearance); Matthew McConaughey (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 50th birthday)
Repeats: Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:57, 5 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

New articles (ineligible): Kathy Griffin
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Italy)/Victor Emmanuel II Monument
Omitted: Flag of Panama; Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II; St. Clair's defeat; USS Nevada (BB-36); Ruhollah Khomeini's life in exile; John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester; Shakuntala Devi; Matthew McConaughey
Included: Chloroform (5th appearance, last in 2017); Battle of Johnsonville (3rd appearance, last in 2014); 1938 deportation of Jews from Slovakia (first appearance); Genie (feral child) (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 50th anniversary); Antoine Le Maistre (first appearance); Felix Mendelssohn (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Elsie MacGill (first appearance; 40th anniversary)
Repeats: Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 03:45, 6 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Omitted: Chloroform; Battle of Johnsonville; 1938 deportation of Jews from Slovakia; Genie (feral child); Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin; Antoine Le Maistre; Felix Mendelssohn; Elsie MacGill
Included: National Unity and Armed Forces Day (first appearance); Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (3rd appearance, last in 2019); City and South London Railway (11th appearance, last in 2018); Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Italy)/Victor Emmanuel II Monument (Tomb: first appearance; Monument: 3rd, last in 2014; 100th anniversary); Operation Pheasant (first appearance); Paris Agreement (first appearance); Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (first appearance); Dolly Stark (umpire) (first appearance); Tabu (actress) (first appearance; 50th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 07:21, 5 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]