Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/October 20

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

2012 notes

Moved to Ineligible: St Paul's Cathedral (date not in article); Oakland firestorm of 1991 (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Luzhniki disaster (Estadio Mateo Flores, site of another human stampede, just appeared on October 16)
Omitted: Maria Theresa; Military Revolutionary Committee (moved to November 2: Gregorian date); Summi Pontificatus (ineligible—maintenance); Kragujevac massacre
Included: Relief of Goes (first appearance); Johnny Bright Incident (first appearance); Submarine-launched ballistic missile (first appearance); Patterson-Gimlin film (4th appearance; last in 2010)
Repeats: Treaty of 1818 (2nd consecutive appearance; 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:17, 19 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

1977 Convair CV-300 crash

You've got to be kidding! You have some stuff about some guys filming a blob that may or may not have been bigfoot and don't have the October 20, 1977 Convair CV-300 crash! This crash killed 3 members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd and forever changed the face of American rock music.[1]Trilobitealive (talk) 14:49, 20 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The "Crash" needs more references, making that article ineligible to appear. —howcheng {chat} 17:52, 20 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Deleted: St Paul's Cathedral (moved to October 26)
New articles (unused): 1977 Convair CV-300 crash
Omitted: Treaty of 1818; Johnny Bright Incident; Submarine-launched ballistic missile; Patterson-Gimlin film
Included: Maria Theresa (8th appearance, last in 2011); Kragujevac massacre (4th appearance, last in 2011); Sydney Opera House (8th appearance, last in 2010); Luzhniki disaster (first appearance)
Repeats: Relief of Goes (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:09, 19 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Kragujevac massacre; Sydney Opera House; Luzhniki disaster
Included: Battle of Leyte (first appearance; 70th anniversary); 1977 Convair CV-300 crash (first appearance); Battle of Sirte (2011)/Death of Muammar Gaddafi (both: first appearance)
Repeats: Relief of Goes (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Maria Theresa (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:13, 19 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Relief of Goes; 1977 Convair CV-300 crash; Battle of Sirte (2011)/Death of Muammar Gaddafi
Included: Treaty of 1818 (8th appearance, last in 2012); Submarine-launched ballistic missile (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Luzhniki disaster (2nd appearance, last in 2013)
Repeats: Maria Theresa (3rd consecutive appearance, 10 total); Battle of Leyte (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:28, 18 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding "October 20: Birth of the Báb, a holy day in the Bahá'í Faith", from this year onwards this holy day is shifting every year. In 2015 it is on 13 November. See Twin Holy Birthdays. Please correct. Wiki-uk (talk) 08:04, 20 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Wiki-uk: Added to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/November 13. Please check and edit as necessary. Thanks. —howcheng {chat} 16:24, 20 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Maria Theresa; Battle of Leyte; Submarine-launched ballistic missile; Luzhniki disaster
Included: Relief of Goes (4th appearance, last in 2014); Kragujevac massacre (5th appearance, last in 2013; 75th anniversary); Aeroflot Flight 6502 (first appearance; 30th anniversary); Battle of Sirte (2011)/Death of Muammar Gaddafi (both: 2nd appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Treaty of 1818 (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:05, 19 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Submarine-launched ballistic missile (maintenance); 1977 Convair CV-240 crash (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Saturday Night Massacre
Omitted: Relief of Goes (ineligible—maintenance); Treaty of 1818 (ineligible—maintenance); Kragujevac massacre (deleted—moved to October 21); Aeroflot Flight 6502; Battle of Sirte (2011)/Death of Muammar Gaddafi
Included: Maria Theresa (11th appearance, last in 2015); Summi Pontificatus (2nd appearance, last in 2011; rescued from Ineligible); Patterson–Gimlin film (5th appearance, last in 2012; 50th anniversary); Luzhniki disaster (3rd appearance, last in 2015); 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake (first appearance); Ralph d'Escures (first appearance); Simon de Vos (first appearance); Jean Keene (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 18:39, 20 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Sydney Opera House (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): 1977 Mississippi CV-240 crash
Omitted: Summi Pontificatus; Patterson–Gimlin film; 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake; Ralph d'Escures; Simon de Vos; Jean Keene
Included: Battle of Leyte (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Saturday Night Massacre (first appearance); Battle of Sirte (2011)/Death of Muammar Gaddafi (both: 3rd appearance, last in 2016); Pauline Bonaparte (first appearance); Tom Petty (first appearance); Farooq Leghari (first appearance)
Repeats: Maria Theresa (2nd consecutive appearance, 12 total); Luzhniki disaster (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 01:41, 21 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Battle of Leyte; Saturday Night Massacre; Luzhniki disaster; Pauline Bonaparte; Tom Petty; Farooq Leghari
Included: Summi Pontificatus (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 80th anniversary); Johnny Bright/Johnny Bright incident (Bright: first appearance; Incident: 2nd appearance, last in 2012); Ralph d'Escures (2nd appearance, last in 2017); James Chadwick (first appearance); Chen Liting (first appearance)
Repeats: Maria Theresa (3rd consecutive appearance, 13 total); Battle of Sirte (2011)/Death of Muammar Gaddafi (both: 2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:23, 21 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

New articles (unused): Stéphane Hessel; Jean Keene
Omitted: Summi Pontificatus; Johnny Bright/Johnny Bright incident; Battle of Sirte (2011)/Death of Muammar Gaddafi; Ralph d'Escures; James Chadwick; Chen Liting
Included: Battle of Leyte (4th appearance, last in 2018); Patterson–Gimlin film (6th appearance, last in 2017); Luzhniki disaster (5th appearance, last in 2018); Catherine Gordon, Duchess of Gordon (first appearance); Tom Petty (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 70th birthday); Farooq Leghari (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 10th anniversary)
Repeats: Maria Theresa (4th consecutive appearance, 14 total)

—howcheng {chat} 21:13, 21 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (unused): Janet Jagan; Francis Chan (bishop)
Omitted: Battle of Leyte; Patterson–Gimlin film; Luzhniki disaster; Catherine Gordon, Duchess of Gordon; Tom Petty; Farooq Leghari
Included: Siege of Antioch (3rd appearance, last in 2015; moved from June 2); Johnny Bright/Johnny Bright incident (Bright: 2nd appearance; Incident: 3rd; both last in 2019; 70th anniversary); 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 30th anniversary); Battle of Sirte (2011)/Killing of Muammar Gaddafi (both: 5th appearance, last in 2019; 10th anniversary); Bálint Balassi (first appearance); James Anthony Froude (first appearance); Kamala Harris (first appearance)
Repeats: Maria Theresa (5th consecutive appearance, 15 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:48, 21 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]