Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 14

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 14.

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 14 article, see Talk:August 14 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 14, 2024

Landsat image of the Cerro Panizos region

Cerro Panizos is a late Miocene-age shield-shaped volcano, made up of two depressions formed by the collapse of volcanos (calderas) and a group of lava domes. It consists of ignimbrites and is in the Potosí Department of Bolivia and the Jujuy Province of Argentina. It is one of several ignimbrite or caldera systems that, along with 44 active stratovolcanoes, are part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ). Subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath South America is responsible for most of the volcanism in the CVZ. Panizos is the source of two major ignimbrites: Cienago ignimbrite erupted about 7.9 million years ago; and the more recent Panizos ignimbrite, erupted 6.7 million years ago. The Panizos ignimbrite has a total volume exceeding 650 cubic kilometres (160 cu mi). Several volcanic cones such as Limitayoc were active between the ignimbrite eruptions, and a plateau of lava flows and lava domes formed in the central area of the Panizos ignimbrite after the last eruptions. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

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Picture of the day for August 14, 2024

Takht-i-Bahi are the ruins of a 1st century CE Buddhist monastery complex located in what was once the ancient Indian region of Gandhara, in present-day northern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Considered to be exceptionally well-preserved and particularly representative of Buddhist monastic architecture of its era, the ruins were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the neighbouring remains of an ancient town in 1980. Pictured here is an aerial view of the complex, showing its various chambers and courtyards.

photographed by Muzamil Hussain Toori, retouched by UnpetitproleX

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← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 13 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 15 →

The joint declaration by FDR and Churchill that was issued as a plain, typed press release on August 14, 1941 would later be called the "Atlantic Charter" by a Socialist London newspaper. There was never an actual signed legal document. That wasn't the real purpose of "Operation Riviera" which would later be called the "Atlantic Conference" but it was good press, and it helped cover the fact that the U.S. (still technically neutral at the time) was engaging in war plans with one of the belligerents engaged in World War II military conflicts. For more details, see "discussion" related to Wikipedia entry of "Atlantic Charter."

No Blackout?

The 5th anniversary of this event is being covered very widely in hte media... I'm surprised not to see it in today's OTD. Radagast (talk) 14:16, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Remember that the selected articles (bolded items) on the Main Page are chosen based more on how well they are written, not based on how much their subjects are important or significant. Because there is only room for about five events each day, any article that has a bunch of cleanup, dispute, or "requesting sources and verification" tags, like this article, gets lower priority, even if it is only five years old. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 14:48, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Omitted: Cologne Cathedral; Lech Wałęsa; Solomos Solomou
Included: Second Seminole War (4th appearance, last in 2010); The Lost Chord (4th appearance, last in 2010); Carlos the Jackal (5th appearance, last in 2009); Helios Airways Flight 522 (3rd appearance, last in 2009); Youth Olympic Games (first appearance)
Repeats: The Family (Australian New Age group) (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 09:30, 15 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): 2007 Yazidi communities bombings
Omitted: Second Seminole War; The Lost Chord; The Family (Australian New Age group); Carlos the Jackal; Helios Airways Flight 522; Youth Olympic Games
Included: Tristan da Cunha (first appearance); Cologne Cathedral (7th appearance, last in 2011); Atlantic Charter (6th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (first appearance); 2006 Lebanon War (3rd appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible)

—howcheng {chat} 06:36, 13 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Moved to Ineligible: The Family (Australian New Age group) (maintenance)
Omitted: Tristan da Cunha; Cologne Cathedral; Atlantic Charter; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; 2006 Lebanon War
Included: Second Seminole War (5th appearance, last in 2012); The Lost Chord (5th appearance, last in 2012); Lech Wałęsa (8th appearance, last in 2011); Carlos the Jackal (6th appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary); 2007 Yazidi communities bombings (2nd appearance, last in 2010)

—howcheng {chat} 07:10, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Cologne Cathedral (maintenance)
Omitted: Second Seminole War; Lech Wałęsa; Carlos the Jackal; 2007 Yazidi communities bombings
Included: Tristan da Cunha (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Atlantic Charter (7th appearance, last in 2013); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 40th anniversary); Helios Airways Flight 522 (4th appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary)
Repeats: The Lost Chord (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:19, 12 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Lech Wałęsa (maintenance); 2006 Lebanon War (maintenance); August 2013 Rabaa massacre
Omitted: The Lost Chord; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Helios Airways Flight 522
Included: Gustave Whitehead (first appearance); Constitution of Pakistan (first appearance); Solomos Solomou (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 20th anniversary)
Repeats: Tristan da Cunha (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 200th anniversary); Atlantic Charter (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total; 75th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 02:00, 14 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Victory over Japan Day

Victory over Japan Day says this was the day the Japanese formally surrendered in Japan, August 15, there, and August 14 in the United States and the day older people remember the celebration. It seems to me this should be on the Main Page today with clarification.--Dthomsen8 (talk) 23:38, 14 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Items are listed on the date they happened in the locality that they happened in. The surrender ceremony took place in Japan on the 15th, so we list it on the 15th. —howcheng {chat}