Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/February 23

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 23.

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 February 23 article, see Talk:February 23 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 February 23, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 23, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for February 23, 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/February 22 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/February 24 →

Defender of the Fatherland Day

Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated not only in Russia. --Tavrian 21:29, 23 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The 22nd of February is Defender of the Fatherland day, not 23rd. (Source Moscow Times online). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.153.232.72 (talk) 19:12, 23 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Deleted: Diocletianic Persecution (appears on February 24)
Omitted: AEA Silver Dart, Plutonium, Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II, Grayrigg derailment
Included: Operation Lentil (Caucasus) (2nd appearance, last in 2010), Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (7th appearance, last in 2010), International Organization for Standardization (5th appearance, last in 2008), SN 1987A (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:42, 22 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Deleted: Gutenberg Bible (date does not appear in article, and it's featured on August 24 anyway)
Moved to Ineligible: Plutonium (maintenance)
Omitted: Operation Lentil (Caucasus); Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima; International Organization for Standardization; SN 1987A
Included: Guantánamo Bay (6th appearance, last in 2009); Werner Heisenberg (first appearance); Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II (2nd appearance, last in 2011); French law on colonialism (2nd appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Dick Turpin (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 18:29, 21 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Operation Lentil (Caucasus) (maintenance)
Omitted: Dick Turpin; Guantánamo Bay; Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II; French law on colonialism
Included: Battle of Buena Vista (2nd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Đồng Đăng (first appearance); International Organization for Standardization (6th appearance, last in 2012); Grayrigg derailment (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Werner Heisenberg (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 18:54, 22 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Plutonium
Omitted: Battle of Buena Vista; Werner Heisenberg; International Organization for Standardization; Grayrigg derailment
Included: Dick Turpin (3rd appearance, last in 2013); AEA Silver Dart (3rd appearance, last in 2011); Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II (3rd appearance, last in 2013; 70th anniversary); French law on colonialism (3rd appearance, last in 2013; 10th anniversary)
Repeats: Battle of Đồng Đăng (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:32, 21 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Dick Turpin; AEA Silver Dart; Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II; French law on colonialism
Included: Werner Heisenberg (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Plutonium (3rd appearance, last in 2011; 75th anniversary); SN 1987A (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Grayrigg derailment (3rd appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Battle of Đồng Đăng (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:05, 22 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: French law on colonialism (maintenance)
New articles (ineligible): 2014 Ukrainian revolution (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Chatichai Choonhavan
Omitted: Battle of Đồng Đăng (1885) (ineligible—maintenance); Werner Heisenberg (ineligible—maintenance); Plutonium
Included: Dick Turpin (5th appearance, last in 2015); Battle of Buena Vista (3rd appearance, last in 2014); International Organization for Standardization (7th appearance, last in 2014; 70th anniversary); Mido (footballer) (first appearance); Edward Elgar (first appearance)
Repeats: SN 1987A (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 30th anniversary); Grayrigg derailment (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 10th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:32, 23 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

New articles (unused): The Emperor's Birthday; Charles Martin Hall; Horst Wessel
Omitted: Brunei (ineligible—maintenance); Defender of the Fatherland Day (ineligible—maintenance); Dick Turpin; Battle of Buena Vista; International Organization for Standardization; Grayrigg derailment; Mido (footballer); Edward Elgar
Included: Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (first appearance); Orange River Convention/Orange Free State (Convention: first appearance; State: 5th appearance, last in 2008; moved from February 17); Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush (3rd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); 2008 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident (first appearance; 10th anniversary); George Frideric Handel (first appearance); César Ritz (first appearance); L. S. Lowry (first appearance)
Repeats: SN 1987A (3rd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:48, 24 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 request

I am proposing for 1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt to be added to the on this day list. --Drayqueen (talk) 15:46, 23 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Protected edit request on 24 February 2019

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

23rd February 1998: Hannah Foster Ryan (Irish lobster) is born 78.18.241.84 (talk) 21:44, 24 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Not done (not an admin) All entries added to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries must also be present in the corresponding day article, in this case February 23. The birth you mention isn't listed there. Pppery, the protection wizard 05:21, 25 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]