Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/July 19

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/July 19.

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 July 19 article, see Talk:July 19 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 July 19, 2025
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Picture of the day for July 19, 2025
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← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/July 18 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/July 20 →

A good candidate:

1588 - The Spanish Armada was sighted in the English Channel.

-- PFHLai 03:56, 16 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

- Probably better on August 8 when the actual Battle of Gravelines took place. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 23:52, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Franco-Prussian War (maintenance); Luton Town Hall (maintenance); Massacre of Via D'Amelio (maintenance)
Omitted: Great Fire of Rome; Mary Rose; Mary I of England; Battle of Fromelles (ineligible—maintenance); Farewell Dossier
Included: Battle of Klissow (first appearance); SS Great Britain (2nd appearance, last in 2010); Feyenoord (2nd appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible); Aung San (7th appearance, last in 2010); Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign 1969–1997 (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 05:06, 18 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If Burmese Martyrs' Day is going to be more or less permanent, then I don't see the point of including Aung San a 7th time since they're aspects of the exact same event. For a general variation of topics, Seneca Falls Convention seems to be a much better choice.

--Peter ^Isotalo 18:33, 18 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The choice was actually between Seneca Falls and SS Great Britain, as those are the only two 19th century items eligible (Aung San was there as the token Asian item (ie, geographic diversity)). I chose the ship because it was only making its second appearance. But since Great Fire of Rome just got put back on for balance, I'll swap that one out as it has been on every single year (although I really should go with one of the 16th century items for greater chronological diversity). BTW, it's not unusual for an event to show at the same time as the holiday/observance that commemorates it. If we always omitted the blurb in favor of the holiday, September 11 attacks would never appear because Patriot Day is always listed, and that would bring howls of protest, as I'm sure you can imagine. —howcheng {chat} 21:59, 18 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I can understand that.

Concerning chronological balance, I would not mind pushing Mary Rose for that purpose, but I really, really like Seneca Falls and I think it deserves some preferential treatment because pure social/political topics like it are pretty rare on the mainpage. That it happens to be about women's rights makes me even more partial to its being included every year.

Peter ^Isotalo 23:22, 18 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Apart from holidays/observances, no article is guaranteed a spot every year: not even days that many people would consider "important": D-Day, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, etc. Some articles have been repeated yearly but that's almost always on days where the pool of eligible articles is very small. —howcheng {chat} 00:11, 19 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: Battle of Klissow; SS Great Britain; Seneca Falls Convention; Feyenoord; Aung San; Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign 1969–1997
Included: Great Fire of Rome (9th appearance, last in 2011); Mary Rose (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Maurice Garin/1903 Tour de France (both: first appearance); Battle of Fromelles (4th appearance, last in 2011; rescued from Ineligible); United Airlines Flight 232 (2nd appearance, last in 2010)

—howcheng {chat} 05:36, 18 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'm looking through the version history, and I could only find the Great Fire in 2011. Where are the other eight?

Peter ^Isotalo 15:15, 18 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See the OTD banner at Talk:Great Fire of Rome. Each link goes to the appropriate version in the revision history. —howcheng {chat} 21:15, 18 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Ah. Used to be at 18 July. Thanks.

Peter ^Isotalo 22:25, 18 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Franco-Prussian War
Omitted: Mary Rose; Maurice Garin/1903 Tour de France; Battle of Fromelles; United Airlines Flight 232 (normally would leave this in for the 25th anniversary, but Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was just shot down, so let's not have another air disaster right now)
Included: Battle of Klissow (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Seneca Falls Convention (8th appearance, last in 2012); Farewell Dossier (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Massacre of Via D'Amelio (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Great Fire of Rome (2nd consecutive appearance, 10 total; 1,950th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:10, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest replacing the Rome fire with something of higher quality. It's been at "On this day..." almost every year, but has seen little improvement: it's very short (just over 500 words), relies heavily on fairly uncritical use of primary sources and much of the content is not attributed to any sources at all.

Peter ^Isotalo 10:31, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It happened to be the 1,950th anniversary this year... I tend to give preference to round-number anniversaries. —howcheng {chat} 16:17, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Franco-Prussian War (maintenance)
Omitted: Great Fire of Rome; Battle of Klissow; Farewell Dossier; Massacre of Via D'Amelio
Included: Battle of Apamea (first appearance); Mary Rose (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Aung San (8th appearance, last in 2012); Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign 1969–97 (2nd appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Seneca Falls Convention (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

—howcheng {chat} 05:44, 17 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Battle of Apamea; Mary Rose; Seneca Falls Convention; Aung San; Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign
Included: Mary I of England (6th appearance, last in 2011); SS Great Britain (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Maurice Garin/1903 Tour de France (both: 2nd appearance, last in 2013); Battle of Fromelles (5th appearance, last in 2013; 100th anniversary); Farewell Dossier (3rd appearance, last in 2014)

—howcheng {chat} 16:08, 18 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Great Fire of Rome (maintenance); Aung San (maintenance)
New articles (unused): July 2014 Al-Wadi Al-Gedid attack; Giuseppe Castiglione (Jesuit painter)
Omitted: Burmese Martyrs' Day (ineligible—maintenance); Mary I of England; Battle of Kliszów; SS Great Britain; Maurice Garin/1903 Tour de France; Farewell Dossier
Included: Schäffer affair/Georg Anton Schäffer (both: first appearance; 200th anniversary); Great New York City Fire of 1845 (first appearance); Via D'Amelio bombing (2nd appearance, last in 2014; 25th anniversary); Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign (3rd appearance, last in 2015; 20th anniversary); Richard Leveridge (first appearance); Mangal Pandey (first appearance); Yekaterina Budanova (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 16:17, 17 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Feyenoord (maintenance)
Omitted: Schäffer affair/Georg Anton Schäffer; Great New York City Fire of 1845; Attack at Fromelles; Via D'Amelio bombing; Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign; Richard Leveridge; Mangal Pandey; Yekaterina Budanova
Included: Battle of Apamea (2nd appearance, last in 2015); SS Great Britain (4th appearance, last in 2016; 175th anniversary); 1903 Tour de France (3rd appearance, last appeared in 2016; Garin normally is bold too but was included on March 3 for his birthday); United Airlines Flight 232 (3rd appearance, last in 2013); July 2014 Al-Wadi Al-Gedid attack (first appearance); Philippa of Lancaster (first appearance); Giuseppe Castiglione (Jesuit painter) (first appearance); Khawaja Nazimuddin (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 16:10, 19 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Battle of Apamea; SS Great Britain; 1903 Tour de France; United Airlines Flight 232; 2014 Farafra ambush; Philippa of Lancaster; Giuseppe Castiglione (Jesuit painter); Khawaja Nazimuddin
Included: Great Fire of Rome (11th appearance, last in 2014; rescued from Ineligible); Mary Rose (4th appearance, last in 2015); Seneca Falls Convention (10th appearance, last in 2015); Via D'Amelio bombing/Paolo Borsellino (Bombing: 3rd appearance, last in 2017; Borsellino: first appearance); Mangal Pandey (2nd appearance, last in 2017) Lizzie Borden (5th appearance, last in 2011; normally appears on June 20); Florence Foster Jenkins (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 16:11, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: United Airlines Flight 232 (maintenance)
New articles (ineligible): William McSherry (TFA for 2020-02-07); David Hillhouse Buel (TFA for 2020)
Omitted: Great Fire of Rome; Seneca Falls Convention; Via D'Amelio bombing/Paolo Borsellino; Mangal Pandey; Lizzie Borden (deleted—moved back to original day); Florence Foster Jenkins
Included: Great New York City Fire of 1845 (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 175th anniversary); Luton Town Hall (2nd appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible); Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign (4th appearance, last in 2017); 2014 Farafra ambush (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Damian Dalassenos (first appearance); Thomas Talbot (Upper Canada) (first appearance); Nicola Sturgeon (first appearance; 50th birthday)
Repeats: Mary Rose (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total; 475th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 18:06, 20 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): William McSherry
Omitted: Mary Rose; Great New York City Fire of 1845; Luton Town Hall; Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign; 2014 Farafra ambush; Damian Dalassenos; Nicola Sturgeon
Included: Battle of Apamea (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Battle of Kliszów (4th appearance, last in 2016); Farewell Dossier (4th appearance, last in 2016; 40th anniversary); The Day the Earth Smiled (first appearance); David Hillhouse Buel (priest) (first appearance); Yekaterina Budanova (2nd appearance, last in 2017)
Repeats: Thomas Talbot (Upper Canada) (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 250th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 06:55, 21 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Omitted: Battle of Apamea; Battle of Kliszów; Farewell Dossier (ineligible—maintenance); The Day the Earth Smiled; Thomas Talbot (Upper Canada); David Hillhouse Buel (priest); Yekaterina Budanova
Included: Mary Rose (6th appearance, last in 2020); Seneca Falls Convention (11th appearance, last in 2019); The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold (first appearance); Via D'Amelio bombing (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 30th anniversary); Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign (5th appearance, last in 2020; 25th anniversary); Philippa of Lancaster (2nd appearance, last in 2018); William McSherry (first appearance); Khawaja Nazimuddin (2nd appearance, last in 2018)

—howcheng {chat} 18:39, 21 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]