Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 12

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 12.

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 December 12 article, see Talk:December 12 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 December 12, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 12, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for December 12, 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/December 11 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 13 →

I think Paul Martin's becoming Prime Minister of Canada in 2003 is worthy of mention here, afterall their have only been 21. I think it is more noteworthy than the Panay Incident, which I had never heard of until reading here, though I had heard of the other three items. Thoughts on this? I'd like to change this before December 12 if there is no objection. - Jord 00:58, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I'll pass. It remains to be seen if Martin is going to be a notable PM in Canadian history or not. And we should avoid featuring him while he is campaigning for the federal election. -- PFHLai 08:37, 9 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

unprotect

needs to add observation: "Hanukkah ends at sunset (Judaism, 2007);" Some thing 21:55, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Seems reasonable. Done. Proto::► 11:49, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2011 notes

Moved to Ineligible for maintenance reasons: USS Cairo, Clapham Junction rail crash
Swapped out: Battle of Nineveh (627), Guglielmo Marconi , Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army), Arrow Air Flight 1285
Swapped in: Yuan Shikai (7th appearance, last in 2009), Flag of Estonia (first appearance), Reich Chancellery meeting of 12 December 1941 (2nd appearance, last in 2009), Bush v. Gore (4th appearance, last in 2009)
Left in: Our Lady of Guadalupe (7th appearance, 2nd consecutive)

--howcheng {chat} 00:46, 12 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Clapham Junction rail crash

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapham_Junction_rail_crash

Any reason why this deserves less merit than the others listed? It was a while ago (but so were the others listed) but it was one of the worst in the UK and I believe it has merit to be listed still. 87.194.84.44 (talk) 13:50, 12 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It doesn't have enough footnotes. See WP:OTD#Criteria for listing items on this set of pages #8. howcheng {chat} 20:07, 12 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I've rewritten it, but I suggest that it's run in 2013 as this is the 25 year anniversary. Edgepedia (talk) 18:00, 12 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

New articles (unused): Lebensborn
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Clapham Junction rail crash (save for 2013, the 25th anniversary)
Omitted: Our Lady of Guadalupe; Flag of Estonia (ineligible—maintenance); Reich Chancellery meeting of 12 December 1941; Bush v. Gore
Included: Battle of Nineveh (627) (2nd appearance, last in 2010); HMS Duchess (H64) (first appearance); Operation Winter Storm (first appearance; 70th anniversary); Jomo Kenyatta (8th appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Yuan Shikai (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total);

—howcheng {chat} 07:24, 11 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: Battle of Nineveh (627); Yuan Shikai; HMS Duchess (H64); Operation Winter Storm; Jomo Kenyatta
Included: Our Lady of Guadalupe (8th appearance, last in 2011); USS Cairo (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Guglielmo Marconi (7th appearance, last in 2010); Lebensborn (first appearance); Clapham Junction rail crash (2nd appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:03, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: USS Cairo; Guglielmo Marconi; Lebensborn; Clapham Junction rail crash
Included: Battle of Nineveh (627) (3rd appearance, last in 2012); HMS Duchess (H64) (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 75th anniversary); Jomo Kenyatta (9th appearance, last in 2012; 50th anniversary); Bush v. Gore (5th appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Our Lady of Guadalupe (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:40, 11 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Centennial of Frank Sinatra's birth

I am not sure of the proper manner in which to make this nomination, but the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's birth (December 12, 1915) occurs this year. Based upon his accomplishments as an entertainer, he seems to be a viable candidate for listing in this year's OTD/SA. --Allen3 ^talk 14:25, 4 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

FYI, DYK has organized an effort to fill the December 12 sets with Sinatra hooks. --Allen3 ^talk 21:56, 29 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

OK, we'll leave Sinatra out then. Thanks. —howcheng {chat} 03:21, 10 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Howcheng: DYK is not specifically mentioning the anniversary under the suggestion that it is more suited to OTD? Is there an issue with it running in tandem? --Errant ^(chat!) 11:43, 10 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Usually we don't duplicate efforts between sections. If a subject is featured in TFA/POTD, we wouldn't list it in OTD either. I would think the same rule applies to DYK, but I don't remember having done this before. —howcheng {chat} 16:53, 10 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Battle of Nineveh (627); HMS Duchess (H64); Jomo Kenyatta; Bush v. Gore
Included: Yule Lads (first appearance); USS Cairo (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Yuan Shikai (9th appearance, last in 2012; 100th anniversary); Lebensborn (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 80th anniversary); Arrow Air Flight 1285 (2nd appearance, last in 2010; 30th anniversary)
Repeats: Our Lady of Guadalupe (3rd consecutive appearance, 10 total)

—howcheng {chat} 04:10, 10 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Guglielmo Marconi (maintenance)
Omitted: Kenya (ineligible—maintenance); USS Cairo (ineligible—maintenance); Yuan Shikai (ineligible—maintenance); Lebensborn; Arrow Air Flight 1285
Included: Oaks explosion (first appearance; 150th anniversary); Reich Chancellery meeting of 12 December 1941 (3rd appearance, last in 2011; 75th anniversary); Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army) (2nd appearance, last in 2010; 60th anniversary); Clapham Junction rail crash (3rd appearance, last in 2013)
Repeats: Our Lady of Guadalupe (4th consecutive appearance, 11 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:31, 11 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Xi'an Incident
Omitted: Battle of Nineveh (627); Our Lady of Guadalupe (ineligible—maintenance); Reich Chancellery meeting of 12 December 1941; Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army); Clapham Junction rail crash
Included: Delhi Durbar (first appearance); Operation Winter Storm (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 75th anniversary); Jomo Kenyatta (10th appearance, last in 2014); Bush v. Gore (6th appearance, last in 2014); Edvard Munch (first appearance); Henrietta Swan Leavitt (first appearance); Yasujirō Ozu (first appearance)
Repeats: Oaks explosion (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:08, 12 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army) (maintenance)
Omitted: Delhi Durbar (ineligible—maintenance); Operation Winter Storm; Jomo Kenyatta; Bush v. Gore; Edvard Munch; Henrietta Swan Leavitt; Yasujirō Ozu
Included: Battle of Nineveh (627) (5th appearance, last in 2016); Shuliavka Republic (5th appearance, last in 2016; moved from December 11); Xi'an Incident (first appearance); Clapham Junction rail crash (4th appearance, last in 2016; 30th anniversary); Geoffrey (archbishop of York) (first appearance); Stand Watie (2nd appearance, last in 2006; previously appeared on June 25); Doris Blackburn (first appearance)
Repeats: Oaks explosion (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 18:10, 12 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Delhi Durbar
Omitted: Oaks explosion; Shuliavka Republic; Xi'an Incident; Clapham Junction rail crash; Geoffrey (archbishop of York); Stand Watie (deleted—already appears on death anniversary); Doris Blackburn
Included: Our Lady of Guadalupe (rescued from Ineligible); Lordship of Argos and Nauplia (first appearance); HMS Duchess (H64) (3rd appearance, last in 2014; 80th anniversary); 1979 Tumaco earthquake (first appearance; 40th anniversary); Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 (first appearance); Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (first appearance); Gustave Flaubert (first appearance); Evelyn S. Lieberman (first appearance)
Repeats: Battle of Nineveh (627) (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Delhi Durbar (maintenance)
Omitted: Our Lady of Guadalupe (ineligible—maintenance); HMS Duchess (H64); 1979 Tumaco earthquake; Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2; Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood; Gustave Flaubert; Evelyn S. Lieberman
Included: Greek case (first appearance); Bush v. Gore (7th appearance, last in 2017; 20th anniversary); Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (first appearance); Edvard Munch (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Doris Blackburn (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 50th anniversary)
Repeats: Battle of Nineveh (627) (3rd consecutive appearance, 7 total); Lordship of Argos and Nauplia (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:22, 14 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Omitted: Battle of Nineveh (627); Greek case; Bush v. Gore; Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke; Edvard Munch; Doris Blackburn
Included: Oaks explosion (4th appearance, last in 2018); Shuliavka Republic (6th appearance, last in 2018); Reich Chancellery meeting of 12 December 1941 (4th appearance, last in 2016; 80th anniversary); Arrow Air Flight 1285 (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Johann Christoph Gottsched first appearance); Gustave Flaubert (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 200th birthday); Henrietta Swan Leavitt (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 100th anniversary)
Repeats: Lordship of Argos and Nauplia (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 04:30, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Howcheng, do you know who added Musikhjalpen to today's top of the box? I would like to object to its inclusion on the grounds of significance and poor article quality. QueensanditsCrazy (talk) 16:30, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@QueensanditsCrazy: Sorry, I'm not really involved in OTD anymore. —howcheng {chat} 18:50, 13 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]