Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 5

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 5.

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 5 article, see Talk:August 5 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 5, 2025

Belvidere Apollo Theatre in 2012

The collapse of the Apollo Theatre took place on the evening of March 31, 2023, when a tornado struck Belvidere, Illinois, in the United States. A show there, headlined by the death metal band Morbid Angel, had begun despite advance knowledge of imminent severe weather. Winds of 90 to 100 miles per hour (140 to 160 km/h) caused the failure of the lower roof structure and large amounts of debris fell into the sold-out venue burying many people. Concertgoers removed debris prior to the arrival of the Belvidere Fire Department. One concertgoer was pronounced dead at the scene and 27 were taken to the hospital, of 48 who suffered non-fatal injuries. The street-facing facade and the upper roof structure were found on the street after the tornado. Following the collapse, the lack of safety protocols despite warning became the subject of multiple lawsuits. The Apollo Theatre was condemned the next day, but reopened that September. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

view – talk – edit – history – watch

Picture of the day for August 5, 2025

Carmen Miranda (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature fruit hat outfit that she wore in her American films. Despite being stereotyped, Miranda's performances popularized Brazilian music and increased public awareness of Latin culture. In 1941, Miranda was the first Latin American star to be invited to leave her hand and footprints in the courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and was the first South American honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She died in Beverly Hills, California, and is buried at the Cemitério de São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro. This photograph depicts Miranda in a scene from the 1941 film Week-End in Havana.

Photograph credit: 20th Century Fox; restored by Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 4 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/August 6 →

2012 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Income tax in the United States
Omitted: First Partition of Poland; Transatlantic telegraph cable (ineligible—maintenance); History of Plaid Cymru; Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968); Knin (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Battle of Maserfield (3rd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Bertha Benz (first appearance); Battle of Romani (first appearance); 1949 Ambato earthquake (first appearance); Marilyn Monroe (5th appearance, last in 2010; 50th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 05:59, 4 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: Battle of Maserfield; Bertha Benz; Battle of Romani; 1949 Ambato earthquake; Marilyn Monroe (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: List of emperors of the Han Dynasty (first appearance); St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (4th appearance, last in 2010); Income tax in the United States (first appearance); History of Plaid Cymru (2nd appearance, last in 2011); 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing (5th appearance, last in 2010; 10th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:36, 4 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Edit request on 5 August 2013

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

I would like to see the birth of Ivar Aasen on the main page. He created one of Norway's official languages, Nynorsk; this is his 200 years anniversary. His centenial is the inspiration for the official 2013 Language year in Norway. Suggested . 1813. Linguist Ivar Aasen who created the Nynorsk language was born. Regards, Iselilja (talk) 08:13, 5 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Iselilja (talk) 08:13, 5 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: Sorry, it looks like we were too late for this one. For next time, it's probably best to make the request a few days before so that the admins who regularly deal with this section of the main page notice it. If it's more than two days before the page is displayed on the main page, you should be able to edit it yourself as well. Best — Mr. Stradivarius ^{♪ talk ♪} 06:01, 6 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I actually did it, I just didn't see it until 21:00 UTC. —howcheng {chat} 07:03, 6 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Marilyn Monroe
Omitted: List of emperors of the Han dynasty; St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador; Income tax in the United States; History of Plaid Cymru; 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing
Included: Siege of Algeciras (1278) (first appearance); John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie (first appearance); Battle of Mobile Bay (first appearance; 150th anniversary); Battle of Romani (2nd appearance, last in 2012); 2010 Badakhshan massacre (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:15, 4 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Henry I of England (TFA for 2015)
Omitted: Siege of Algeciras (1278); John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie; Battle of Mobile Bay; Battle of Romani; 2010 Badakhshan massacre (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Battle of Maserfield (4th appearance, last in 2012); St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (5th appearance, last in 2013); History of Plaid Cymru (3rd appearance, last in 2013; 90th anniversary); Marilyn Monroe (6th appearance, last in 2012); Operation Storm (first appearance; 20th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:18, 3 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Battle of Maserfield; St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador; History of Plaid Cymru; Marilyn Monroe; Operation Storm
Included: List of emperors of the Han dynasty (2nd appearance, last in 2013); First Partition of Poland (3rd appearance, last in 2011); Bertha Benz (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Battle of Romani (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968) (2nd appearance, last in 2011)

—howcheng {chat} 06:31, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion for On this Day

English composer George Butterworth, killed 100 years ago today, 5 August 1916, by a sniper at the Battle of the Somme. Cnbrb (talk) 08:47, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Cnbrb:

Done. —howcheng {chat} 15:54, 5 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you - just made it in time! Cnbrb (talk) 11:05, 6 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie (maintenance); Income tax in the United States (maintenance); History of Plaid Cymru (maintenance); 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing (maintenance)
Omitted: List of emperors of the Han dynasty; First Partition of Poland; Bertha Benz; Battle of Romani; Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968)
Included: Henry I of England (6th appearance, last in 2010); Battle of Castiglione (first appearance); Francis Ronalds (first appearance); 1949 Ambato earthquake (first appearance); Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting (first appearance); Euthymius I of Constantinople (first appearance); Richard Ottley (first appearance); Eddie Nolan (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 06:55, 5 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

New articles (unused): Lachine massacre; 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill
Omitted: Henry I of England; Francis Ronalds; 1949 Ambato earthquake; Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting; Euthymius I of Constantinople; Richard Ottley; Eddie Nolan
Included: Siege of Algeciras (1278–79) (2nd appearance, last in 2014); John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie (2nd appearance, last in 2014; rescued from Ineligible); Bertha Benz (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Battle of Romani (4th appearance, last in 2016); Marilyn Monroe/Death of Marilyn Monroe (Monroe: 7th appearance, last in 2015; Death: 3rd appearance, last in 2009 (was previously ineligible)); Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (first appearance); Ivar Aasen (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Soichiro Honda (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 04:26, 5 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Mobile Bay (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Edward the Elder/Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians; Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent; Harry Trott
Omitted: Siege of Algeciras (1278–79); John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie; Battle of Romani; Marilyn Monroe/Death of Marilyn Monroe; Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe; Ivar Aasen; Soichiro Honda
Included: List of emperors of the Han dynasty (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Lachine massacre (first appearance); First Partition of Poland (4th appearance, last in 2016); 1949 Ambato earthquake (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 70th anniversary); Euthymius I of Constantinople (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Tom Thomson (first appearance); Pete Burns (first appearance; 60th birthday)
Repeats: Bertha Benz (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:15, 6 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Edward the Elder/Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians (date not cited); St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (maintenance); Battle of Castiglione (maintenance)
New articles (ineligible): Ruth Asawa (date not certain)
Omitted: List of emperors of the Han dynasty; Lachine massacre; First Partition of Poland; Bertha Benz; 1949 Ambato earthquake; Euthymius I of Constantinople; Tom Thomson; Pete Burns
Included: Francis Ronalds (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Battle of Romani (5th appearance, last in 2018); Marilyn Monroe/Death of Marilyn Monroe (MM: 8th appearance; Death: 4th; both last in 2018); 1984 Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fokker F27 crash (first appearance); Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (first appearance); Harry Trott (first appearance); Alec Guinness (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 03:37, 7 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Ruth Asawa
Omitted: Francis Ronalds; Battle of Romani; Marilyn Monroe/Death of Marilyn Monroe; 1984 Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fokker F27 crash
Included: Battle of Maserfield (5th appearance, last in 2015); Bertha Benz (5th appearance, last in 2019); Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968) (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Juno (spacecraft) (first appearance)
Repeats: Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Harry Trott (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Alec Guinness (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

Births and deaths didn't get changed this year. —howcheng {chat} 07:07, 7 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

New articles (unused): Battle of Petrovaradin; Bhimsen Thapa
Omitted: Battle of Maserfield; Bertha Benz; Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968); Juno (spacecraft); Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent; Harry Trott; Alec Guinness
Included: List of emperors of the Han dynasty (4th appearance, last in 2019); Battle of Romani (6th appearance, last in 2020); 1949 Ambato earthquake (4th appearance, last in 2019); Marilyn Monroe/Death of Marilyn Monroe (MM: 9th appearance; Death: 5th; both last in 2020); Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Euthymius I of Constantinople (3rd appearance, last in 2019); Edvard August Vainio (first appearance); Ruth Asawa (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible)

—howcheng {chat} 19:11, 8 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

2023 notes

Omitted: Battle of Romani; 1949 Ambato earthquake; Marilyn Monroe/Death of Marilyn Monroe; Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting; Euthymius I of Constantinople; Edvard August Vainio; Ruth Asawa
Included: Henry I of England (7th appearance, last in 2017); Lachine massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Lonesome Cowboys police raid (first appearance); Magic: The Gathering (first appearance); Dorothy Thomas (entrepreneur) (first appearance); Jerry Pentland (first appearance); Jacquetta Hawkes (first appearance); Kirk Urso (first appearance)
Repeats: List of emperors of the Han dynasty (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

Heart ^(talk) 01:19, 17 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]