Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 2

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 2.

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 2 article, see Talk:December 2 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 2, 2025

Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 2, 2025

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Picture of the day for December 2, 2025

Pedro II, nicknamed the Magnanimous, was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Pedro II inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, but he turned Brazil into an emerging power in the international arena. The nation grew to be distinguished from its Hispanic neighbors on account of its political stability, freedom of speech, respect for civil rights, vibrant economic growth, and form of government—a functional representative parliamentary monarchy. Pedro II pushed through the abolition of slavery despite opposition from powerful political and economic interests. The Emperor established a reputation as a vigorous sponsor of learning, culture, and the sciences, and he won the respect and admiration of people such as Charles Darwin, Victor Hugo, and Friedrich Nietzsche, and was a friend to Richard Wagner, Louis Pasteur, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, among others. Historians have regarded the Emperor positively and several have ranked him as the greatest Brazilian. Pedro II was born 200 years ago today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This 1872 painting depicts the Emperor delivering the speech from the throne and wearing the Imperial Regalia.

Painting. credit: Pedro Américo; Photographed by Imperial Museum of Brazil

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← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 1 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 3 →

Source for Einstein

What is the source that claims this:

1915 - Albert Einstein publishes the general theory of relativity.

The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 6: The Berlin Years: Writings, 1914-1917 does not mention this date. --romanm (talk) 00:08, 22 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I was asked to respond, but I'm not really an expert on this. I do think 1915 is the right date, however. It's surprising you can't find it. Johnleemk | Talk 10:35, 22 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that 1915 is the right year, but is the December 2nd the right date? --romanm (talk) 14:00, 22 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Since the date cannot be confirmed and cannot be found on either articles, I've removed the anniversary from the template. -- PFHLai 23:58, 25 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Battle of Austerlitz

(moved from Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries .)

I've noticed, that the home page of the English Wikipedia completely ignores the fact, that today (December 2, 2005) is the 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz, an event of great importance in the history of Europe, for whose celebrance a set of several huge ceremonies with international participance including top politic representants taking part is taking place in the venue of the 1805 battle. Yes, I see that there is accidentally already one event on Napoleon in the Selected anniversaries, but I myself prefer this one to be of a greater importance - same like for example the French Wikipedia does, as I have noticed - they have had the article on the Main Page for the whole present week, since it is their Cooperation of the Week. I think the Wikipedia should report on this anniversary, at least this year when there is the jubilee and extraordinary celebrations taking place. Blahma 22:37, 2 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wish I had seen this earlier. Too late to do anything about it now. :-( -- PFHLai 21:21, 3 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This ""Battle of Three Emperors" should be mentioned every year (not only because of 200 anniversary). Could some admin add it there for next year? Szalas

I was thinking more along the lines of alternating this battle with Napoleon's coronation.... Anyway, the template should be updated a few days before its appearence on the MainPage. We'll re-visit this at the end of November 2006. -- PFHLai 20:57, 4 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, Battle of Austerlitz was selected as the TFA for this day in 2006. Therefore, I not only had to hide that here, but also hide Napoleon's coronation so there are less French topics on the main page (I have no idea what is going to by posted on ITN and DYK). The rotation will have to start next year. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 07:36, 1 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach

Moved from Talk:Main Page. --218.102.217.12 (talk) 21:29, 4 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

On this date in 1717, Johann Sebastian Bach got out of jail. Bach had been imprisoned by Duke Wilhelm Ernst, duke of Saxe-Weimar, since Nov. 6, 1717, for accepting a new post at Prince Leopold’s court at Köthen without first asking the duke’s permission. It is well for posterity that Bach was released, because at Köthen he went on to complete the six Brandenburg Concertos, dedicated to his patron, Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. However, the margrave (German: Markgraf = count of the mark) never had the concertos performed. It was not until the score was rediscovered in the archives of Brandenburg in 1849 that the Brandenburg Concertos were published and became widely known as, arguably, the finest compositions of the Baroque Era.

Sca (talk) 18:00, 2 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This event is not mentioned in the article. howcheng {chat} 16:51, 5 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Touro Synagogue (maintenance); United Arab Emirates (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of Austerlitz; Air raid on Bari; Benazir Bhutto; Northern Ireland Executive; Enron scandal
Included: Coronation of Napoleon I (2nd appearance, last in 2010); Battle of Tirad Pass (first appearance); Chicago Pile-1 (3rd appearance, last in 2009; 70th anniversary); Granma (yacht) (6th appearance, last in 2010); Maura Clarke/Jean Donovan/Ita Ford/Dorothy Kazel (all: first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 11:39, 1 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Franz Joseph I of Austria
Omitted: Coronation of Napoleon I; Battle of Tirad Pass; Chicago Pile-1; Granma (yacht); Maura Clarke/Jean Donovan/Ita Ford/Dorothy Kazel
Included: Monroe Doctrine (6th appearance, last in 2010); Napoleon III (first appearance); Air raid on Bari (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 70th anniversary); Laos (6th appearance as blurb, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Benazir Bhutto (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:52, 1 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Laos (ineligible—maintenance); Monroe Doctrine; Napoleon III (ineligible—maintenance); Air raid on Bari; Pathet Lao (ineligible—maintenance); Benazir Bhutto
Included: United Arab Emirates (rescued from Ineligible); Coronation of Napoleon I (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Franz Joseph I of Austria (2nd appearance, last in 2006); Battle of Tirad Pass (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Granma (yacht)(7th appearance, last in 2012); Enron scandal (2nd appearance, last in 2011)

—howcheng {chat} 09:19, 1 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Coronation of Napoleon I; Franz Joseph I of Austria; Battle of Tirad Pass; Granma (yacht); Enron scandal
Included: Battle of Austerlitz (5th appearance, last in 2011); Monroe Doctrine (7th appearance, last in 2013); Napoleon III (5th appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); Chicago Pile-1 (4th appearance, last in 2012); Maura Clarke/Jean Donovan/Ita Ford/Dorothy Kazel (all: 2nd appearance, last in 2012)

—howcheng {chat} 07:34, 30 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Benazir Bhutto (maintenance)
Omitted: United Arab Emirates (ineligible—maintenance); Monroe Doctrine; Napoleon III; Chicago Pile-1; 1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador (blurb previously featured Maura Clarke/Jean Donovan/Ita Ford/Dorothy Kazel, but now all four articles are short)
Included: Franz Joseph I of Austria (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Air raid on Bari (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Granma (yacht) (8th appearance, last in 2014; 60th anniversary); Enron scandal (3rd appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Battle of Austerlitz (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 23:24, 1 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Napoleon III (maintenance); Chicago Pile-1 (TFA for 2017)
Omitted: Battle of Austerlitz; Franz Joseph I of Austria (ineligible—maintenance); Air raid on Bari; Granma (yacht); Enron scandal
Included: Coronation of Napoleon I (4th appearance, last in 2014); Monroe Doctrine (8th appearance, last in 2015); Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River (3rd appearance, last in 2013; moved from November 26); Benazir Bhutto (3rd appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); 2015 San Bernardino attack (first appearance); William Burges (first appearance); Allen Wright (first appearance); Britney Spears (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 03:37, 2 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Chicago Pile-1
New articles (unused): Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–89)
Omitted: Coronation of Napoleon I; Monroe Doctrine; Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River; 2015 San Bernardino attack; William Burges; Allen Wright; Britney Spears
Included: Battle of Austerlitz (7th appearance, last in 2016); Battle of Tirad Pass (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Ford Model A (1927–31) (first appearance); Air raid on Bari (4th appearance, last in 2016; 75th anniversary); Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg (2nd appearance, last in 2018; also appeared on April 10, his birthday); Marquis de Sade (first appearance); Philip Larkin (2nd appearance, last in 2018; also appeared on August 9, his birthday)
Repeats: Benazir Bhutto (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 30th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 17:19, 3 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Battle of Austerlitz; Battle of Tirad Pass; Ford Model A (1927–31); Air raid on Bari; Benazir Bhutto; Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg (deleted—already appears on birthday); Marquis de Sade; Philip Larkin (deleted—already appears on birthday)
Included: Monroe Doctrine (9th appearance, last in 2017); Second French Empire/Napoleon III (Empire: 2nd appearance, last in 2005, previously appeared on September 4; Napoleon: 6th appearance, last in 2015, rescued from Ineligible); Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River (4th appearance, last in 2017); Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–1989) (first appearance; 30th anniversary); Enron scandal (4th appearance, last in 2016); William Shirley (first appearance; 325th birthday); John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General) (first appearance); Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 16:51, 3 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: 1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador (maintenance)
Omitted: Monroe Doctrine; Second French Empire/Napoleon III; Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–89); Enron scandal; William Shirley; John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General); Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
Included: Coronation of Napoleon I (5th appearance, last in 2017); Battle of Tirad Pass (4th appearance, last in 2018); Chicago Pile-1 (5th appearance, last in 2015); Benazir Bhutto (5th appearance, last in 2018); António Luís de Seabra, 1st Viscount of Seabra (first appearance); Erima Northcroft (first appearance); Aaron Copland (first appearance; 30th anniversary)
Repeats: Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total; 70th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 04:46, 5 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (unused): John Barbirolli; Wynton Kelly; Francis Spellman
Omitted: Coronation of Napoleon I; Battle of Tirad Pass; Chicago Pile-1; Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River; Benazir Bhutto; António Luís de Seabra, 1st Viscount of Seabra; Erima Northcroft; Aaron Copland
Included: Battle of Austerlitz (8th appearance, last in 2018); Monroe Doctrine (10th appearance, last in 2019); Air raid on Bari (5th appearance, last in 2018); Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–1989) (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Enron scandal (first appearance); Vincent Bourne (first appearance); Ivan Bagramyan (first appearance); Britney Spears (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 40th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 03:36, 3 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]