Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 5

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 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 December 5 article, see Talk:December 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 December 5, 2025
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 5, 2025 create – talk – watch
Picture of the day for December 5, 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 4 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 6 →

Can we loose the International Volunteer Day redlink before this hits the front page. -- AJR | Talk 17:08, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Done —Mets501 (talk) 15:54, 23 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No love for the ninja? The pirates were already mentioned on September 19th. --Paul Soth 05:29, 28 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is there any room for Flight 19? Anynobody 00:36, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Article selection

I was under the impression that article quality was a determining factor in making this list so I was surprised to see the GA-class Birmingham Americans article bumped for a Start-class Great Smog article. As this last-minute change was made without any explanation I can see (the edit summary is non-descriptive) I would normally be bold, as suggested, but with the date rapidly approaching I'll err on the side of caution. Any guidance on this point would be appreciated. - Dravecky (talk) 08:32, 2 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Legacy of Pedro II of Brazil (Pedro II was POTD on 2012-11-15)
Omitted: Brooklyn Theater Fire; Flight 19; Great Smog
Included: Noble train of artillery (first appearance); 1936 Soviet Constitution (3rd appearance, last in 2006); Civil Partnership Act 2004 (first appearance)
Repeats: Summis desiderantes affectibus (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Gough Whitlam (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:38, 4 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: Summis desiderantes affectibus; Noble train of artillery
Included: Brooklyn Theater Fire (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Prohibition in the United States/Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution (Prohibition: 2nd appearance, last in 2007; rescued from Ineligible; Amendment: 3rd appearance, last in 2009)
Repeats: 1936 Soviet Constitution (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Gough Whitlam (4th consecutive appearance, 4 total); Civil Partnership Act 2004 (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:14, 4 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Prohibition in the United States; 1936 Soviet Constitution; Gough Whitlam; Civil Partnership Act 2004
Included: Summis desiderantes affectibus (5th appearance, last in 2012); H. H. Asquith (first appearance); Legacy of Pedro II of Brazil (first appearance; 75th anniversary); Birmingham Americans (2nd appearance, last in 2010; 40th anniversary)
Repeats: Brooklyn Theater Fire (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:54, 4 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Brooklyn Theater fire; H. H. Asquith; Legacy of Pedro II of Brazil; Birmingham Americans
Included: International Volunteer Day (first appearance); Noble train of artillery (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Flight 19 (6th appearance, last in 2011; 70th anniversary); Glasnost Meeting (first appearance; 50th anniversary); Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 (first appearance; 20th anniversary)
Repeats: Summis desiderantes affectibus (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:00, 3 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 blurb for resignation of H. H. Asquith

1916 – British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith (pictured) resigned after criticism of his leadership during World War I.

I think the fact that World War I was still being fought when he resigned should be stated. As written, a reader who isn't aware of the year the war ended could get the impression that his resignation occurred (shortly) after the war. Furthermore, the article about him states, "Continued crises... shook the confidence of MPs in him, and when conflict with Lloyd George erupted in December 1916, Asquith could not keep their support, and he resigned" so the word criticism seems insufficient. I propose rewriting the blurb to read Amid World War I and following his loss of support in Parliament, British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith resigned. --Dyspeptic skeptic (talk) 10:04, 4 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Noble train of artillery; Flight 19; Glasnost Meeting; Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56
Included: Brooklyn Theatre fire (4th appearance, last in 2014); H. H. Asquith (2nd appearance, last in 2014; 100th anniversary); 1936 Soviet Constitution (5th appearance, last in 2013; 80th anniversary); Birmingham Americans (3rd appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Summis desiderantes affectibus (3rd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 05:17, 5 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Deleted: Requiem (Mozart) (not suitable for inclusion on this date)
Moved to Ineligible: Great Smog of London (maintenance)
Omitted: Saint Nicholas (ineligible—maintenance); Bhumibol Adulyadej (ineligible—maintenance); Summis desiderantes affectibus; H. H. Asquith; 1936 Soviet Constitution (ineligible—maintenance); Birmingham Americans
Included: Battle of Leuthen (3rd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Preston By-pass (first appearance); Gough Whitlam (5th appearance, last in 2013); Westroads Mall shooting (first appearance; 10th anniversary); Joan, Countess of Flanders (first appearance); Louise Bryant (first appearance); Amrita Sher-Gil (first appearance)
Repeats: Brooklyn Theatre fire (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:11, 5 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Deleted: Saint Nicholas (moved to December 6)
Omitted: Battle of Leuthen; Brooklyn Theatre fire; Gough Whitlam; Westroads Mall shooting; Joan, Countess of Flanders; Louise Bryant; Amrita Sher-Gil
Included: Summis desiderantes affectibus (8th appearance, last in 2016); Noble train of artillery (3rd appearance, last in 2015); H. H. Asquith (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Phillis Wheatley (first appearance); Afanasy Fet (first appearance); Princess Alice of Battenberg (first appearance)
Repeats: Preston By-pass (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 60th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 16:50, 5 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

New articles (ineligible): Jacobus Anthonie Meessen (TFA for 2019)
Omitted: Noble train of artillery; H. H. Asquith; Preston By-pass; Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56; Phillis Wheatley; Afanasy Fet
Included: Battle of Leuthen (4th appearance, last in 2017); Flight 19 (7th appearance, last in 2015); Glasnost meeting (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Civil Partnership Act 2004 (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Ealhswith (first appearance); Clyde Cessna (first appearance)
Repeats: Summis desiderantes affectibus (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total); Princess Alice of Battenberg (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 50th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 16:47, 6 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Jacobus Anthonie Meessen
Omitted: Summis desiderantes affectibus; Glasnost meeting; Civil Partnership Act 2004; Ealhswith; Clyde Cessna; Princess Alice of Battenberg
Included: Noble train of artillery (4th appearance, last in 2018); Birmingham Americans (4th appearance, last in 2016); Afanasy Fet (3rd appearance, last in 2019; also appeared on December 3, his death anniversary; 200th birthday); John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (first appearance); Clair Cameron Patterson (first appearance; 25th anniversary)
Repeats: Battle of Leuthen (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total); Flight 19 (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total; 75th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:43, 7 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (ineligible): James Guthrie (Kentucky politician) (POTD for 2021)
Omitted: Battle of Leuthen; Flight 19; Birmingham Americans; Afanasy Fet; John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe; Clair Cameron Patterson
Included: Summis desiderantes affectibus (10th appearance, last in 2019); 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union (6th appearance, last in 2016); Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Civil Partnership Act 2004 (4th appearance, last in 2019); Jacobus Anthonie Meessen (first appearance); René Cresté (first appearance); Amrita Sher-Gil (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 80th anniversary)
Repeats: Noble train of artillery (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 04:58, 7 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]