Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/May 19

This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 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 May 19 article, see Talk:May 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 May 19, 2025
Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist. To his admirers, he advocated for the rights of African Americans and indicted white America for their actions against black Americans. His detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. After living in foster homes, Malcolm X was involved in criminal activity in Boston and New York. In 1945, he was sentenced to prison where he became a member of the Nation of Islam. After his parole, he became one of the Nation's leaders, chief spokesmen, and their public face. Tension between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, head of the Nation of Islam, led to Malcolm X's departure from the organization in March 1964. Afterwards, he became a Sunni Muslim and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. He founded Muslim Mosque, Inc., a religious organization, and the secular, black nationalist Organization of Afro-American Unity. He was assassinated while giving a speech in New York. (Full article...) Recently featured: Margaret Sanger Fall of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence IMac G4 Archive By email More featured articles About view – talk – edit – history – watch
Picture of the day for May 19, 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/May 18 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/May 20 →

Ataturk

1919 - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk moved to Samsun from Istanbul by an old ship called Bandirma with his few friends to work separately from Ottoman Government in order to prepare the nation to the Independence War.

Date still not found on Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Samsun or Bandirma. -- PFHLai 17:20, 11 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

1674 - Jan III Sobieski was elected by the szlachta to become King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1780 - Never-explained complete darkness fell on Eastern Canada and the New England states at 2 pm.

New England's Dark Day is too stubby. -- PFHLai 17:24, 11 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

For 2025:

1925 - Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) is born, as Malcolm Little. He would go on to become a prominent leader of disaffected blacks in the United States in the 1950s and 60s —Preceding unsigned comment added by John Abbe (talk • contribs) 13:19, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Omitted: Tariff of 1828; Franklin's lost expedition; Parks Canada; Sierra Gorda; 2010 Thai military crackdown
Included: Catherine of Aragon (9th appearance, last in 2010); New England's Dark Day (3rd appearance, last in 2010); Bank of Montreal (4th appearance, last in 2006); Happy Birthday, Mr. President (first appearance; 50th anniversary); Croatian independence referendum, 1991 (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:32, 19 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Tariff of 1828 (maintenance)
Omitted: Catherine of Aragon; New England's Dark Day; Bank of Montreal; Happy Birthday, Mr. President; Croatian independence referendum, 1991
Included: Prome Kingdom (first appearance); Celsius (first appearance); Battle of The Cedars (first appearance); Parks Canada (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Sierra Gorda (2nd appearance, last in 2011); 2010 Thai military crackdown (2nd appearance, last in 2011)

—howcheng {chat} 18:41, 18 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Prome Kingdom; Battle of The Cedars; Parks Canada; 2010 Thai military crackdown (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Pope Gregory II (first appearance); Franklin's lost expedition (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Happy Birthday, Mr. President (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Sierra Gorda (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Celsius (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:41, 18 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Celsius; Franklin's lost expedition; Happy Birthday, Mr. President; Sierra Gorda
Included: Catherine of Aragon (10th appearance, last in 2012); New England's Dark Day (4th appearance, last in 2012); Parks Canada (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Croatian independence referendum, 1991 (3rd appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Pope Gregory II (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 1300th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 10:29, 17 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Prome Kingdom (maintenance)
Omitted: Pope Gregory II; New England's Dark Day
Included: Battle of The Cedars (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Franklin's lost expedition (3rd appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Catherine of Aragon (2nd consecutive appearance, 11 total); Parks Canada (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Croatian independence referendum, 1991 (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:45, 17 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Deleted: Bank of Montreal (moved to June 23; wrong date)
New articles (unused): Refugio oil spill
Omitted: Greek genocide (ineligible—maintenance); Catherine of Aragon (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of The Cedars; Franklin's lost expedition; Parks Canada; Croatian independence referendum, 1991
Included: Ashina Jiesheshuai (first appearance); Celsius (3rd appearance, last in 2014); New England's Dark Day (5th appearance, last in 2015); Happy Birthday, Mr. President (3rd appearance, last in 2014; rescued from Ineligible); Sierra Gorda (3rd appearance, last in 2014; 20th anniversary); Helena of Moscow (first appearance); Nellie Melba (first appearance); Nathaniel Hawthorne (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:39, 19 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Omitted: Ashina Jiesheshuai; New England's Dark Day; Happy Birthday, Mr. President; Helena of Moscow; Nellie Melba; Nathaniel Hawthorne
Included: Pope Gregory II (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Franklin's lost expedition (4th appearance, last in 2016); Refugio oil spill (first appearance); Claude Vignon (first appearance); Mariam-uz-Zamani (first appearance); Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (first appearance)
Repeats: Celsius (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 275th anniversary); Sierra Gorda (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 04:18, 19 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Deleted: Catherine of Aragon (moved to June 11: more appropriate date)
Omitted: Pope Gregory II; Celsius; Sierra Gorda; Refugio oil spill; Claude Vignon; Mariam-uz-Zamani; Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Included: Anne of Kiev (first appearance); Invasion of Jamaica (first appearance); Parks Canada (5th appearance, last in 2016); 1991 Croatian independence referendum (4th appearance, last in 2016); Dunstan (first appearance); George Washington Whistler (first appearance); John Gorton (first appearance)
Repeats: Franklin's lost expedition (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:08, 20 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

New articles (unused): Nora Ephron
Omitted: Ho Chi Minh (ineligible—maintenance); Anne of Kiev; Invasion of Jamaica; Parks Canada; 1991 Croatian independence referendum; Dunstan; George Washington Whistler; John Gorton
Included: Ashina Jiesheshuai (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Battle of the Cedars (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Refugio oil spill (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Alcuin (first appearance); Nicholas Winton (first appearance); Jeffrey Catherine Jones (first appearance)
Repeats: Franklin's lost expedition (3rd consecutive appearance, 6 total; 175th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 16:08, 20 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (unused): Ruth Ella Moore; Erin Phillips
Omitted: Ashina Jiesheshuai; Battle of the Cedars; Franklin's lost expedition; Refugio oil spill; Alcuin; Nicholas Winton
Included: Pope Gregory II (4th appearance, last in 2018); Celsius (5th appearance, last in 2018); Parks Canada (6th appearance, last in 2018); 1991 Croatian independence referendum (5th appearance, last in 2019; 30th anniversary); Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (first appearance); Mariam-uz-Zamani (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Nora Ephron (first appearance; 80th birthday)
Repeats: Jeffrey Catherine Jones (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 10th anniversary)—howcheng {chat} 07:39, 21 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Anne of Kiev (maintenance); Happy Birthday, Mr. President (maintenance)
Omitted: Pope Gregory II; Parks Canada; 1991 Croatian independence referendum; Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle; Mariam-uz-Zamani; Nora Ephron; Jeffrey Catherine Jones
Included: Invasion of Jamaica (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Tariff of Abominations (2nd appearance, last in 2011; rescued from Ineligible); Sierra Gorda (5th appearance, last in 2018; 25th anniversary); 2010 Thai military crackdown (3rd appearance, last in 2013; rescued from Ineligible); Helena of Moscow (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Ruth Ella Moore (first appearance); John Gorton (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 20th anniversary)
Repeats: Celsius (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:58, 20 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]