Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/March 5

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

1046 - Naser Khosrow begins his "itinerary" which he would later describe in Safarnameh. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 169.207.86.220 (talk • contribs) 07:41, 4 March 2004 (UTC).[reply]

re Winston Churchill

the Winston Churchill article specifically states that the term "iron curtain" was not first used in a speech by Winston Churchill --MilkMiruku 01:04, 5 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. No one said anything last year ..... Thanks for pointing this out, MilkMiruku. -- PFHLai 03:41, 5 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re: References to Military Occupation are POV

I am new to Wikipedia, so forgive me if I'm talking out of turn, but surely describing the presence of British soldiers in Boston in 1770 as a "Military Occupation" is a Point of View that has no place in Wikipedia, particularly on the front page? 81.96.78.18 14:36, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As it is clearly not contended, I have removed reference to Military Occupation. MJD. 82.30.249.52 (talk) 15:19, 26 December 2007 (UTC).[reply]

What?!?!

I cannot believe Wikipedia's American-centric attitude put Casimir Pulaski Day as more important than learn from Lei Feng day. What is the justification for this? That China is supposedly communist and authoritarian? Colipon+(T) 04:12, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Boston Massacre poorly worded

Coming up with a neutral wording for this entry is a challenge, to be sure, but the current version tries so hard to avoid controversy that it avoids telling us who did what:

1770 – The pelting of British soldiers with snowballs soon escalated into a riot in Boston, Massachusetts, leaving at least five civilians dead.

Left out is the fact that colonists pelted soldiers with snowballs (implied), and that soldiers shot civilians (completely unmentioned). Also curious is the phrase "at least"; wasn't the death total exactly five? (One man's death 10 years later was attributed to injuries suffered in the shooting, but of course the incident didn't "leave" him dead.) Here's a better-worded entry, short and to the point:

1770 – British soldiers fire into a threatening crowd in Boston, Massachusetts, killing five civilians.

—Kevin Myers 04:09, 5 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Requested addition to 5 March 2011 anniversaries

I'd like to add ZX81 to the list of selected anniversaries for 5 March. It is the 30th anniversary of the ZX81's launch, and I've rewritten and expanded the article to commemorate the anniversary. The Register has already published an anniversary piece which draws quite heavily on the Wikipedia article (see [1]). The proposed line would be:

1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, was launched by Sinclair Research and went on to sell over 1.5 million units around the world.

However, I can't work out any way of editing the selected anniversary page, as it seems to be locked. Can someone please help? Prioryman (talk) 12:47, 4 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Article looks good. I'll be sure to include it when I go do my verifications in a little bit. howcheng {chat} 16:55, 4 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Omitted: John Cabot, Katyn massacre, Guerrillero Heroico, ZX81, Paul Okalik
Included: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (first appearance), Boston Massacre (7th appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible), First Anglo-Burmese War (4th appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible), Supermarine Spitfire (first appearance), Homebrew Computer Club (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 05:47, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Gloster Meteor
Omitted: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium; Boston Massacre; First Anglo-Burmese War; Supermarine Spitfire; Homebrew Computer Club
Included: Battle of Aizkraukle (first appearance); Battle of Barrosa (first appearance); Aquatic ape hypothesis (3rd appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); BOAC Flight 911 (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Paul Okalik (3rd appearance, last in 2011)

—howcheng {chat} 06:38, 4 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I was just wondering why the 60th anniversary of the Death of Joseph Stalin was not mentioned. But obviously the aquatic ape hypothesis is more important. --ÄDA - DÄP VA (talk) 10:39, 5 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Per the rules, we only include births and natural deaths on centennial anniversaries. —howcheng {chat} 16:45, 5 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Boston Massacre (POTD for 2014)
Omitted: Battle of Aizkraukle; Aquatic ape hypothesis (ineligible—maintenance); BOAC Flight 911; Paul Okalik
Included: John Cabot (2nd appearance, last in 2011); De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Gloster Meteor (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); ZX81 (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Battle of Barrosa (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:11, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: John Cabot; Battle of Barrosa; Gloster Meteor; ZX81
Included: Boston Massacre (8th appearance, last in 2012); First Anglo-Burmese War (5th appearance, last in 2012); Guerrillero Heroico (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Homebrew Computer Club (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 40th anniversary)
Repeats: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 11:54, 3 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Boston Massacre; First Anglo-Burmese War; Guerrillero Heroico; Homebrew Computer Club
Included: Battle of Aizkraukle (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Battle of Barrosa (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Supermarine Spitfire (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 80th anniversary); BOAC Flight 911 (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 50th anniversary)
Repeats: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (3rd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 400th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:42, 3 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Homebrew Computer Club (maintenance)
Omitted: Battle of Aizkraukle; De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of Barrosa; Supermarine Spitfire; BOAC Flight 911
Included: John Cabot (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Boston Massacre (9th appearance, last in 2015); Gloster Meteor (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Guerrillero Heroico (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Paul Okalik (4th appearance, last in 2013); Elaine Paige (first appearance); Anna Akhmatova (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:06, 5 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Deleted: Aquatic ape hypothesis (not notable enough)
Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Barrosa (maintenance)
Omitted: St Piran's Day (ineligible—maintenance); John Cabot (ineligible—maintenance); Boston Massacre (ineligible—maintenance); Guerrillero Heroico; Paul Okalik (ineligible—maintenance); Elaine Paige (ineligible—maintenance); Anna Akhmatova
Included: Julian's Persian War (first appearance); First Anglo-Burmese War (6th appearance, last in 2015); 1963 Camden PA-24 crash (first appearance); ZX81 (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Gerardus Mercator (first appearance); Marietta Piccolomini (first appearance); Lena Baker (first appearance)
Repeats: Gloster Meteor (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 75th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 16:38, 5 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Supermarine Spitfire (maintenance)
Omitted: Julian's Persian War; First Anglo-Burmese War; Gloster Meteor; 1963 Camden PA-24 crash; ZX81; Gerardus Mercator; Marietta Piccolomini; Lena Baker
Included: St Piran's Day (rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Aizkraukle (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Boston Massacre (10th appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Battle of Barrosa (4th appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); BOAC Flight 911 (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Homebrew Computer Club (3rd appearance, last in 2015; rescued from Ineligible); Edward Cornwallis (first appearance); Olav Bjaaland (first appearance); Ailsa McKay (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 21:10, 5 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

New articles (ineligible): J. R. Kealoha (TFA for 2020)
New articles (unused): Louis I of Hungary
Omitted: Battle of Aizkraukle; Battle of Barrosa; BOAC Flight 911; Homebrew Computer Club; Edward Cornwallis (ineligible—maintenance); Olav Bjaaland; Ailsa McKay
Included: John Cabot (4th appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Roberto Cofresí/Capture of the sloop Anne (both: 3rd appearance, last in 2017; moved from March 2); Guerrillero Heroico (4th appearance, last in 2017; 60th anniversary); Hermann Balk (first appearance); Michael von Faulhaber (first appearance); Elaine Paige (2nd appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Boston Massacre (2nd consecutive appearance, 11 total; 250th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 16:54, 6 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (unused): Subroto Mukerjee
Omitted: John Cabot; Boston Massacre; Roberto Cofresí; Guerrillero Heroico; Hermann Balk; Michael von Faulhaber; Elaine Paige
Included: Julian's Persian War (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Battle of Barrosa (5th appearance, last in 2019); Gloster Meteor (4th appearance, last in 2018); 1963 Camden PA-24 crash (2nd appearance, last in 2018); ZX81 (4th appearance, last in 2018; 40th anniversary); Louis I of Hungary (first appearance); J. R. Kealoha (first appearance); Mary Louise Booth (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:55, 6 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Edward Cornwallis
Omitted: Battle of Barrosa; Gloster Meteor; 1963 Camden PA-24 crash; ZX81; Louis I of Hungary; J. R. Kealoha; Mary Louise Booth
Included: Battle of Aizkraukle (4th appearance, last in 2019); First Anglo-Burmese War (7th appearance, last in 2018); BOAC Flight 911 (4th appearance, last in 2019); Homebrew Computer Club (4th appearance, last in 2019); Gerardus Mercator (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Alessandro Volta (first appearance); Subroto Mukerjee (2nd appearance, last in 2021; also appeared on November 8, his death anniversary)
Repeats: Julian's Persian expedition (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:26, 6 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

2023

Replace Anna Akhmatova with Joseph Stalin. Both are important Eastern Europeans who died in the second half of the 20th century. Both articles are rated "good". Not only was Stalin more important than Akhmatova, but his death was historically significant as it represents the beginning of a new era for the Soviet Union.

TLDR they are from the same era in the same region, both articles are of equal quality, Stalin way more important.

KommanderChicken (talk) 17:04, 5 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]