Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/July 20

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/July 20.

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 July 20 article, see Talk:July 20 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 July 20, 2025
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Picture of the day for July 20, 2025
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← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/July 19 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/July 21 →

Bogotá

1810 - History of Colombia: Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada proclaimed independence from Spain.

- This would be a good anniversaries for July 20, but the Bogotá page currently carries a {{cleanup}} tag, making it a bad item to feature on the Main Page. Maybe next year ... -- 64.229.206.164 13:15, 19 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Will wait till articles like Bogotá, D.C., History of Bogotá and Viceroyalty of New Granada actually contain info on what happened on July 20, 1810. Maybe next year ... -- PFHLai 16:38, 19 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at these articles in 2007, Bogotá and Viceroyalty of New Granada have little or no coverage, and History of Bogotá is tagged with {{unreferenced}}. Another year... Zzyzx11 (Talk) 00:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Turkish invasion of Cyprus

For next year how about Turkish invasion of Cyprus Jooler 17:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at this articles in 2007, it has tons of POV problems. Maybe next year... Zzyzx11 (Talk) 00:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Turkish invasion of Cyprus is an event that still plays significant role in modern politics including the relations between Turkey-Greece-Cyprus and Turkish' efforts to join Europe. It is also a part of the daily life of the people of Cyprus. The topic clearly fulfills all selected anniversaries guidelines. It is not different to any other featured event describing an invasion, like for example the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. The different opinions on the issue are well documented on the main topic as of 2009. Besides, if it is presented in the "political correct" way, i.e. in the language all international media use, this should be no problem. The event, is much more important than the related coup on Makarios III included in the July 15th list of events, which can be removed in favor of this event. This is how I suggest the entry goes: "1974 – Turkey invaded Cyprus, eventually capturing 36.5% of the island, following a coup d'état against Makarios III, President of Cyprus, backed by the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 , 5 days earlier" aliverdos 12:34, 07 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Apollo 11

They landed on the 20th, but didn't actually walk on the moon until the 21st. Please can this be changed.--GW_Simulations_{|User Page | Talk | Contribs | E-mail} 20:02, 21 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

GMT or EST or what? Jooler 21:47, 21 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No need to worry about lunar time. The sentence mentioned where on the Moon, not when, they (subsequently) walked. No changes are needed, IMO. -- PFHLai 05:43, 22 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am still in favor of keep this item here on this day for 2007, especially since that event was probably one of the reasons why Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. was selected as the July 20, 2007 featured article. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 00:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's a question whether Greenwich's time zone meant much to Houston or US TV viewers on their 20th of July. Sparafucil (talk) 21:24, 21 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I am a bit puzzled that the Viking lander reaching Mars is on the main page today, July 20, but the Apollo 11 landing on the moon isn't. Am I to conclude from the above that Apollo 11 will be there tomorrow on the anniversary of the first moonwalk? I would still have thought the first manned landing on the moon shuld be in the list of "on this day" events. Yngvadottir (talk) 18:33, 20 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

New articles (unused): USS Constitution
Moved to Ineligible: Michael of Romania (featured on December 30); 20 July plot (maintenance); Abdullah I of Jordan (appears on May 25)
Omitted: Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits; Arroyo Seco Parkway; Viking 1
Included: Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia (first appearance); Apollo 11 (8th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Václav Havel (first appearance); Civil Marriage Act (2nd appearance, last in 2010)
Repeats: Pyréolophore (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Togoland (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:16, 19 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: Pyréolophore; Togoland; Václav Havel; Death of Carlo Giuliani; Civil Marriage Act
Included: Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) (first appearance); Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits (2nd appearance, last in 2011); 20 July plot (7th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Tekle Giyorgis I (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Apollo 11 (2nd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

—howcheng {chat} 02:28, 19 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Persecution of Falun Gong

The Persecution of Falun Gong was initiated of July 20, 1999, is it eligible for inclusion? --The ChampionMan 1234 09:54, 5 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Currently, no. There's the {{ibid}} tag on it. Fix that, and you'll be good to go. —howcheng {chat} 00:16, 6 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure how to use it, but can you please tag the page? Thanks. The ChampionMan 1234 04:11, 6 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I meant, someone has already applied that tag to the page. You need to fix the ibid references before we can include it. Thanks. —howcheng {chat} 05:17, 6 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

New articles: 2012 Aurora shooting
Omitted: Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98); Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits; 20 July plot; Apollo 11 (ineligible—POTD for 2014)
Included: Pyréolophore (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Togoland (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Arroyo Seco Parkway (first appearance); Persecution of Falun Gong (first appearance)
Repeats: Tekle Giyorgis I (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:35, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Von Stauffenberg plot

20 July 1944 - today is the 70th anniversary of the plot to kill Hitler. best, 188.220.48.191 (talk) 13:41, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Death of Carlo Giuliani (maintenance)
Omitted: Tekle Giyorgis I; Togoland; Persecution of Falun Gong
Included: Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Civil Marriage Act (3rd appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary)
Repeats: Pyréolophore (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Arroyo Seco Parkway (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 75th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 02:59, 19 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion for 2015 - Include Apollo 11

I believe the Apollo mission was removed from this list last year because of POTD conflict, leading to ineligiblity. I might be wrong, but I dont see any such reasons this year to exclude the same. Howcheng, can you please confirm what might be the potential reasons for removal of the blurb?

Thanks Soni (talk) 00:21, 20 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Apollo 11#External links has a yellow maintenance tag on it, making the article ineligible. —howcheng {chat} 02:57, 20 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Pyréolophore; Arroyo Seco Parkway; Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings; Civil Marriage Act
Included: Tekle Giyorgis I (4th appearance, last in 2014); Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Viking 1 (5th appearance, last in 2011; 40th anniversary); 2012 Aurora shooting (first appearance)
Repeats: Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:07, 19 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Civil Marriage Act (maintenance)
Omitted: Friendship Day (ineligible—maintenance); Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) (ineligible—maintenance); Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits; Viking 1; 2012 Aurora shooting
Included: Pyréolophore (5th appearance, last in 2015); 20 July plot (8th appearance, last in 2013); United Nations Security Council Resolution 598 (first appearance; 30th anniversary); USS Constitution; Gregor Mendel (first appearance); Patriarch Miron of Romania (first appearance); Amanda Clement (first appearance)
Repeats: Tekle Giyorgis I (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:44, 20 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

50th Anniversary 2018

Will try to to get Special Olympics 50th anniversary of first games good enough. Alanscottwalker (talk) 00:44, 16 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Would be great to have a picture with the Special Olympics blurb. Some ideas:

Athletes (1972)
Athlete (2015)
Athlete (2017)
Athletes (2013)

@Alanscottwalker: I added some citations for the table of hosts. Can you fill in the rest before it goes on the Main Page? Otherwise we'll have to pull it. Thanks. —howcheng {chat} 16:16, 18 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

OK Alanscottwalker (talk) 16:20, 18 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

DONE. Alanscottwalker (talk) 17:09, 18 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Alanscottwalker: Thanks for that. This is not a requirement, but the references could use a little cleaning up (inconsistent citation styles, inconsistent date formats, some could be consolidated), if you have the time to spare. —howcheng {chat} 17:33, 18 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Is this something you can start with WP:AWB, since I don't have that, thanks. Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:52, 19 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think so. AWB is for making bot-like edits. I don't know about Twinkle or Huggle, as I don't use them. —howcheng {chat} 18:42, 19 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Deleted: Friendship Day (moved to July 30)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Apollo 11
Omitted: Tekle Giyorgis I; 20 July plot; United Nations Security Council Resolution 598; USS Constitution; Gregor Mendel; Amanda Clement
Included: Battle of Marcellae (first appearance); Togoland (5th appearance, last in 2016; appeared on December 27); Special Olympics (first appearance; 50th anniversary); Death of Carlo Giuliani (2nd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Ibn Muqla (first appearance); Chris Cornell (first appearance)
Repeats: Pyréolophore (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total); Patriarch Miron of Romania (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 150th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 18:21, 20 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits (maintenance); 20 July plot (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Maurice Leyland
Omitted: Battle of Marcellae; Pyréolophore; Togoland; Special Olympics; Death of Carlo Giuliani; Ibn Muqla; Patriarch Miron of Romania; Chris Cornell
Included: Tekle Giyorgis I (6th appearance, last in 2017); Viking 1 (6th appearance, last in 2016); Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings (2nd appearance, last in 2015); Persecution of Falun Gong (2nd appearance, last in 2014; 20th anniversary); 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Alexander the Great (first appearance); Tom Crean (explorer) (first appearance); Heather Chasen (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 16:19, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Deleted: Arroyo Seco Parkway (moved to December 30)
Moved to Ineligible: Togoland (maintenance); Apollo 11 (TFA for 2020); United Nations Security Council Resolution 598 (short)
Omitted: Tekle Giyorgis I; Viking 1; Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings; 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting; Alexander the Great; Tom Crean (explorer); Heather Chasen
Included: Siege of Berwick (1333) (first appearance); Pyréolophore (7th appearance, last in 2018); Special Olympics (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray (first appearance); Peregrine White (first appearance); Gisele Bündchen (first appearance; 40th birthday)
Repeats: Persecution of Falun Gong (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:59, 21 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Omitted: Siege of Berwick (1333); Pyréolophore; Special Olympics; Persecution of Falun Gong; Suruç bombing; Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray; Peregrine White; Gisele Bündchen
Included: Alexander Mackenzie (explorer) (8th appearance, last in 2018; moved from July 22); Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings (3rd appearance, last in 2019); USS Constitution (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Death of Carlo Giuliani (3rd appearance, last in 2018; 20th anniversary); Robert Wallop (first appearance); Patriarch Miron of Romania (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Amanda Clement (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 50th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 03:26, 22 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Apollo 11
Omitted: Alexander Mackenzie (explorer); Death of Carlo Giuliani; Robert Wallop; Patriarch Miron of Romania; Amanda Clement
Included: Siege of Berwick (1333) (2nd appearance, last in 2020); Air Battle of South Korea (first appearance); 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting (3rd appearance, last in 2019; 10th anniversary); Tom Crean (explorer) (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Heather Chasen (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Gisele Bündchen (2nd appearance, last in 2020)
Repeats: Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 40th anniversary); USS Constitution (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 18:54, 21 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"after a month long campaign" seems rather dubious for an "On this day" candidate: Apollo 11 is an obvious replacement. Sparafucil (talk) 21:13, 21 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

2023 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Tekle Giyorgis I (maintenance); Persecution of Falun Gong (maintenance)
New articles (unused): Battle of Inverkeithing
Omitted: Air Battle of South Korea; Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings; USS Constitution; 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting; Tom Crean (explorer); Heather Chasen; Gisele Bündchen
Included: Indian Peace Commission (first appearance); Corfu Declaration (first appearance); Corfu Declaration (3rd appearance, last in 2020); Spirited Away (first appearance); Anne Hutchinson (first appearance on July 20; 4th appearance, last in 2021); Felix Dzerzhinsky (first appearance); Panagiotis Kavvadias (first appearance); Birgitta Ohlsson (first appearance)
Repeats: Siege of Berwick (1333) (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

Heart ^(talk) 06:33, 3 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]