Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/April 4

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 4.

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 April 4 article, see Talk:April 4 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 April 4, 2025

British Army Gazelle helicopter

A British Army helicopter was destroyed in a friendly fire incident during the Falklands War, killing its four occupants. In the early hours of 6 June 1982, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cardiff was looking for aircraft supplying the Argentine forces on the Falkland Islands. A Gazelle helicopter (example pictured) of the Army Air Corps was making a delivery to British troops on East Falkland. Cardiff's crew assumed that it was hostile and fired two missiles, destroying it. Although Cardiff was suspected, scientific tests on the wreckage were inconclusive. No formal inquiry was held until four years later. Defending their claim that the helicopter had been lost in action, the Ministry of Defence stated that they did not want to upset relatives until they had ascertained how it had been shot down. A board of inquiry identified factors including a lack of communication between the army and the navy, and the army's decision to turn off helicopters' identification friend or foe transmitters. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

view – talk – edit – history – watch

Picture of the day for April 4, 2025

The red panda is a mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, and a ringed tail. It has a head-to-body length of 51–63.5 cm (20–25 in) and a 28–48.5 cm (11–19 in) tail, and it weighs between 3.2 and 15 kg (7 and 33 lb). It is genetically close to raccoons, weasels and skunks. Solitary, largely arboreal and well adapted to climbing, it inhabits coniferous, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, favouring steep slopes with dense bamboo cover close to water sources. It uses elongated wrist bones ("false thumbs") to grasp bamboo. It feeds mainly on bamboo shoots and leaves. Red pandas mate in early spring, giving birth to litters of up to four cubs in summer. On the IUCN Red List as endangered since 2015, the species is threatened by poaching and deforestation-based habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Photograph credit: Mathias Appel

Recently featured:

← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/April 3 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/April 5 →

1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
1814 - Napoleon abdicates for the first time.
1818 - The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States as having 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (20 stars) with additional stars to be added whenever a new state is added to the Union.
1841 - President William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and at one month, the elected president with the shortest term served.
1850 - Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.
1887 - Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna Medora Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.
1905 - In India, an earthquake near Kangra, kills 370,000.
1939 - Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.
1945 - World War II: American troops liberate Ohrdruf death camp in Germany.
1949 - Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
1964 - The Beatles occupy all of the top 5 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in the United States (the only time it ever happened).
1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated.
1968 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 6.
1969 - Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.
1975 - A United States Air Force C-5A Galaxy crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, transportnig orphans. 172 people are killed.
1976 - Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
1979 - President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.
1983 - Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space.
1984 - President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.
1991 - Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collided with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.

Children's Day in Hong Kong

According to this article, the day is also celebrated in Hong Kong.

2012 notes

Deleted: Alexios I Komnenos (moved to April 5—wrong date)
New articles (unused): Battle of Kassel (1945)
Omitted: Dixie (song); NATO; Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Angolan Civil War
Included: William Henry Harrison (first appearance); Artificial heart (3rd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Microsoft (3rd appearance, last in 2010); Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (6th appearance, last in 2008)
Repeats: Declaration of Breda (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:04, 3 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum: Angolan Civil War added later for balance. —howcheng {chat} 03:49, 4 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

New articles (ineligible): Hanoi Taxi
Omitted: Declaration of Breda; William Henry Harrison; Artificial heart; Microsoft; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto; Angolan Civil War
Included: Wareru (first appearance); The Kennel Club (first appearance); NATO (10th appearance, last in 2011); World Trade Center (first appearance; 40th anniversary); Evan Mecham (first appearance; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 05:42, 3 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Deleted: Los Angeles (featured on September 4)
Moved to Ineligible: Microsoft (maintenance)
Omitted: Wareru; The Kennel Club; NATO; World Trade Center; Evan Mecham
Included: Circus (6th appearance, last in 2011; moved from January 9); Georges Cuvier (first appearance); Dixie (song) (3rd appearance, last in 2011); Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (5th appearance, last in 2011); Flag of Hong Kong (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 09:32, 3 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Circus; Georges Cuvier; Dixie (song); Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Included: Declaration of Breda (3rd appearance, last in 2012); Napoleon II (first appearance); William Henry Harrison (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Battle of Kassel (1945) (first appearance; 70th anniversary)
Repeats: Flag of Hong Kong (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 25th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:40, 2 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Circus (maintenance); Dixie (song) (maintenance)
Omitted: Children's Day (ineligible—maintenance); Declaration of Breda; Napoleon II; William Henry Harrison; Battle of Kassel (1945); Flag of Hong Kong
Included: Georges Cuvier (2nd appearance, last in 2014); The Kennel Club (2nd appearance, last in 2013); NATO (11th appearance, last in 2013); Norodom Sihanouk (5th appearance, last in 2008; 40th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible); Angolan Civil War (3rd appearance, last in 2012)

—howcheng {chat} 08:11, 2 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Declaration of Breda (maintenance); Napoleon II (maintenance); Battle of Kassel (1945) (maintenance); Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (maintenance)
Omitted: Senegal (ineligible—maintenance); Georges Cuvier (ineligible—maintenance); The Kennel Club (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: William Henry Harrison (3rd appearance, last in 2015); World Trade Center (1973–2001) (first appearance; blurb previously featured World Trade Center and is making its 2nd appearance, last in 2013); Liu Yin (Southern Han) (first appearance); Robert III of Scotland (first appearance); Jonathan Agnew (first appearance)
Repeats: NATO (2nd consecutive appearance, 12 total); Norodom Sihanouk (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total); Angolan Civil War (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:48, 4 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 date

Deleted: Wareru (moved to January 30)
Moved to Ineligible: Artificial heart (maintenance)
Omitted: William Henry Harrison; NATO; World Trade Center (1973–2001); Norodom Sihanouk (moved to April 2); Angolan Civil War; Liu Yin (Southern Han); Robert III of Scotland; Jonathan Agnew
Included: Dixie (song) (4th appearance, last in 2014; rescued from Ineligible); Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (4th appearance, last in 2014; 50th anniversary); Evan Mecham (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 30th anniversary); Flag of Hong Kong (3rd appearance, last in 2015); 2013 Thane building collapse (first appearance); William Strachey (first appearance); Maya Angelou (first appearance); Karen Spärck Jones (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 03:23, 4 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Microsoft
Omitted: Dixie (song); Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; Evan Mecham; Flag of Hong Kong; William Strachey; Maya Angelou; Karen Spärck Jones
Included: Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1268 (first appearance); William Henry Harrison (2nd appearance, last in 2017); NATO (13th appearance, last in 2017; 70th anniversary); Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours (first appearance); Philippa Fawcett (first appearance); Xu Lai (actress) (first appearance)
Repeats: 2013 Thane building collapse (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:42, 4 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Flag of Hong Kong (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Robert III of Scotland
Omitted: Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1268; William Henry Harrison; 2013 Thane building collapse; Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours; Philippa Fawcett; Xu Lai (actress)
Included: University of Basel (first appearance); Robert Walpole (5th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); 1975 Tân Sơn Nhứt C-5 accident (first appearance); Angolan Civil War (5th appearance, last in 2017); Elena Glinskaya (first appearance); Maurice de Vlaminck (first appearance); Jonathan Agnew (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 60th birthday)
Repeats: NATO (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 21:04, 5 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (unused): Alexios I Komnenos (moved from April 5)
Omitted: University of Basel; Robert Walpole; NATO; 1975 Tân Sơn Nhứt C-5 accident; Angolan Civil War; Elena Glinskaya; Maurice de Vlaminck; Jonathan Agnew
Included: Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1268 (2nd appearance, last in 2019); William Henry Harrison (5th appearance, last in 2019); Dixie (song) (5th appearance, last in 2018); Microsoft (4th appearance, last in 2012); 2013 Thane building collapse (3rd appearance, last in 2019); Robert III of Scotland (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Karen Spärck Jones (2nd appearance, last in 2018)

—howcheng {chat} 06:26, 6 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Deleted: Robert Walpole (moved to April 3)
New articles (ineligible): Martin Rundkvist (TFA for 2022)
New articles (unused): Roger Ebert
Omitted: Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1268; William Henry Harrison; Dixie (song); Microsoft; 2013 Thane building collapse; Robert III of Scotland; Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours; Karen Spärck Jones
Included: Dmitry Karakozov (first appearance); The Kennel Club (3rd appearance, last in 2016; rescued from Ineligible); 1905 Kangra earthquake (first appearance); NATO (15th appearance, last in 2020); Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (7th appearance, last in 2018); William Strachey (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 450th birthday); Pierre Monteux (first appearance); Isaac K. Funk (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:38, 5 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

1974 Super Outbreak must be mentioned in 2024

For the 2024 anniversaries, the 1974 Super Outbreak needs to be mentioned as it is the 50th anniversary of the worst tornado outbreak in history. Anniversary news articles are already coming out days before the anniversary ([1][2]). The Weather Event Writer (Talk Page) 19:47, 30 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]