Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/February 8

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 8.

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 February 8 article, see Talk:February 8 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.

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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 February 8, 2025
Meitner, c. 1960 Lise Meitner (1878–1968) was an Austrian-Swedish nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission and protactinium. In 1905, she became the second woman from the University of Vienna to earn a doctorate in physics. She spent much of her scientific career at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin. In 1938 she fled Nazi Germany and moved to Sweden. That year, chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann demonstrated that isotopes of barium could be formed by neutron bombardment of uranium. Meitner and her nephew Otto Robert Frisch, correctly interpreted their results and worked out the physics of this process, which they named "fission". The discovery led to the development of atomic bombs and nuclear reactors during World War II. Meitner did not share the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of fission, which was awarded to Otto Hahn alone, but she received many other honours, including the posthumous naming of element 109 meitnerium in 1997. (Full article...) Recently featured: Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse John Silva Meehan 2009–10 Notts County F.C. season Archive By email More featured articles About view – talk – edit – history – watch
Picture of the day for February 8, 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/February 7 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/February 9 →

Feb.8 in 1445 was a Monday ! :-( That means the first Pancake Day should be February 9, 1445.-- PFHLai 20:10, 2004 Aug 31 (UTC)

Why is the destruction of Dresden (1945) not included? The Allies killed 200 000 people on this day, according to Soviet authorities.

Why ? The simple reason is that the anniversary of the bombing of Dresden is Feb.14th, not Feb.8th ! I'm getting there, just not there yet .... Fine. I'll do it now if someone is so anxious .... :-> -- PFHLai 06:21, 2005 Feb 9 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 14. -- PFHLai 06:38, 2005 Feb 9 (UTC)

John von Neumann

Feb 8 2007 specifically is a very interesting anniversary. It's the 50th anniversary of John von Neumann's death, and he left a secret box [1] with unknown contents to be opened today. His daughter Marina has the box. However, there is a recent sketchy report that the box, mentioned by various sources, was somehow not his. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by JonathanHF (talk • contribs).

Basically under the Selected anniversaries editing guidelines, births and deaths can only be used on centennials. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 10:45, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

No longer Ineligible (unused): Orangeburg massacre
Omitted: Richard Mentor Johnson, William D. Boyce, Operation Lam Son 719, Denis Sassou Nguesso
Included: Dawes Act (first appearance), The Birth of a Nation (2nd appearance, last in 2010), Stasi (first appearance), Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 (first appearance)
Repeats: 2010 Salang avalanches (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:16, 7 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Japanese in Hawaii (maintenance)
Omitted: Dawes Act; The Birth of a Nation; Stasi (ineligible—maintenance); Eastern Air Lines Flight 663; 2010 Salang avalanches
Included: Prešeren Day (4th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Mary, Queen of Scots (9th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Devil's Footprints (3rd appearance, last in 2009; rescued from Ineligible); Sydney Riot of 1879 (first appearance); Orangeburg massacre (first appearance); Denis Sassou Nguesso (7th appearance, last in 2011)

—howcheng {chat} 19:36, 7 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Mary, Queen of Scots; Devil's Footprints; Sydney Riot of 1879; Orangeburg massacre
Included: Leiden University (first appearance); Standard time (first appearance; blurb previously featured Sandford Fleming, which is currently ineligible, and is making its 3rd appearance, last in 2010); William D. Boyce/Boy Scouts of America (both: 3rd appearance, last in 2011); Hollywood Walk of Fame (3rd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Denis Sassou Nguesso (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:01, 7 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Dawes Act
Omitted: Leiden University (ineligible—maintenance); William D. Boyce/Boy Scouts of America; Hollywood Walk of Fame; Denis Sassou Nguesso
Included: Mary, Queen of Scots (10th appearance, last in 2013); The Birth of a Nation (3rd appearance, last in 2012; 100th anniversary); Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 50th anniversary); 2010 Salang avalanches (3rd appearance, last in 2012)
Repeats: Standard time (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:04, 6 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

February 8, 2016, is the 20th anniversary of the publication of John Perry Barlow's A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. This could be a suitable item to feature. (Disclosure: Barlow is a founder and member of the board of directors of my employer, the Electronic Frontier Foundation).
Sample text: 1996 – American political activist John Perry Barlow publishes A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace in Davos, Switzerland. Schoen (talk) 05:22, 5 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
- The article is a little short, so I'm hesitant to include it. —howcheng {chat} 03:47, 7 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  - Yes, I have to agree that Wikipedia's coverage of this topic is kind of limited! Thanks for considering it. Schoen (talk) 02:35, 8 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: Mary, Queen of Scots; The Birth of a Nation; Eastern Air Lines Flight 663; 2010 Salang avalanches
Included: The Earl of Essex Rebellion (first appearance); Richard Mentor Johnson (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Orangeburg massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Denis Sassou Nguesso (9th appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Standard time (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 03:51, 7 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Can we include the Devil's footprints next year? --BorgQueen (talk) 15:08, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Sure, why not. —howcheng {chat} 17:11, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): NASDAQ
Omitted: Prešeren Day (ineligible—maintenance); The Earl of Essex Rebellion; Richard Mentor Johnson; Standard time (ineligible—maintenance); Orangeburg massacre; Denis Sassou Nguesso
Included: Mary, Queen of Scots (11th appearance, last in 2015); Devil's Footprints (4th appearance, last in 2013); William D. Boyce (4th appearance, last in 2013; blurb previously also featured Boy Scouts of America, which is currently ineligible); Hollywood Walk of Fame (6th appearance, last in 2014); 2010 Salang avalanches (4th appearance, last in 2015)

—howcheng {chat} 07:46, 8 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Orangeburg massacre (maintenance); Denis Sassou Nguesso (maintenance)
New articles (unused): A. Chandranehru
Omitted: Mary, Queen of Scots; Devil's Footprints; William D. Boyce; Hollywood Walk of Fame
Included: Essex's Rebellion (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Sydney Riot of 1879 (2nd appearance, last in 2013); The Birth of a Nation (4th appearance, last in 2015); NASDAQ (5th appearance, last in 2008); Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid (first appearance); Jules Verne (first appearance); Iris Murdoch (first appearance)
Repeats: 2010 Salang avalanches (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:53, 8 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Essex's Rebellion; The Birth of a Nation; NASDAQ; 2010 Salang avalanches; Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid; Jules Verne; Iris Murdoch
Included: Mary, Queen of Scots (12th appearance, last in 2017); Richard Mentor Johnson (3rd appearance, last in 2016); William D. Boyce/Boy Scouts of America (Boyce: 5th appearance, last in 2017; BSA: 4th appearance, last in 2014; was previously ineligible); Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Guercino (first appearance); John Ruskin (first appearance; 200th birthday); A. Chandranehru (first appearance)
Repeats: Sydney Riot of 1879 (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:48, 8 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Omitted: Richard Mentor Johnson; Sydney Riot of 1879; William D. Boyce/Boy Scouts of America; Eastern Air Lines Flight 663; Guercino; John Ruskin; A. Chandranehru
Included: Universal Time (3rd appearance, last in 2015; previously appeared on October 22; blurb previously featured Sandford Fleming, which remains ineligible); Hollywood Walk of Fame (7th appearance, last in 2017; 60th anniversary); 2010 Salang avalanches (6th appearance, last in 2018; 10th anniversary); Daniele Barbaro (first appearance); Kate Chopin (first appearance); Walther Bothe (first appearance)
Repeats: Mary, Queen of Scots (2nd consecutive appearance, 13 total)

—howcheng {chat} 18:44, 10 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Deleted: Devil's Footprints (moved to February 9)
Moved to Ineligible: The Birth of a Nation (date not certain); Nasdaq (maintenance)
Omitted: Mary, Queen of Scots; Universal Time; Daniele Barbaro; Kate Chopin; Walther Bothe
Included: Essex's Rebellion (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Richard Mentor Johnson (4th appearance, last in 2019); Sydney Riot of 1879 (4th appearance, last in 2019); Gerolamo Emiliani (first appearance); Franz Marc (first appearance); Ernest Titterton (first appearance)
Repeats: Hollywood Walk of Fame (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total); 2010 Salang avalanches (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:17, 10 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

New articles (ineligible): Valerie Thomas (POTD on 2022-02-01)
Omitted: Richard Mentor Johnson; Hollywood Walk of Fame; Gerolamo Emiliani; Franz Marc; Ernest Titterton
Included: William D. Boyce (Boyce: 6th appearance; BSA: 5th; both last in 2019); Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 (4th appearance, last in 2019); Helen of Anjou (first appearance); Kate Chopin (2nd appearance, last in 2020); Peter Kropotkin (first appearance)
Repeats: Essex's Rebellion (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Sydney Riot of 1879 (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total); 2010 Salang avalanches (3rd consecutive appearance, 8 total)

—howcheng {chat} 03:24, 9 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]