Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/March 2

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/March 2.

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 2 article, see Talk:March 2 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 2, 2025

Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 2, 2025

create – talk – watch

Picture of the day for March 2, 2025

Actress Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) in a publicity photo taken c. 1941. Hepburn was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly played strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, which earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress.

Photograph: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, restored by Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/March 1 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/March 3 →

Nevada Territory is a stub. If and when it is expanded, it can be part of the rotation on this page.

Nevada state flag

1861 - The United States organized Nevada Territory.

First edition of Time Magazine

Why does this anniversary appear on this day, when in the article itself (and on the cover of the first edition) the date is March 3? eman 01:44, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Dunno ... but many magazines and journals are published before the date of issue.... Anyway, I've moved it to March 3. -- PFHLai 11:13, 2005 Feb 27 (UTC)

2012 notes

New articles (unused): Steel Workers Organizing Committee
Omitted: Convention of 1836, Pope Pius XII, Battle of the Bismarck Sea, Lucky Lady II, Soyuz 28
Included: League of Lezhë (first appearance), College of Arms (first appearance), Battle of the Rice Boats (first appearance), Founding Congress of the Comintern (first appearance), King Kong (1933 film) (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 10:21, 1 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Deleted: Ho Chi Minh (date not in article, also appears on May 19); Europa (moon) (date not in article, also appears on January 7)
Moved to Ineligible: Battle of the Bismarck Sea (TFA for March 3, 2013)
Omitted: League of Lezhë; Battle of the Rice Boats; King Kong (1933 film)
Included: Convention of 1836 (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Pope Pius XII (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game (first appearance)
Repeats: College of Arms (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Founding Congress of the Comintern (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 23:36, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Semaphore line; King Kong (1933 film); Battle of the Bismarck Sea
Omitted: College of Arms; Convention of 1836/Texas Declaration of Independence; Founding Congress of the Comintern; Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game
Included: League of Lezhë (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Rutherford B. Hayes (first appearance); Operation Rolling Thunder (first appearance); Soyuz 28 (5th appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Pope Pius XII (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 75th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 11:26, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: League of Lezhë; Rutherford B. Hayes; Pope Pius XII
Included: College of Arms (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Semaphore line (3rd appearance, last in 2010); Steel Workers Organizing Committee (first appearance)
Repeats: Operation Rolling Thunder (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 50th anniversary); Soyuz 28 (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 11:57, 28 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Nineteen Day Fast

Next year, the Nineteen Day Fast will start on March 1st, rather than on March 2nd. This is due to a change in the Baha'i Calendar that aligns the start of the new year to the equinox in Tehran rather than the Gregorian date of March 21st. I wonder if we should make the change now for March 1st and March 2nd, so that it is not mistakenly copied over from 2015. Regards, -- Jeff3000 (talk) 03:19, 3 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
- I would add a note to the talk page. Is this a permanent move, or a one-time deal? —howcheng {chat} 06:12, 3 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  - It's going to be year by year. The Nineteen Day Fast will now start 19 days before the vernal equinox, not 19 days before March 21st. Some years it's going to start on March 2nd, some on March 1st, and I can imagine in some years it could even be February 28th/29th. Regards, -- 174.115.93.215 (talk) 02:25, 4 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: College of Arms; Semaphore line; Steel Workers Organizing Committee; Operation Rolling Thunder
Included: League of Lezhë (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Roberto Cofresí/Capture of the Anne (both: first appearance); 1st Congress of the Comintern (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Lucky Lady II (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: Soyuz 28 (3rd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 11:09, 29 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

League of Lezhë

"1444 – Skanderbeg organised the League of Lezhë, an alliance of Albanian principalities that is regarded as the first unified Albanian state."

This assertion is factually incorrect and violates NPOV. Multiple reliable sources used in the article explain that:

"Skanderbeg organised the League of Lezhë" - Skanderbeg did not organize the League of Lezhë. Venetians controlled Albania Veneta and organized this alliance in the Venetian-held town of Lezhë to create military alliance aimed against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg was appointed as commander of this alliance, he did not organize it.
"an alliance of Albanian principalities" - This was not an alliance of Albanian principalities. Regional Albanian and Serbian chieftains concluded (along the Adriatic coast from southern Epirus to the Bosnian border) an alliance aimed against the Ottoman Empire.
"that is regarded as the first unified Albanian state" - Hipothesis about this alliance being a state has not received a significant scholarly support. Adjective "first unified Albanian" much less.--Antidiskriminator (talk) 21:36, 3 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Antidiskriminator: Please suggest some replacement text, as you seem to know more about the subject than I do. Thanks. —howcheng {chat} 05:31, 6 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Howcheng: I would suggest completely neutral text only with information supported by scholarly consensus. That text should be quite sufficient without disputable assertions connected with Albanian nationalistic myth-making which insists that this alliance of pure Albanian regional chieftains was (first unified state) of Albanian nation, consisting of unified principalities that were also Albanian. My proposal is (please copy edit if necessary):

1444 – The League of Lezhë, an alliance of the regional chieftains, was established in Venetian Albania with Skanderbeg as its commander.--Antidiskriminator (talk) 10:00, 6 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Semaphore line (maintenance); King Kong (1933 film) (maintenance)
New articles (unused): U.S. Steel (moved from February 25)
Omitted: League of Lezhë; 1st Congress of the Comintern; Lucky Lady II
Included: College of Arms (4th appearance, last in 2015); Steel Workers Organizing Committee (2nd appearance, last in 2015; 80th anniversary); Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Susanna M. Salter (first appearance); Dusty Springfield (first appearance)
Repeats: Roberto Cofresí/Capture of the Anne (both: 2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Soyuz 28 (4th consecutive appearance, 8 total)

—howcheng {chat} 08:01, 2 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Omitted: College of Arms; Roberto Cofresí/Capture of the Anne; Steel Workers Organizing Committee; Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game; Susanna M. Salter; Dusty Springfield
Included: League of Lezhë (4th appearance, last in 2016); Battle of the Rice Boats (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Battle of the Bismarck Sea (7th appearance, last in 2011; 75th anniversary); Charles I, Count of Flanders (first appearance); Bedřich Smetana (first appearance); Gisela Januszewska (first appearance)
Repeats: Soyuz 28 (5th consecutive appearance, 9 total; 40th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 17:12, 2 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Roberto Cofresí/Capture of the sloop Anne (dates are inconsistent)
Omitted: League of Lezhë; Battle of the Rice Boats; Battle of the Bismarck Sea; Charles I, Count of Flanders; Bedřich Smetana; Gisela Januszewska
Included: College of Arms (5th appearance, last in 2017); 1st Congress of the Comintern (4th appearance, last in 2016; 100th anniversary); Lucky Lady II (3rd appearance, last in 2016; 70th anniversary); William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (first appearance); Alexander Bullock (first appearance); Dusty Springfield (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 20th anniversary)
Repeats: Soyuz 28 (6th consecutive appearance, 10 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:08, 4 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Deleted: Roberto Cofresí/Capture of the sloop Anne (moved to March 5)
Omitted: 1st Congress of the Comintern; Lucky Lady II; Soyuz 28/Vladimír Remek (Remek was previously ineligible); William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield; Alexander Bullock; Dusty Springfield
Included: Optical telegraph (4th appearance, last in 2015; rescued from from Ineligible); U.S. Steel (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Battle of the Bismarck Sea (8th appearance, last in 2018); Top quark (first appearance; 25th anniversary); Francesco Bianchini (2nd appearance, last in 2018; also appeared on December 13, his birthday); Louis-Gabriel Suchet (first appearance); Grete Hermann (first appearance)
Repeats: College of Arms (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:55, 3 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (ineligible): Lionel Matthews (TFA for 2021)
Omitted: College of Arms; Optical telegraph; U.S. Steel; Battle of the Bismarck Sea; Top quark; Francesco Bianchini; Louis-Gabriel Suchet; Grete Hermann
Included: League of Lezhë (5th appearance, last in 2018); Carl Sylvius Völkner (first appearance); rescued from Ineligibleblurb previously featured Völkner incident, which remains ineligible, and is making its 3rd appearance, last in 2009); Steel Workers Organizing Committee (3rd appearance, last in 2017); Ne Win/1962 Burmese coup d'état (Ne Win: 2nd appearance, last in 2007; Coup: first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Moscovium/Tennessine/Oganesson (all: first appearance); George Sandys (first appearance); Susanna M. Salter (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Selim Sırrı Tarcan (2nd appearance, last in 2019; also appeared on March 25, his birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 07:46, 4 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Omitted: Carl Sylvius Völkner; Steel Workers Organizing Committee; Moscovium/Tennessine Oganesson; George Sandys; Susanna M. Salter; Selim Sırrı Tarcan
Included: Great Slave Auction (first appearance); 1st Congress of the Comintern (5th appearance, last in 2019); Soyuz 28/Vladimír Remek (Soyuz: 11th appearance, last in 2019; Remek: first); Pope Adrian VI (first appearance); James A. Gilmore (first appearance); Lionel Matthews (first appearance)
Repeats: League of Lezhë (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total); Ne Win/1962 Burmese coup d'état (both: 2nd consecutive appearance; NW: 3 total; Coup: 2 total; 60th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 08:05, 3 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion for the 2024 anniversary

Remove: 1919 – Communist, revolutionary-socialist, and syndicalist delegates met in Moscow to establish the Communist International., which has a main article of 1st Congress of the Comintern
Add: 2022 – Russian forces capture the city of Kherson during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has a main article of the Battle of Kherson.

The battle article is in better shape than the 1919 article (it actually has pictures) & it is a recent event which had decent significance and attention across the world. The Weather Event Writer (Talk Page) 21:25, 5 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As this got no attention or comments for over 2 months, I went ahead and did the replacement. The Weather Event Writer (Talk Page) 21:50, 24 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@WeatherWriter: Hooks for OTD are usually swapped a couple days before the date. If you put it in the template now, future OTD swappers might think it ran the previous year and replace it. It is better to add new entries to the eligible list. Z1720 (talk) 22:42, 24 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oh got it. The swap was temporarily undone. If someone sees this discussion before March 2, 2024, please do the swap as I proposed. Cheers! The Weather Event Writer (Talk Page) 23:11, 24 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]