Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/January 7

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/January 7.

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 January 7 article, see Talk:January 7 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 January 7, 2025
Konon Molody, the KGB member of the ring The Portland spy ring was an espionage group active in the UK between 1953 and 1961. It comprised five people who obtained classified research documents from the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, and passed them to the Soviet Union. Two of the group, Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee worked at the AUWE and had access to classified information. They passed this to their handler, Konon Molody, a KGB agent acting under a Canadian passport in the name Gordon Lonsdale. Lonsdale would pass the documents to Lona and Morris Cohen, American communists living under the names Helen and Peter Kroger; they passed the information to Moscow. The ring was exposed in 1960 after a tip-off from the Polish spy Michael Goleniewski. The information he supplied was enough to identify Houghton. MI5 surveillance uncovered the rest of the group, who were arrested in January 1961 and tried that March. Sentences for the group ranged from 15 to 25 years. (Full article...) Recently featured: Maria Trubnikova Cyfeilliog Liza Soberano Archive By email More featured articles About view – talk – edit – history – watch
Picture of the day for January 7, 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/January 6 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/January 8 →

Regarding the thing about OPEC "raising" the price, please see Talk:OPEC. --Spangineer^ws (háblame) 01:13, 7 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

wait...

Why does it say Christmas? — pd_THOR ^{| =/\=} | 05:23, 7 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Julian calendar—this is under the old calendar used until the Gregorian calendar came into use. This is also the reason why history books report two dates for the birthdate of historical figures such as George Washington (see Old Style and New Style dates). --Spangineer^ws (háblame) 02:34, 8 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Philippines

"...the women in the Philippines" should "...the women of the Philippines", shouldn't it? Totnesmartin (talk) 20:57, 7 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Moved to Ineligible: International Hockey Federation (maintenance), Guy Menzies (maintenance), Fall of communism in Albania (maintenance)
Omitted: Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon)/Io (moon)/Europa (moon), Anglo-Irish Treaty (ineligible—already featured on December 6), Mantell UFO incident, Philippine Commission on Women (ineligible—maintenance), Stanisław Wielgus
Included: Flag of Italy (3rd appearance, last in 2010), Battle of Raate Road (first appearance), Cambodian–Vietnamese War (first appearance), History of Ghana (first appearance), Nag Hammadi massacre (first appearance)

--howcheng {chat} 18:55, 5 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Omitted: Flag of Italy; Battle of Raate Road; Cambodian–Vietnamese War; Nag Hammadi massacre
Included: Calais (4th appearance, last in 2008; blurb previously featured History of Calais, which is no longer its own article); English Channel (7th appearance , last in 2010); Mantell UFO incident (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Stanisław Wielgus (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
Repeats: History of Ghana (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 20th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 06:24, 6 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Raate Road (maintenance); Nag Hammadi massacre (maintenance)
Omitted: English Channel (ineligible—maintenance); Mantell UFO incident; History of Ghana; Stanisław Wielgus (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon)/Io (moon)/Europa (moon) (Ganymede: 2nd appearance; Callisto: 3rd appearance; Io: 5th appearance; Europa: 8th appearance; all: last in 2011); Flag of Italy (4th appearance as blurb, last in 2012); Cambodian–Vietnamese War (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Akihito (4th appearance, last in 2008; previously appeared on April 10)
Repeats: Calais (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:30, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Akihito (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: History of Ghana (3rd appearance, last in 2013)
Repeats: Calais (3rd consecutive appearance, 6 total); Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon)/Io (moon)/Europa (moon) (all: 2nd consecutive appearance; Ganymede: 3 total; Callisto: 4 total; Io: 6 total; Europa: 9 total); Flag of Italy (5th consecutive appearance, 7 total); Cambodian–Vietnamese War (3rd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:03, 5 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Omitted: History of Ghana
Included: Mantell UFO incident (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Nag Hammadi massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Calais (4th consecutive appearance, 7 total); Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon)/Io (moon)/Europa (moon) (all: 3rd consecutive appearance; Ganymede: 4 total; Callisto: 5 total; Io: 7 total; Europa: 10 total); Flag of Italy (6th consecutive appearance, 8 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:36, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Khomeini's letter

@Howcheng: I already added a new blurb regarding Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev. I think it can have its first appearance this year. Thanks. --Mhhossein ^talk 15:30, 3 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Marian Anderson (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Akihito
Omitted: Flag of Italy (still included as observance); Mantell UFO incident; Nag Hammadi massacre
Included: Bank of North America (first appearance); Cambodian–Vietnamese War (4th appearance, last in 2015); Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev (first appearance); Charlie Hebdo shooting (first appearance)
Repeats: Calais (5th consecutive appearance, 8 total); Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon)/Io (moon)/Europa (moon) (all: 4th consecutive appearance; Ganymede: 5 total; Callisto: 6 total; Io: 8 total; Europa: 11 total)

—howcheng {chat} 00:31, 7 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Flag of Italy (maintenance)
Omitted: Calais; Bank of North America; Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev; Charlie Hebdo shooting (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Mantell UFO incident (4th appearance, last in 2016; 70th anniversary); Iran and Red and Black Colonization (first appearance; 40th anniversary); 2012 Carterton hot air balloon crash (first appearance); Johann Heinrich Zedler (first appearance); Joseph Dennie (first appearance); Helena Válková (first appearance)
Repeats: Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon)/Io (moon)/Europa (moon) (all: 5th consecutive appearance; Ganymede: 6 total; Callisto: 7 total; Io: 9 total; Europa: 12 total); Cambodian–Vietnamese War (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:58, 7 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Calais (maintenance); Akihito (maintenance); History of Ghana (maintenance)
Omitted: Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon)/Io (moon)/Europa (moon); Mantell UFO incident; Iran and Red and Black Colonization; 2012 Carterton hot air balloon crash; Johann Heinrich Zedler; Joseph Dennie; Helena Válková
Included: Bank of North America (2nd appearance, last in 2017); Flag of Italy (9th appearance, last in 2017); Francium (first appearance); Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 30th anniversary); Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (first appearance)]; Zara Cisco Brough (first appearance); Run Run Shaw (first appearance)
Repeats: Cambodian–Vietnamese War (3rd consecutive appearance, 6 total; 40th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 07:57, 6 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Jerry Rawlings (blurb previously featured History of Ghana)
New articles (unused): Li Shengjiao
Omitted: Flag of Italy; Francium; Cambodian–Vietnamese War; Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev; Eliezer Ben-Yehuda; Zara Cisco Brough; Run Run Shaw
Included: Galilean moons/Io (moon)/Europa (moon)/Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon) (Moons: first appearance; Ganymede: 7th; Callisto: 8th; Io: 10th; Europa: 13th; last in 2017); Battle of Raate Road (2nd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible; 80th anniversary); Nag Hammadi massacre (3rd appearance, last in 2016; 10th anniversary); Albert Bierstadt (first appearance); Edmund Barton (13th appearance, last in 2017; normally appears on October 5; 100th birthday); Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers (first appearance)
Repeats: Bank of North America (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:56, 8 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Deleted: Stanisław Wielgus (date not certain)
New articles (ineligible): James Humphreys (pornographer) (TFA for 2020-11-22)
Omitted: Galilean moons/Io (moon)/Europa (moon)/Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon); Bank of North America (ineligible—maintenance); Battle of Raate Road; Nag Hammadi massacre; Albert Bierstadt; Edmund Barton; Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers
Included: Flag of Italy (10th appearance, last in 2019); CQD (first appearance); Francium (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Iran and Red and Black Colonization (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Jerry Rawlings (first appearance; blurb previously featured History of Ghana and is making its 4th appearance, last in 2015); Anna Murray Vail (first appearance); Helena Válková (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 70th birthday); Caster Semenya (first appearance; 30th birthday)

—howcheng {chat} 04:07, 9 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Marian Anderson; James Humphreys (pornographer)
Omitted: Flag of Italy; CQD; Francium; Iran and Red and Black Colonization; Jerry Rawlings; Anna Murray Vail; Helena Válková; Caster Semenya
Included: Galilean moons/Io (moon)/Europa (moon)/Ganymede (moon)/Callisto (moon) (Moons: 2nd appearance; Io: 10th; Europa: 14th; Ganymede: 8th; Callisto: 9th; all last in 2020); Bank of North America (4th appearance, last in 2020; rescued from Ineligible); Guy Menzies (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev (3rd appearance, last in 2019); 2012 Carterton hot air balloon crash (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 10th anniversary); Nicholas Hilliard (first appearance); Elizabeth Louisa Foster Mather (first appearance); Juan Gabriel (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 07:21, 8 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]