Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/October 15

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This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/October 15.

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 October 15 article, see Talk:October 15 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 October 15, 2025

Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 15, 2025

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Picture of the day for October 15, 2025

Helen Hunt Jackson (pen name, H.H.; born Helen Maria Fiske; October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885) was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. She described the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor (1881). Her popular novel Ramona (1884) dramatized the federal government's mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California after the Mexican–American War and attracted considerable attention to her cause. Commercially successful, it was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times, with readers liking its romantic and picturesque qualities more than its political content. The novel was so popular that it attracted many tourists to Southern California who wanted to see places from the book.

Photograph credit: Charles F. Conly; restored by Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/October 14 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/October 16 →

2012 notes

Moved to Ineligible: ThrustSSC (maintenance)
New articles (unused): 2005 Toledo Riot
Omitted: Siege of Vienna; Mata Hari; Luis E. Miramontes; Black Panther Party; Shenzhou 5
Included: Gregorian calendar (17th appearance [not a typo], last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Edward Gibbon (first appearance); Air India (first appearance); Pierre Laval (first appearance); Draft-card burning (first appearance)

—howcheng {chat} 05:45, 14 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Hurricane Hazel (maintenance); Black Panther Party (maintenance)
Omitted: Gregorian calendar; Air India; Pierre Laval; Draft-card burning
Included: Siege of Vienna (2nd appearance, last in 2011); West Gate Bridge (3rd appearance, last in 2010); ThrustSSC (2nd appearance, last in 2008; rescued from Ineligible); Shenzhou 5 (9th appearance, last in 2011; 10th anniversary)
Repeats: Edward Gibbon (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:16, 14 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Air India (maintenance); 2007 New Zealand police raids (maintenance)
Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Luis E. Miramontes; Black Panther Party
Omitted: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (ineligible—maintenance); Siege of Vienna; West Gate Bridge; ThrustSSC; Shenzhou 5
Included: Battle of Glasgow (2nd appearance, last in 2009; 150th anniversary); Dreyfus affair (first appearance; blurb previously featured Alfred Dreyfus which is currently ineligible and is making its 4th appearance, last in 2006; rescued from Ineligible); Mata Hari (7th appearance, last in 2011); Hurricane Hazel (2nd appearance, last in 2010; 60th anniversary; rescued from Ineligible)
Repeats: Edward Gibbon (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total; 250th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 08:15, 14 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Rescued from Ineligible (unused): 2006 Hawaii earthquake
Omitted: Battle of Glasgow, Missouri; Dreyfus affair; Mata Hari; Hurricane Hazel
Included: Global Handwashing Day (rescued from Ineligible); Siege of Vienna (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Pierre Laval (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 70th anniversary); Draft-card burning (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 50th anniversary); 2005 Toledo riot (first appearance; 10th anniversary)
Repeats: Edward Gibbon (4th consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 17:30, 13 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Black Panther Party (maintenance)
Omitted: Edward Gibbon; Pierre Laval; Draft-card burning; 2005 Toledo riot
Included: Dreyfus affair (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Air India (2nd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Luis E. Miramontes (5th appearance, last in 2011); 2006 Hawaii earthquake (first appearance; 10th anniversary)
Repeats: Siege of Vienna (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:02, 13 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Pierre Laval (maintenance); West Gate Bridge (maintenance); Great Storm of 1987 (maintenance)
New articles (unused): 2013 Bohol earthquake
Omitted: Dreyfus affair (ineligible—maintenance); Air India; Luis E. Miramontes (ineligible—maintenance); 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake
Included: From Hell letter (first appearance); Mata Hari (8th appearance, last in 2014; 100th anniversary); ThrustSSC (3rd appearance, last in 2013; 20th anniversary); Marie-Marguerite d'Youville (first appearance); Tadeusz Kościuszko (first appearance); Elizabeth Alexander (scientist) (first appearance)
Repeats: Siege of Vienna (3rd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

—howcheng {chat} 04:15, 15 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Edward Gibbon (exact date unknown)
New articles (ineligible): Ata'ollah Ashrafi Esfahani (maintenance)
Omitted: Global Handwashing Day (ineligible—maintenance); Mata Hari (ineligible—maintenance); ThrustSSC; Marie-Marguerite d'Youville; Tadeusz Kościuszko; Elizabeth Alexander (scientist)
Included: Air India (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Draft-card burning (3rd appearance, last in 2015); 2013 Bohol earthquake (first appearance); Al-Mu'tamid (first appearance); Dolores Jiménez y Muro (first appearance); Julia Yeomans (first appearance)
Repeats: Siege of Vienna (4th consecutive appearance, 6 total); From Hell letter (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 03:20, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

New articles (unused): William H. Crook (POTD for 2019)
Omitted: From Hell letter; Air India; Draft-card burning; 2013 Bohol earthquake; Al-Mu'tamid (deleted—moved to October 14); Dolores Jiménez y Muro; Julia Yeomans
Included: Battle of Glasgow, Missouri (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Ata'ollah Ashrafi Esfahani (first appearance); Shenzhou 5 (10th appearance, last in 2013); 15 October 2011 global protests (first appearance); P. G. Wodehouse (first appearance); Hiram Fong (first appearance); Aydın Sayılı (first appearance)
Repeats: Siege of Vienna (5th consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 15:55, 16 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

Deleted: Edward Gibbon (moved to January 16)
Moved to Ineligible: Gregorian calendar (maintenance; had accidentally been deleted in 2013)
New articles (unused): Konrad Emil Bloch
Omitted: Battle of Glasgow, Missouri (ineligible—maintenance); Shenzhou 5 (ineligible—maintenance); 15 October 2011 global protests; P. G. Wodehouse; Hiram Fong; Aydın Sayılı
Included: Mata Hari (9th appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake (2nd appearance, last in 2016); Razia Sultana (first appearance); William H. Crook (first appearance); Stepan Bandera (first appearance)
Repeats: Siege of Vienna (6th consecutive appearance, 8 total); Ata'ollah Ashrafi Esfahani (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 18:10, 16 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

New articles (ineligible): Prannoy Roy (date not cited)
Omitted: Siege of Vienna; Ata'ollah Ashrafi Esfahani; 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake; Razia Sultana; William H. Crook; Stepan Bandera
Included: Battle of Glasgow, Missouri (4th appearance, last in 2019; rescued from Ineligible); From Hell letter (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Hurricane Hazel (3rd appearance, last in 2014); 15 October 2011 global protests (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 10th anniversary); Lambert of Italy (first appearance); Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (first appearance); Julia Yeomans (2nd appearance, last in 2018)
Repeats: Mata Hari (2nd consecutive appearance, 10 total)

—howcheng {chat} 04:17, 16 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]