Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/May 8

This is the talk page for making suggestions or discussing improvements to Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 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 May 8 article, see Talk:May 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.

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 May 8, 2025

The United States Navy ferries troops across the Rhine at Oberwesel.

American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany supported operations in Northwest Europe during the World War II from January 1945 until the end of the war in Europe on 8 May. The Allies had to advance across the Rhineland, which was in the grip of thaws, rains and floods. They were then confronted by the Rhine, the most formidable barrier to the Allied advance since the English Channel. The river was crossed and bridged, and railways and pipelines were run across it. Most supplies were delivered by rail. In the final advance into the heart of Germany, combat losses and ammunition expenditure declined, while shortages of fuel and spare parts developed, as was to be expected in fast-moving mobile operations. The railheads were pushed forward, with the rehabilitation of the network keeping pace with the advance, while the Motor Transport Service organized an express service that moved supplies from the railheads to the forward units. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

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Picture of the day for May 8, 2025

The Auxiliary Territorial Service

Photograph credit: Lt. Taylor, War Office official photographer; Restored by Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

← Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/May 7 * Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/May 9 →

Suggestion

1927 – The French tried to beat Charles Lindbergh in the race for a Transatlantic flight, with their biplane The White Bird (L'Oiseau Blanc), piloted by WWI warhero Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli, but the plane and its crew disappeared over the Atlantic and were never heard from again. --Elonka 11:25, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Uh, if they crashed in the Ocean before they completed their trip, then it doesn't count. ;)--Kross ^Talk 21:13, 8 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sétif massacre

the Sétif massacre should be included here. --Soman (talk) 12:56, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

Deleted: Chinese Exclusion Act (moved to May 8—wrong date)
Moved to Ineligible: Antoine Lavoisier (maintenance)
Omitted: The White Bird; Sétif and Guelma massacre; Huế Phật Đản shootings
Included: Klaipėda Convention (first appearance); German Instrument of Surrender (5th appearance, last in 2010); Sabena Flight 571 hijacking (first appearance); Loughgall Ambush (first appearance)
Repeats: Hernando de Soto (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:17, 7 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Coca-Cola (maintenance)
Omitted: Hernando de Soto; Klaipėda Convention; German Instrument of Surrender; Sabena Flight 571; 1984 Summer Olympics boycott
Included: Antoine Lavoisier (7th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Versailles rail accident (first appearance); Sétif and Guelma massacre (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Huế Phật Đản shootings (4th appearance, last in 2011); Hard Hat Riot (first appearance)
Repeats: Loughgall Ambush (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:17, 7 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

Omitted: Antoine Lavoisier; Versailles rail accident; Sétif and Guelma massacre; Huế Phật Đản shootings; Hard Hat Riot; Loughgall Ambush
Included: Battle of Jinyang (first appearance); Coca-Cola (5th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Klaipėda Convention (2nd appearance, last in 2012; 90th anniversary); Sabena Flight 571 (2nd appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); 1984 Summer Olympics boycott (3rd appearance, last in 2012; 30th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 11:05, 7 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

Omitted: Battle of Jinyang; Klaipėda Convention; Sabena Flight 571; 1984 Summer Olympics boycott
Included: Antoine Lavoisier (8th appearance, last in 2013); L'Oiseau Blanc (2nd appearance, last in 2011); German Instrument of Surrender (6th appearance, last in 2012; 70th anniversary); Huế Phật Đản shootings (5th appearance, last in 2013)
Repeats: Coca-Cola (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:52, 6 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

Moved to Ineligible: Battle of Jinyang (maintenance)
Omitted: Antoine Lavoisier; L'Oiseau Blanc; German Instrument of Surrender; Huế Phật Đản shootings
Included: Versailles rail accident (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Klaipėda Convention (3rd appearance, last in 2014); Sétif and Guelma massacre (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Sabena Flight 571 (3rd appearance, last in 2014)
Repeats: Coca-Cola (3rd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 10:41, 8 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

Moved to Ineligible: German Instrument of Surrender (maintenance)
Omitted: Versailles rail accident; Coca-Cola (ineligible—maintenance); Klaipėda Convention; Sabena Flight 571
Included: Antoine Lavoisier (9th appearance, last in 2015); L'Oiseau Blanc (3rd appearance, last in 2015; 90th anniversary); Hard Hat Riot (2nd appearance, last in 2013); Loughgall ambush (3rd appearance, last in 2013; 30th anniversary); Fern Hobbs (first appearance); Friedrich Hayek (first appearance); Beatrice Worsley (first appearance)
Repeats: Sétif and Guelma massacre (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

—howcheng {chat} 07:48, 8 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

Moved to Ineligible: 1984 Summer Olympics boycott (maintenance)
Omitted: Antoine Lavoisier (ineligible—maintenance); L'Oiseau Blanc; Hard Hat Riot; Fern Hobbs; Friedrich Hayek (ineligible—maintenance)
Included: Versailles rail accident (3rd appearance, last in 2016); Klaipėda Convention (4th appearance, last in 2016); Huế Phật Đản shootings (6th appearance, last in 2015); Thomas Drury (1551–1603) (first appearance); Helena Blavatsky (2nd appearance, last in 2017; also appeared on August 12, her birthday)
Repeats: Sétif and Guelma massacre (4th consecutive appearance, 6 total); Loughgall ambush (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Beatrice Worsley (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 21:52, 22 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

Omitted: Klaipėda Convention; Sétif and Guelma massacre; Loughgall ambush; Thomas Drury (1551–1603); Helena Blavatsky; Beatrice Worsley
Included: L'Oiseau Blanc (4th appearance, last in 2017); Battle of the Kerch Peninsula (first appearance); Sabena Flight 571 (4th appearance, last in 2016); Edward Foxe (first appearance); Jacques Heim (first appearance); Ethel D. Allen (first appearance; 90th birthday)
Repeats: Versailles rail accident (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Huế Phật Đản shootings (2nd consecutive appearance, 7 total)

—howcheng {chat} 16:50, 8 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

New articles (ineligible): Pope Boniface IV (date of death disputed)
New articles (unused): Jack Charlton; Anthony Field; Soeman Hs
Omitted: L'Oiseau Blanc; Battle of the Kerch Peninsula; Huế Phật Đản shootings; Sabena Flight 571; Jacques Heim; Ethel D. Allen
Included: Klaipėda Convention (5th appearance, last in 2018); Sétif and Guelma massacre (6th appearance, last in 2018; 75th anniversary); Hard Hat Riot (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 50th anniversary); Harry S. Truman (first appearance); Gordon McClymont (first appearance; 100th birthday)
Repeats: Versailles rail accident (3rd consecutive appearance, 5 total); Edward Foxe (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

—howcheng {chat} 22:08, 9 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

Omitted: Klaipėda Convention; Sétif and Guelma massacre; Hard Hat Riot; Edward Foxe; Harry S. Truman; Gordon McClymont
Included: Battle of Gravia Inn (first appearance; 200th anniversary); Ngo Dinh Diem presidential visit to the United States (first appearance); Sabena Flight 571 (5th appearance, last in 2019); Loughgall ambush (5th appearance, last in 2018); Ali Bey al-Kabir (first appearance); Friedrich Hayek (2nd appearance, last in 2017; rescued from Ineligible); Soeman Hs (first appearance)
Repeats: Versailles rail accident (4th consecutive appearance, 6 total)

—howcheng {chat} 06:41, 11 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

2022 notes

New articles (ineligible): Truganini (maintenance)
Omitted: Versailles rail accident; Ngo Dinh Diem presidential visit to the United States; Loughgall ambush; Ali Bey al-Kabir; Friedrich Hayek; Soeman Hs
Included: L'Oiseau Blanc (5th appearance, last in 2019); Battle of the Kerch Peninsula (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 80th anniversary); Tollund Man (first appearance); Thomas Drury (1551–1603) (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Helena Blavatsky (3rd appearance, last in 2018); Beatrice Worsley (3rd appearance, last in 2018; 50th anniversary)
Repeats: Battle of Gravia Inn (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Sabena Flight 571 (2nd consecutive appearance, 6 total; 50th anniversary)

—howcheng {chat} 16:22, 9 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]