Tachyony: Imported page

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The "'''Today's Featured Article'''" (TFA) section first appeared on the main page on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 22, 2004|February 22, 2004]], featuring the article [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]. Rather than the full article being displayed on the main page, a summary (often described as a "blurb") appears, with a link to the full article appearing in bold. To start with, the rotation of TFAs was done by updating {{tl|Feature}}. The selection did not change promptly at midnight [[UTC]] as it now does, and sometimes TFAs would appear for more or less than 24 hours.

The system of using daily templates, prepared in advance and automatically transcluded onto the main page, [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=5062374&oldid=5059484 began on August 7, 2004]. Since then, things have been a little more regular.

The general rules for the TFA section are these: only featured articles appear; there is only one TFA per day; each one is displayed for 24 hours; and only one image accompanies the blurb. Until a change in early 2017, there was also an additional rule that no FA could appear more than once as TFA. Most of the time the rules have been followed{{nbsp}}... This is a list of times when something a bit different, intentionally or otherwise, has happened in the TFA section.

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==The ones with two featured articles in a day==
Since August 2004, this has happened only four times:
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 4, 2008|November 4, 2008]], the date of the 2008 United States presidential election, [[Barack Obama]] and [[John McCain]] shared the TFA slot. This is the only time so far that two TFAs have appeared at the same time with separate blurbs. Some [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.js&diff=prev&oldid=249554621 tweaks] were [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article/November_4,_2008&diff=prev&oldid=249553958 made] to randomize whether McCain or Obama appeared at the top of the TFA box.
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 31, 2010|October 31, 2010]], [[Grace Sherwood]] appeared until 12:28 UTC, at which point it was replaced by [[Tropical Storm Chantal (2001)]] because of copyvio/plagiarism concerns. [[Wikipedia:Featured article review/Grace Sherwood/archive1|Grace Sherwood was demoted from FA status]] on December 12, 2010, [[Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Grace Sherwood/archive2|re-promoted to FA status]] on September 9, 2013 and re-appeared as TFA on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 10, 2017|July 10, 2017]].
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 9, 2012|February 9, 2012]], [[Frederick Russell Burnham]] appeared until 17:27 UTC, at which point it was replaced by [[Hurricane Nate (2005)]] because of similar concerns. [[Wikipedia:Featured article review/Frederick Russell Burnham/archive1|Frederick Russell Burnham was demoted from FA status]] on July 12, 2012.
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 14, 2021|February 14, 2021]], ''[[Heaven Upside Down]]'' [[Special:PermaLink/1006703016|was replaced]] by [[M113 armoured personnel carriers in Australian service]] due to concerns about tone deafness following sexual abuse allegations against Marilyn Manson.

==The ones when multiple featured articles ran in the same blurb==
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 25, 2013|March 25, 2013]], three related featured articles ([[Blockhaus d'Éperlecques]], [[La Coupole]] and the [[Fortress of Mimoyecques]]) appeared in the same blurb. The coding of the main page [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=546287457&oldid=544903339 was amended] to make the section header plural for the day.
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 26, 2013|September 26, 2013]], identical twin brothers [[Henrik Sedin]] and [[Daniel Sedin]] (born September 26, 1980) appeared in the same blurb.
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 12, 2014|April 12, 2014]], the constellations [[Triangulum]] and [[Triangulum Australe]] shared the TFA blurb. Two subpages were used to randomise which one appeared first in the blurb.
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 16, 2015|August 16, 2015]], the constellations [[Corona Borealis]] and [[Corona Australis]] shared the TFA blurb.
* For [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 7, 2015|September 7, 2015]], two Commonwealth Battle of Britain pilots – [[Caesar Hull]] (Southern Rhodesia) and [[Paterson Hughes]] (Australia), both killed over London on that date in 1940 – shared the TFA blurb.

==The ones with featured articles that have appeared twice==
{{see also|Category:Featured articles that have appeared on the main page twice}}
* Barack Obama's article appeared on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 18, 2004|August 18, 2004]] and was repeated on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 4, 2008|November 4, 2008]] (to mark the 2008 US Presidential election, as noted above). The archived discussion is [[Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests/Archive 7#Presidential candidates - winner on November 5; loser on November 6|here]].
* In January 2012, Wikipedia was suspended for 24 hours as part of a co-ordinated protest against the US [[Stop Online Piracy Act]] (SOPA). The [[English Wikipedia blackout]] began at midnight Eastern Time (05:00 UTC) on January 18. One article, [[Nick Drake]], was TFA either side of the blackout on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 18, 2012|January 18]] (5 hours) and on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 19, 2012|January 19]] (19 hours). The article was TFA for a total of 24 hours but this was spread across two days. (See [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Raul654&oldid=471868743#TFA.2C_TFP_and_SOPA this discussion].)
* [[Transit of Venus]] appeared on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 7, 2005|May 7, 2005]] and [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 5, 2012|June 5, 2012]]; the second appearance marked the last transit of Venus in the 21st century, the next one not occurring until 10–11 December 2117.
* [[Gough Whitlam]] appeared on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 25, 2004|March 25, 2004]] and [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 5, 2014|November 5, 2014]]; the second appearance marked Whitlam's memorial service after his death in October 2014 at the age of 98.
* [[Pluto]] first appeared on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 7, 2007|October 7, 2007]], and again on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 14, 2015|July 14, 2015]] to mark the visit to Pluto of the [[New Horizons]] space probe.

[[Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/Archive 9#Request for comment on changes to the "Today's featured article" slot on the main page|A discussion in 2017]] relaxed the rule about TFAs appearing for a second time. Following this, [[Rosetta Stone]] (which had first appeared on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 14, 2010|September 14, 2010]]) was re-featured on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 18, 2017|March 18, 2017]].

==The ones with something other than a featured article in the TFA slot==
* For Wikipedia's 10th birthday, on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 15, 2011|January 15, 2011]], the TFA slot displayed a featured list ([[Moons of Saturn]]), a featured topic ([[Wikipedia:Featured topics/Guadalcanal Campaign]]) and a featured sound ([[:File:01 - Vivaldi Spring mvt 1 Allegro - John Harrison violin.ogg]])
* On April 1, 2005, [[User:Bishonen/European toilet paper holder]] appeared as the TFA (one of the options that had been supported in a [[Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/archive7|long discussion]] about the options) – but only for [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article/April_1,_2005&diff=11751158&oldid=11751126 one minute] before the admin changing the TFA [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article/April_1,_2005&diff=next&oldid=11751158 self-reverted].

==The one when TFA was late==
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 26, 2011|November 26, 2011]], no TFA had been scheduled by Raul654 (FA director) or Dabomb87 (his TFA delegate). After [[Talk:Main Page/Archive 163#No TFA today?|some discussion at Talk:Main Page]] and 22 minutes of blankness, [[User:Wehwalt|Wehwalt]] took a non-specific date nomination from [[WP:TFAR]] and scheduled it. An [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/emergency|emergency list]] of pre-prepared blurbs is now kept, in case the TFA coordinators fail to schedule something.

==The one with the shortest blurb==
* On [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2013|April 1, 2013]], the hook for the featured article consisted of simply the character "?" (albeit a very large "?"), referring to the Indonesian film ''[[? (film)|?]]''.

==The ones with the most votes==
* [[History of Gibraltar]] prompted a vigorous discussion at [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests|the TFA requests pages]] when it was nominated for [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 13, 2013|July 13, 2013]], but [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/History of Gibraltar|the discussion]] was closed with what was at the time the most votes in support that anyone can remember (31–4 in favor of running it).
* [[Fuck (film)|''Fuck'']] also prompted another lively discussion at TFAR before it was scheduled for [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 1, 2014|March 1, 2014]]. [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Fuck (film)|The discussion]] set a new record for the most votes (52–25 in support of running it, excluding neutrals and votes conditional on its appearance on a specifically relevant date rather than a non-specific date).
* If discussions are measured by page size rather than number of votes or !votes, then we get:
** [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties]] (196,298 bytes)
** [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Fuck (film)]] (128,663 bytes)
** [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/History of Gibraltar]] (60,339 bytes)
** [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo]] (30,007 bytes covering discussions in 2011 and 2012)

==The ones with the most points==
* For many years, until April 2014, the requests page used a points system to help indicate which articles were more deserving of appearing as TFA in the event of competition for the same date or similar articles being nominated. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article/requests/instructions&oldid=602192820 Final version of the system]) Factors used included: how long it had been since the article's promotion (with articles that had been promoted{{nbsp}}1 or{{nbsp}}2+ years ago gaining points); whether the article was from a section at [[WP:FA]] with <50 articles; whether it was a "vital article"; whether similar articles had run in the recent past (which could mean bonuses or penalties, depending on timing); whether it would be the author's first TFA; and to mark anniversaries (with various bonus points for multiples of 10 or 25).
* The highest score under this system, as far as anyone can remember, was eleven points:
** [[Richard Nixon]] (at [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Richard Nixon]]): centennial of birth (6), level{{nbsp}}4 vital article (4), and promoted over one year previously (1);
** [[Richard Wagner]] (at [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Richard Wagner]]): bicentenary of birth (6), level{{nbsp}}4 vital article (4), and nominator's first TFA appearance (1).
** [[John Calvin]] ([https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article/requests&oldid=299300490#Requests nomination in history]) Quincentennial of birth (6) level{{nbsp}}4 vital article (4), and promoted over one year previously (1);
* Had the points system still been in operation, [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/John A. Macdonald]] would have set a new record with twelve points: bicentenary of birth (6), level{{nbsp}}4 vital article (4) and promoted over two years previously (2).

==The ones with the most pictures in the blurb==
* [[Middle Ages]], which was TFA on [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 12, 2013|September 12, 2013]], had not one but five accompanying images, each illustrating different aspects of the topic. Which image a reader saw at any particular time was governed by {{tl|random subpage}}, assisted by the main page's being purged every 15 minutes by a bot.
* [[Metalloid]], which was TFA for [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 4, 2014|October 4, 2014]], had six different images, one for each of the main metalloids. Random subpages were used to vary which metalloid image was displayed.

==The ones with a theme spread over several days==
* April 5–12, 2011, saw a series starting with the letter P: [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 5, 2011|Polyozellus]], [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 6, 2011|Philitas of Cos]], [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 7, 2011|Phan Dinh Phung]], [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 8, 2011|The Pit and the Pendulum]], [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 9, 2011|Pithole]], [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 10, 2011|Populous: The Beginning]], [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 11, 2011|Parkinson's disease]] and culminating in [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 12, 2011|Pattern Recognition]].
* February 17–20, 2013, saw TFAs on a theme of Eagles: ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 17, 2013|Eagle]]'' (a British comic); the [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 18, 2013|White-bellied Sea Eagle]]; the [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 19, 2013|Turban Head eagle]] (an American gold coin); and [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 20, 2013|HMS ''Eagle'']] (a British aircraft carrier). "[[WP:POTD|Picture of the Day]]" joined in the fun with a picture of an eagle and the word "eagle" in three other pictures over the four days: see [[Wikipedia:Picture of the day/February 2013]].
* October 25–29, 2013, saw TFAs on a theme of George: [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 25, 2013|Georges Bizet]] (French composer); [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 26, 2013|George Jones]] (RAAF officer); [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 27, 2013|George Went Hensley]] (American Pentecostal minister); [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 28, 2013|George Herriman]] (American cartoonist); [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 29, 2013|Georgette Heyer]] (British novelist). Two (Bizet and Herriman) were nominated at [[WP:TFAR]] and Bencherlite (TFA coordinator at the time) then filled in the gaps, as explained [[Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/Archive 6#The week of George?|here]]. "[[WP:POTD|Picture of the Day]]" joined in the fun with pictures of the [[George Washington Masonic National Memorial]], [[Saint George Palace]] and [[George Juskalian]] on the last three days: see [[Wikipedia:Picture of the day/October 2013]].
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 22, 2014|February 22, 2014]], the tenth anniversary of TFA, saw [[Tropical Depression Ten (2007)|Tropical Depression Ten]] as the apt article of the day. It was the lowest "card" of a five-card TFA sequence: 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace (a "[[Broadway (poker)|Broadway]]" in poker). The remaining articles were: the Australian cricketer [[Jack Marsh]]; [[Olga Constantinovna of Russia]] (Queen of the Hellenes); ''[[The King and I]]'' (a Broadway musical by Rogers and Hammerstein); and [[John F. Bolt]], an American fighter pilot who achieved "ace" status in two wars. Nobody noticed the sequence...
* The first seven days of October 2014 featured articles that had every word in their titles beginning with "M": [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 1, 2014|Mucho Macho Man]], [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 2, 2014|Madeline Montalban]], ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 3, 2014|Meerkat Manor]]'', [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 4, 2014|Metalloid]], ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 5, 2014|Mom & Me & Mom]]'', [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 6, 2014|Mascarene martin]] and ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 7, 2014|Marquee Moon]].
* The last five days of 2014, which were the last five TFAs scheduled by Bencherlite, counted down to 2015 and the new TFA coordinators taking over: [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 27, 2014|'''Fifth''' Test, 1948 Ashes series]]; ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 28, 2014|Star Trek '''IV''': The Voyage Home]]''; ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 29, 2014|'''Three''' Beauties of the Present Day]]''; ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 30, 2014|Thief '''II''': The Metal Age]]''; and ''[[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 31, 2014|Fijación Oral, Vol. '''1''']]''.
* The last four days of June 2015, scheduled by Crisco 1492, began with the letters E ([[Effects of Hurricane Georges in Louisiana]]), E (''[[Edmontosaurus]]''), R ([[Robin Friday]]), and F (''[[Fantastic Novels]]''). As such, when [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 30, 2015|the June 30th TFA]] was on the main page, the initials of the four TFAs mentioned on the main page spelled "FREE".

==The ones that ran on April Fools' Day==
In some years, parts of the Main Page – including TFA – mark [[April Fools' Day]]:
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2004|2004]]: [[Byzantine Empire]] (A serious article and blurb)
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2005|2005]]: [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] (After [[Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/archive7|a long discussion]] about what should run, [[User:Bishonen/European toilet paper holder]] appeared for one minute on the Main Page.)
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2006|2006]]: [[Spoo]] (The article [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Spoo (3rd nomination)|was deleted]] on January 12, 2019, and replaced with a disambiguation page, with the page history restored to [[Spoo (food)]].)
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2007|2007]]: [[George Washington (inventor)]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2008|2008]]: [[Ima Hogg]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2009|2009]]: [[Museum of Bad Art]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2010|2010]]: [[Wife selling (English custom)]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2011|2011]]: [[Cock Lane ghost]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2012|2012]]: [[Pigeon photography]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2013|2013]]: [[? (film)]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2014|2014]]: [[Disco Demolition Night]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2015|2015]]: [[Invisible rail]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2016|2016]]: [[Gregor MacGregor]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2017|2017]]: [[Nominative determinism]]
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2018|2018]]: [[RAF Uxbridge]] (A serious article and blurb, to mark the 100th anniversary of the military base coming under the control of the Royal Air Force)
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2019|2019]]: [[Siege of Aiguillon]] (A serious article and blurb, to mark the 673rd anniversary of the siege's beginning)
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2020|2020]]: [[German battleship Tirpitz|German battleship ''Tirpitz'']] (A serious article and blurb, to mark the 81st anniversary of the ship's launch)
* [[Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 1, 2021|2021]]: [[Groundhog Day (film)]]
[[Category:Wikipedia Today's featured article|Oddities]]
[[Category:Wikipedia history]]

==See also==
*[[Wikipedia:Did you know/Multiple Article Hook Hall of Fame]]

Wikipedia:Today's featured article oddities - Revision history

Tachyony: Imported page