Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 31
This is a list of selected August 31 anniversaries that appears on the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial, or on a day that is or soon will be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only 5–6 events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is not generally posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled August 31, 2012 featured article or the August 31, 2012 featured picture.
To report an error when this appears 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.
| < August 30 | September 1 > |
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Images
Use only ONE image at a time
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1422 – As the only heir to the throne, Henry VI became King of England at the age of eight months following the death of his father Henry V. | refimprove, lead too short |
| 1876 – Abdul Hamid II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire when his brother Murad V was deposed. | Tagged with {{unreferenced}} |
| 1907 – The Great Game: Russia and the United Kingdom signed the Anglo-Russian Entente, defining their respective spheres of interest in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet. | no footnotes, inappropriate tone |
| 1920 – Polish forces, led by their cavalry, defeated the Bolshevik Red Army in the Battle of Komarów. | tagged with {{refimprove}} |
| 1992 – The one-party Marxist rule in the Republic of the Congo officially ended when Pascal Lissouba was inaugurated as its president after a multi-party election. | date not in article |
| 2005 – Up to 1,000 people died following a stampede on the Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad, the biggest loss of life in Iraq in one day since the 2003 invasion. | Tagged with {{unreferenced}}, kind of short |
| 2010 – The last episode of The Bill, the longest-running police drama in British television history, was broadcast. | already featured on October 16 |
Eligible
- 1986 – Aeroméxico Flight 498 collided with a privately owned Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
- 1986 – After a collision with a freighter, the Soviet ocean liner Admiral Nakhimov sank in the Tsemes Bay area of the Black Sea within seven minutes, killing more than 400 people on board.
August 31: Independence Day in Malaysia (1957), Trinidad and Tobago (1962) and Kyrgyzstan (1991)
- 1056 – After a sudden illness a few days prior, Byzantine Empress Theodora died without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty.
- 1888 – Mary Ann Nichols' body was found on the ground in front of a gated stable entrance in Buck's Row, London, allegedly the first victim of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper (depiction pictured).
- 1959 – A parcel bomb sent by Ngo Dinh Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, failed to kill Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- 1982 – Anti-government demonstrations were held in 66 Polish cities to commemorate the second anniversary of the Gdańsk Agreement.
- 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed, and their driver Henri Paul were killed in a high speed car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris.
More anniversaries: August 30 – August 31 – September 1