This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcut: WP:RY

This is the central guideline for recent year articles. Recent year articles (e.g., 2008, 2009) are among the most heavily edited on Wikipedia. Since so many events happen in a year, not all events will be notable enough to merit inclusion on the page. Such events may be better placed on a subpage. That an event is important to an individual editor, or even to a particular society or nation, is not sufficient ground for its inclusion. The event must have a demonstrated, international significance. Also, the fact that other year articles may include events which break this set of guidelines is not a valid reason to do so for another event.

Contents 1 Consensus 2 Lead section 2.1 First paragraph 2.2 Second paragraph 3 Article body 3.1 Format 3.2 Inclusion and exclusion criteria 3.2.1 Events 3.2.1.1 Three-continent rule 3.2.1.2 Sports and other contests 3.2.1.3 Politics and legislation 3.2.1.4 Disasters, assasinations, and other crimes 3.2.2 Births 3.2.3 Deaths 3.2.4 In fiction 4 See also

[edit] Consensus

Any of the standards set below can be overruled by a consensus to ignore those standards in a given case.

[edit] Lead section

The lead section of a year article should be approximately two paragraphs in length (while the maximum for any article is four).

[edit] First paragraph

The first paragraph of a year article should be only a couple of sentences long, and should include the following information:

1. The name of the year, in boldface Arabic numerals (e.g., 2009)
2. The name of the year, in boldface Roman numerals. These numerals should be Wikilinked to the Roman numerals article (e.g., MMIX).
3. The day on which the year began or will begin, written as "common year starting on [day]". The word "common" through the name of the day should constitute one Wikilink (e.g., common year starting on Thursday).
4. If applicable, the fact that the year is ongoing
5. The calendar in which the year occurs (e.g., the Gregorian calendar)
6. The year's ordinal position in its:
   1. Calendar era. For purposes of neutrality and comprehensiveness, both the BCE/CE and the BC/AD systems should be noted, although the systems designate the same bifurcation of years.
   2. Millennium (e.g., the 3rd millennium)
   3. Century (e.g., the 21st century)
   4. Decade (e.g., the 2000s decade). Bear in mind that, in the Gregorian calendar, the first year of a CE/AD millennium or century always ends with a "1", because there was no year zero. However, the first year of a decade always ends with a "0", because decades are labelled nominally, in order to demarcate sets of similarly named years. (The names of years, themselves, are natural numbers that, relative to the transition between the calendar eras, reflect both an ordinal position and a cardinal length of time.)

Thus, the article for 2009 may begin as follows:

2009 (MMIX) is a common year starting on Thursday and is the current year. In the Gregorian calendar, it is the 2009th year of the Common Era, or of Anno Domini; the 9th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century; and the 10th and last of the 2000s decade.

[edit] Second paragraph

The second paragraph contains a bulleted list of formal and international designations that the year has received. In order to be considered notable enough for inclusion, these designations must have their own Wikipedia articles (e.g., International Year of Planet Earth, European Year of Equal Opportunities for All). The lack of an article does not mean that a designation is insignificant, but rather that it does not demonstrably meet Wikipedia's general notability guidelines. The same editor(s) may both create a designation's article, and then add that designation to the year article's second paragraph. However, it is incumbent upon said editor(s) to ensure that the created article is suitable for an encyclopedia and does not violate any of Wikipedia's policies.

[edit] Article body

[edit] Format

The body of a recent year article takes the format presented just below; the body's contents are subject to the inclusion and exclusion criteria that are set forth further down. Depending on whether a given year, or a given part thereof, has arrived, or on other factors, some sections, subsections, or entries might not apply to that year's article. Double-brackets indicate that the contents therein must be Wikilinked.

==Events==
===January===

• January 1 – Past event.
• January 1 – Same as above (S/A). (Wikilink all dates that begin an event/birth/death entry, even where those dates repeat. Wikilink the central names or concepts in descriptions of events, assuming those names or concepts have articles on Wikipedia. If the event per se has an article, its entry does not have to be—but certainly may be—cited again on the year article. If the event does not have its own article but is deemed sufficient for inclusion, it must be externally sourced in the year article, especially if it refers to living people.)
• January 2 – S/A
• etc.

===February===
===etc.===
==Predicted and scheduled events==
===March===

• March 1 – Future event. (Wikipedia is not a crystal ball, and should not be making predictions of its own about the future. It should not make statistical extrapolations of unclear or unverifiable significance. The purpose of this section is to indicate the contents of current schedules or predictions of events that reliable, external sources have deemed potentially important.)
• March 2 – S/A
• etc.

===April===
===etc.===
==Births==
===January===

• January 1 – [[Name]], Nationality and very brief description (Do not Wikilink anything other than the date of birth and name. External sources are presumed to exist in the subject's own article, but may be duplicated in the year article to ensure that the latter article passes WP:BLP.)
  
• January 2 – S/A
• etc.

===February===
===etc.===
==Deaths==
===January===

• January 1 – [[Name]], Nationality and very brief description, (born [[YOB]]) (Do not Wikilink anything other than the date of death, name, and year of birth. External sources are presumed to exist in the subject's own article, and their duplication on the year article is not strictly required.)
  
• January 2 – S/A
• etc.

===February===
===etc.===
==Awards==
===Nobel Prizes===

• Chemistry – [[Name 1]], [[Name 2]], etc.
  
• Economics – [[Name 1]], [[Name 2]], etc.
  
• Literature – [[Name 1]], [[Name 2]], etc.
  
• Peace – [[Name 1]], [[Name 2]], etc.
  
• Physics – [[Name 1]], [[Name 2]], etc.
  
• Physiology or Medicine – [[Name 1]], [[Name 2]], etc.
  

==Major religious holidays==

• January 1 – [Holiday] in [religion]
• January 2 – S/A
• etc.

==In fiction==
===Computer and video games===
Set in [year]

• [[Title]] (year of release) – optional note
  
• S/A
• etc.

===Film===

• [[Title]] (year of release) – optional note
  
• S/A
• etc.

===Television===

• [[Title]] (year of release) – optional note
  
• S/A
• etc.

===Books===

• [[Title]] (year of release) – optional note
  
• S/A
• etc.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[edit] Inclusion and exclusion criteria

[edit] Events

[edit] Three-continent rule

New events added must receive independent news reporting from three different continents on the event. This is a minimum requirement for inclusion. Events which are not cited at all, or are not Wikilinked to an article devoted to the event, may be removed.

[edit] Sports and other contests

Sporting events which are either annual or are not international (more than one continent) do not belong on the main year page, but on the year in sports page (e.g. 2009 in sports). Valid sporting events may include:

1. World Cup
2. Olympics
3. Terrorist attack at a sporting event or other such major disaster

Events which usually do not merit inclusion:

1. Annual championships such as the World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, or NBA Championship
2. Annual world or continental championships in any sport, such as European or African football tournaments
3. Any other annual contest, such as Eurovision Song Contest or American Idol
4. World records (unless especially notable, something akin to Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile)

Any event not covered above must gain a consensus for inclusion on the talk page before being added and may be better placed in the year's sports article.

[edit] Politics and legislation

National elections are not usually included unless they represent a significant change in the country (e.g., a nation's first election). Some elections gain international significance for other reasons and this can be demonstrated through several international news sources. Regular and ordinary shifts in power within the United Nations and European Union are also not sufficiently notable.

Most legislation passed in the year will not qualify unless it is of international significance.

[edit] Disasters, assasinations, and other crimes

Disasters of a global or near-global significance may be added. The importance of these disasters can be demonstrated through various international news sources. High death counts do not necessarily merit inclusion into the article. Likewise, assassinations or other similarly serious crimes can be listed if international relevance is demonstrated. Events such as suicide-murders, kidnappings, school shootings, etc. do not necessarily qualify unless especially significant.

[edit] Births

Births are only to be included if there are Wikipedia articles in at least ten languages about the individual in question. William Shakespeare, for example, has several non-English articles on him, listed on the left sidebar. This is a minimum requirement for unexplained inclusion. Although inclusion may then be automatic, it will not necessarily be permanent. Any entry may be contested by any editor who finds the entry undue; and, pending discussion, many names might not merit inclusion, even if they have enough non-English articles.

[edit] Deaths

The same criteria apply to deaths as to births.

[edit] In fiction

Film releases, Academy Awards, video game releases, and the like should always be added onto their topic pages (e.g., 2009 in video gaming, 2001 in film, 2006 in television) and never on the main years' pages. However, films, games, etc. that are set in a given year—regardless of their release dates, provided that the release and setting are not so close in time as to coincide only trivially—may be added to the "In fiction" section of the main article for that year.

[edit] See also

• Wikipedia:Main article fixation