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Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/December 8

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Today's featured article for December 8, 2025
Part of the Coventry ring road at sunset
Part of the Coventry ring road at sunset

The Coventry ring road (A4053) is a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) ring road in Coventry, England, forming a dual-carriageway loop around the city centre. The road encloses Coventry Cathedral, the shopping areas, and much of Coventry University. Except junction 1, all junctions are entirely grade-separated and closely spaced, with weaving sections between them. The road connects with three other A roads: the A4114, the A4600 and the A429. From the 1930s, Coventry City Council began replacing its medieval streets with modern roads, and Donald Gibson, the city architect, began work in 1939 on a plan that was expanded after the Coventry Blitz during the Second World War. The ring road was constructed in six stages from 1959, initially with at-grade junctions, cycle tracks and footpaths, but in the early 1960s the council amended the design to include grade separation and the weaving sections. The road was completed in 1974, with an overall cost of £14.5 million (equivalent to £191 million in 2023). (Full article...)

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Picture of the day for December 8, 2025
American robin

The American robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory bird in the thrush family, Turdidae. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related. The American robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering from southern Canada to central Mexico and along the Pacific coast. The species is active mostly during the day and assembles in large flocks at night. Its diet consists of invertebrates (such as beetle grubs, earthworms, and caterpillars), fruits, and berries. The robin's nest consists of long coarse grass, twigs, paper, and feathers, and is smeared with mud and often cushioned with grass or other soft materials. It is among the earliest birds to sing at dawn, and its song consists of several discrete units that are repeated. This American robin was photographed in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York City.

Photograph credit: Rhododendrites

John Lennon

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Prevously posted on WP:ERRORS:

(12/8) Not an error exactly, but I would have worded it 1980 - Former Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed outside of the Dakota apartments in New York City. Why give Chapman the publicity? Tvoz |talk 05:26, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

While I agree with your point, but the re-write you suggested is in the passive voice. I suppose the preference here is to use the active voice. ~Sasha Callahan (Talk) 05:41, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Those positions aren't opposites - they could both be satisfied with a version like "...Lennon died of gunshots outside of..." or "...gunshots received outside of..." Art LaPella (talk) 06:00, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
True, I was only commenting on the suggestion given. How about "Former Beattle John Lennon dies of four gunshot wounds, including one to the heart, sustained outside the Dakota" ~Sasha Callahan (Talk) 06:09, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
That would be fine - I wasn't thinking about the active vs passive voice. Tvoz |talk 16:21, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Why give Chapman the publicity? He's had that since 2004...[1] Zzyzx11 (Talk) 06:37, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Surely that's not a good enough reason to continue it. Tvoz |talk 16:21, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Our concern here is presenting information. To withhold pertinent (and already widely-available) information because we don't like the guy is not exactly the encyclopedic thing to do. -Elmer Clark (talk) 20:27, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's not a matter of withholding information - it's a matter of how the item is slanted, what is the emphasis. The notable thing that happened on Dec 8 1980 is what happened to Lennon - and I think it should not have been framed in terms of Chapman's action, making him the centerpiece- it is about Lennon's death. Active voice is not the most important consideration anyway - but even with it there are ways of stating this without making it a piece of news about Chapman. Do we say On September 30, 1955, Donald Turnupseed crossed into the car lane that James Dean was driving in, and killed him? For all I know we do, and if so, I'd object there too. It's news about James Dean, even if we have to write it in passive voice, not news about Donald Turnupseed. Tvoz |talk 03:10, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Pretty much any sentence can be re-written into the active voice. For the example you gave "James Dean dies after a car crash on..." ~Sasha Callahan (Talk) 03:16, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Right, as you suggested above: Former Beatle John Lennon dies after four gunshot wounds, including one to the heart etc. My objection is to the construction Mark David Chapman does such and such. If he had shot and killed an anonymous person that day it would have made the news in New York, but it wouldn't be commemorated 27 years later, is my guess. The story is not about Chapman, it's about Lennon, and the item should be about Lennon, that's all. Can we note the archives so the same thing isn't perpetuated next year? Tvoz |talk 03:23, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If Chapman didn't shoot, there would be no story. Both are important. Lennon is more important, though. Please leave things as is. --74.13.130.57 (talk) 05:52, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My point exactly - Lennon is more important. I don't care if we include Chapman's name or not - this isn't about "don't speak the monster's name", it's merely putting the focus on the important person in the exchange, not somehow elevating Chapman into equal or greater importance in the event. We also wouldn't say Yoko Ono watches as her husband John Lennon is shot dead in front of her. If we must, put Chapman in at the end of the sentence - but the focus should be on Lennon - if he had been hit by a cab it wouldn't say Joe Cabdriver runs over John Lennon, killing him. Or it shouldn't. Tvoz |talk 18:35, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

John Lennon -- Murdered vs. Assassinated

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The prevailing theory is that Lennon was murdered, not assassinated. Or, more precisely, when people say Lennon was "assassinated," they tend to mean he was sent by the CIA to kill Lennon. If you say Lennon was murdered (as most people do) you tend to believe he was killed by a nutcase.JoelWhy (talk) 19:04, 8 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Changed to "shot and killed". howcheng {chat} 20:23, 8 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2011 notes

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--howcheng {chat} 22:27, 10 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2012 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 12:49, 7 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2013 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 05:31, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

2014 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 09:08, 7 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

2015 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 17:44, 6 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2016 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 19:12, 7 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

2017 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 16:52, 8 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2018 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 16:39, 8 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

2019 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 17:56, 9 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

2020 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 03:52, 10 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

2021 notes

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—howcheng {chat} 08:36, 9 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Help me adding Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day

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I want to add Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day observed on 8 Dec. AsteriodX (talk) 15:13, 6 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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