Template:Did you know nominations/Birmingham crisis

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by  — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:26, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Birmingham crisis

edit

Wreckage near the bombed Gaston Motel

  • ... that two bombings in Birmingham, Alabama (effects pictured), on May 11, 1963, began an escalating crisis, culminating in an unprecedented military operation?
  • Reviewed: Liu Hui
  • Comment: It would be great to act quickly on this one in order to run it on 11 May (perhaps in the evening) ... it's the 50 year anniversary. Otherwise, we could work out another relevant date in May to coincide. Feeling very flexible about text of hook.
  • Alt1: ... that two bombings (pictured) in Birmingham, Alabama, began an escalating crisis, which by May 18, 1963 involved 18,000 federal troops?

Created by Groupuscule (talk). Self nominated at 11:17, 10 May 2013 (UTC).

  • New enough and long enough. Image properly licensed. AGF on offline ref. Simon Burchell (talk) 15:11, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
User has asked for 18 May. PumpkinSky talk 09:53, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
  • I added two (mandatory) commas to the hook. But, I have to say, I don't like the diction in the hook. Crises can't really escalate--better to say something like caused a crisis in the city that culminated in an unprecedented military operation? "Begin" and "bombings" isn't a real happy combination either. One more thing: this is Alabama. The involvement of federalistas is a HUGE thing, still (we're kind of moronic that way), and that would make for a catchier and more appropriate hook than the rather neutral "military operation". So let me put all that together:
  • ALT2: ... that two bombings in Birmingham, Alabama (effects pictured), on May 11, 1963, caused a crisis in the city that led the federal government to have 18,000 troops at the ready in the Birmingham Army base? Drmies (talk) 04:11, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Also, I made a few minor edits to the article, but it needs another set of eyes, esp. with the "Black" and "White" word usage ("White" with a capital always looks funny to me). Drmies (talk) 04:11, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Please do whatever you want with the hook, Drmies (although I'm sad we may have missed the window for a "50 year" date). I use "Black" and "White" these days because (a) it distinguishes the terms from the colors black and white, making clear that they are used as euphemisms for brown and pink, and (b) that's the usage of the South Africa government that introduced these terms for its formal racial distinction. Yes, federal involvement was a Big Deal, that's why JFK tried to keep the whole operation on the down-low. :-) Peace, groupuscule (talk) 21:49, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
  • Note: I have moved this hook back into the main list, as the requested dates, May 11 and May 18 have both now passed. Harrias talk 11:04, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
  • This still needs a review. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:10, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
size age and hook check out - offline hooks accepted in good faith. Agree on ALT2. Apologies for the creator for missing the date. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:30, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
Thanks, yo. Don't worry about the timing. But actually, I'm not sure Alt2 is quite accurate ... actually, I'm not sure if there is a "Birmingham Army base" ... How about:
  • ALT3: ... that two 1963 bombings in Birmingham, Alabama (effects pictured) caused a crisis that eventually involved 18,000 federal troops?
I think this hook may be a little more accurate; the source I've seen say the troops were at different bases in the area. Relatedly, this hook substitutes "crisis" for "crisis in the city" because it seems the affected area was actually larger. Shalom, groupuscule (talk) 21:02, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
Agree - ALT3 reads better. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:20, 7 June 2013 (UTC)