Editorial Standards & AI Policy

How we research, write, and review every article on thisDay.

Who We Are

thisDay.info is run by Armin Kapetanovic, a developer and history enthusiast based in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The editorial team is small by design — the goal has always been depth over volume, and a genuine interest in why historical events happened, not just that they did.

Our blog focuses on significant historical events tied to specific calendar dates. We cover wars and conflict, political turning points, scientific breakthroughs, social movements, disasters, exploration, and the lives of people who shaped the world. Every article is grounded in documented historical record.

How Articles Are Produced

We use an AI-assisted research and drafting pipeline, combined with editorial review. Here is the exact process every blog article goes through before it is published:

1
Event selection

An event is selected from the current calendar date's historical record, weighted toward events with strong documentation, clear historical significance, and enough primary-source material to write a substantive article. Events with insufficient documented sources are excluded.

2
AI-assisted research and drafting

An AI language model drafts the article using its training knowledge of the event, constrained to include specific, verifiable facts — real names, exact dates, documented locations, and attributable quotes. The AI is instructed to flag any detail it cannot attribute to a named source. Generic summaries and unsupported generalisations are explicitly prohibited in the generation prompt.

3
Eyewitness quote verification

Any direct quote attributed to a historical figure is put through a separate verification pass. If the quote cannot be traced to a real, documented source — a letter, diary entry, newspaper account, or published memoir — it is removed before publication. We do not publish paraphrases as direct quotes.

4
Fact-check pass

A dedicated fact-check step verifies that the event date, year, and location are internally consistent and match the article's core claims. Any identified discrepancy triggers a correction before the article is stored.

5
SEO and quality review

The article is reviewed for clarity, completeness, and accuracy of metadata (descriptions, keywords, image attribution). Weak or vague passages are rewritten. The article must meet a minimum word count and structural standard before it qualifies for publication.

6
Publication

The finished article is published with full source attribution to Wikipedia (under CC BY-SA 4.0), image credit to Wikimedia Commons, and a disclosure note stating it was produced with AI assistance. Every article links back to its Wikipedia source so readers can verify facts independently.

Our Editorial Standards

Specific over generic

Every paragraph must contain at least one verifiable, attributable fact — a real name, an exact year or number, a specific place, or a documented quote. Vague generalisations ("a pivotal moment", "changed history") are prohibited in our generation guidelines.

Sources cited, not hidden

Every article links to its Wikipedia source and credits Wikimedia Commons for images. We use the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Where an eyewitness quote is used, the source document and year are attributed inline.

AI used as a research tool, not a replacement for accuracy

We use AI to process and structure documented historical information efficiently. We do not use AI to invent facts, fill gaps with plausible-sounding detail, or generate quotes without verified attribution. The fact-check and quote validation steps exist specifically to catch and remove hallucinated content before publication.

Corrections welcomed

We publish corrections when errors are identified. If you find a factual mistake — a wrong date, a misattributed quote, an incorrect location — please contact us. We take accuracy seriously and will update the article and note the correction.

What We Don't Do

Data Sources

Historical event data across the site is sourced from Wikipedia via the Wikimedia REST API, provided under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Images are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under their respective free licences.

Blog articles draw on the AI model's training knowledge of documented historical events, anchored by the Wikipedia source linked at the bottom of each post. Readers are always encouraged to follow the Wikipedia link and consult primary sources for anything academically or professionally important.

Report an Error

Found a factual error, a misattributed quote, or something that doesn't look right? Use our contact page or email [email protected] with the article URL and a brief description of the issue. We review all correction requests and respond within a few days.

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