A birthday on the globe
12 September on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 12 September, the English Wikipedia lists 74 events and 223 births. 43 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; nine more are dashed circles, where the sentence links only to a country or a sea. The taller the ray, the longer ago it happened. The people born that day come further down, as blue points.
A birthday, yours or someone else’s:
Turn it into a greetingScroll: the globe turns to each place
The day you were born, on the globe.
Three things from your day
Scroll: your day first, then 12 September through the years
The Earth on 12 September
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in September 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 12 September the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 4.2° north. In London, the day lasts about 12 hours 55 minutes.
Beyond 86° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 86° south it no longer rises.
The line between day and night is tilted on the globe exactly as on this day of the year. On the dark side you can see the lights of towns.
Britain & Ireland · Arbroath
1885
Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord, a world record scoreline in professional association football.
On the map: Arbroath.
Britain & Ireland · Newport Transporter Bridge
1906
The Newport Transporter Bridge is opened in Newport, South Wales by Viscount Tredegar.
On the map: Newport Transporter Bridge.
Britain & Ireland · A4200 road
1933
Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.
On the map: A4200 road.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Europe · Lascaux
1940
Cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France.
On the map: Lascaux.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian and Chinese.
Europe · Moscow
1990
The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German reunification.
On the map: Moscow.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Wikipedia: Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
Africa · Harare
1890
Salisbury, Rhodesia, is founded.
On the map: Harare.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian and Chinese.
Latin America · Tikal
379
Yax Nuun Ahiin I took the throne as the ruler (ajaw) of the Mayan city of Tikal.
On the map: Tikal.
North America · Flatwoods, West Virginia
1952
Three boys in Flatwoods, West Virginia, U.S., reported seeing a ten-foot-tall (3 m) monster in the woods while investigating a UFO.
On the map: Flatwoods, West Virginia.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
North America · St. Mary's Church
1953
U.S. Senator and future President John Fitzgerald Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island.
On the map: St. Mary's Church.
North America · Rice University
1962
US President John F. Kennedy delivers his "We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice University.
On the map: Rice University.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
12 September
What the other Wikipedias remember#
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Romanian and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Romanian · Antwerp
1920
In Antwerp, at the Summer Olympic Games, the Olympic flag with five rings is used for the first time.
On the map: Antwerp.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
The article on Wikipedia in Romanian: Jocurile Olimpice de vară din 1920
12 September
Born on 12 September#
The English Wikipedia lists 223 births for this day. The blue points are the birthplaces of 60 of these people: those written about in the most Wikipedia editions, where Wikidata gives a place of birth.
Born on 12 September
1897
Irène Joliot-Curie, French chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1956)
Place of birth: 13th arrondissement of Paris.
Born on 12 September
1921
Stanisław Lem, Polish philosopher and author (died 2006)
Place of birth: Lviv.
Born on 12 September
1973
Paul Walker, American actor (died 2013)
Place of birth: Glendale.
Born on 12 September
1913
Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (died 1980)
Place of birth: Oakville.
Born on 12 September
1986
Emmy Rossum, American singer and actress
Place of birth: New York City.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1931
Ian Holm, English actor (died 2020)
Place of birth: Goodmayes.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1986
Alfie Allen, English actor
Place of birth: Hammersmith.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1957
Rachel Ward, English-Australian actress
Place of birth: Chipping Norton.
12 September
Number one in the charts that week
At the cinema
An animal recorded that day
The record can be seen in GBIF, which brings together wildlife records from around the world.
All your birthdays
The weather that day
Data: Met Office Hadley Centre (HadCET); NOAA (GHCN-Daily, Mauna Loa).
Above the Earth
Sources: Jonathan McDowell, GCAT (launches); GFZ Potsdam (Kp index). Days are counted in Universal Time.
Football that day
International matches played that day:
Source: the “International football results” dataset kept by Mart Jürisoo (CC0).
Also that day
The earthquake’s page at the USGS
Source: the USGS catalogue. The day is counted in Universal Time (UTC).
In those days
Make a link for someone
Type the name, pick the day and the year of birth. The link opens straight on their day, with their name in the greeting.
The link carries the name, date and place typed here; anyone who gets it can see them.
Put another birthday beside it
Your mother’s, your child’s, a friend’s: the two days appear side by side.
Below: 12 September through the years.
The whole globe of the day
Drag the globe to turn it. Touch a ray or a point to read what happened there.
Everything Wikipedia lists for 12 September
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 22 events have no place on the map: the sentence links to no place with coordinates, only to places too wide to mark, or to several countries.
- 490 BC
Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece.
Europe · Battle of MarathonWikipedia: Battle of Marathon - 372
Sixteen Kingdoms: Sima Yao, age 10, succeeds his father Emperor Jianwen as Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Sixteen Kingdoms - 379
Yax Nuun Ahiin I took the throne as the ruler (ajaw) of the Mayan city of Tikal.
Latin America · TikalWikipedia: Yax Nuun Ahiin I - 1185
Isaac Angelos is crowned Byzantine emperor following the deposition of Andronikos I Komnenos and after the crowd rejects the coronation of Isaac's uncle John Doukas.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Isaac II Angelos - 1213
Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Battle of Muret.
Europe · Battle of MuretWikipedia: Battle of Muret - 1229
Battle of Portopí: The Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Ponça, Mallorca, with the purpose of conquering the island.
Europe · Battle of PortopíWikipedia: Battle of Portopí - 1297
The Treaty of Alcañices, mediated by the pope, between the king Denis of Portugal and king Ferdinand IV of Castile defines the border between the two countries and establishes an alliance of friendship.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Treaty of Alcañices - 1309
The first siege of Gibraltar takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista, pitting the forces of the Kingdom of Castile against the Emirate of Granada and resulting in a Castilian victory.
Europe · First siege of GibraltarWikipedia: First siege of Gibraltar - 1609
Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River while aboard the Halve Maen.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Henry Hudson - 1634
A gunpowder factory explodes in Valletta, Malta, killing 22 people and damaging several buildings.
Europe · 1634 Valletta explosionWikipedia: 1634 Valletta explosion - 1683
Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna: Several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire.
Europe · Battle of ViennaWikipedia: Battle of Vienna - 1723
Iran and Russia sign the treaty of Saint Petersburg. Iran is forced to cede all lands on the western and southern coast of the Caspian Sea and Russia pledges to provide military support against the Ottoman Empire.
Europe · Saint PetersburgWikipedia: Treaty of Saint Petersburg - 1814
Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore in the War of 1812.
North America · Battle of North PointWikipedia: Battle of North Point - 1847
Mexican–American War: the Battle of Chapultepec begins.
Latin America · Battle of ChapultepecWikipedia: Mexican–American War - 1848
A new constitution marks the establishment of Switzerland as a federal state.
Europe · Federalism in SwitzerlandWikipedia: Federalism in Switzerland - 1857
The SS Central America sinks about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, drowning a total of 426 passengers and crew, including Captain William Lewis Herndon. The ship was carrying 13–15 tons of gold from the California gold rush.
North America · California gold rushWikipedia: California gold rush - 1885
Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord, a world record scoreline in professional association football.
Britain & Ireland · ArbroathWikipedia: Arbroath F.C. 36–0 Bon Accord F.C. - 1890
Salisbury, Rhodesia, is founded.
Africa · HarareWikipedia: Harare - 1897
Tirah campaign: In the Battle of Saragarhi, ten thousand Pashtun tribesmen suffer several hundred casualties while attacking 21 Sikh soldiers in British service.
Asia · Battle of SaragarhiWikipedia: Battle of Saragarhi - 1906
The Newport Transporter Bridge is opened in Newport, South Wales by Viscount Tredegar.
Britain & Ireland · Newport Transporter BridgeWikipedia: Newport Transporter Bridge - 1910
Premiere performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in Munich (with a chorus of 852 singers and an orchestra of 171 players. Mahler's rehearsal assistant conductor was Bruno Walter).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gustav Mahler - 1915
French soldiers rescue over 4,000 Armenian genocide survivors stranded on Musa Dagh.
Asia · Musa DaghWikipedia: Armenian genocide - 1923
Southern Rhodesia, today called Zimbabwe, is annexed by the United Kingdom.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Southern Rhodesia - 1928
The Okeechobee hurricane first struck the island of Guadeloupe; eventually it reached the United States and caused over 4,000 deaths overall.
Europe · GuadeloupeWikipedia: 1928 Okeechobee hurricane - 1933
Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.
Britain & Ireland · A4200 roadWikipedia: Leo Szilard - 1938
Adolf Hitler demands autonomy and self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
Europe · First Czechoslovak RepublicWikipedia: Adolf Hitler - 1940
Cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France.
Europe · LascauxWikipedia: Cave painting - 1940
The Hercules Powder plant disaster in the United States kills 51 people and injures over 200.
North America · Hercules Powder plant disasterWikipedia: Hercules Powder plant disaster - 1942
World War II: First day of the Battle of Edson's Ridge during the Guadalcanal Campaign. U.S. Marines protecting Henderson Field are attacked by Imperial Japanese Army troops.
Oceania · Battle of Edson's RidgeWikipedia: Battle of Edson's Ridge - 1942
World War II: RMS Laconia, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks with a heavy loss of life.
Oceans · Laconia incidentWikipedia: Laconia incident - 1943
World War II: Benito Mussolini is rescued from house arrest by German commando forces led by Otto Skorzeny.
Europe · Gran Sasso raidWikipedia: Gran Sasso raid - 1944
World War II: The liberation of Yugoslavia from Axis occupation continues. Bajina Bašta in western Serbia is among the liberated cities.
Europe · Bajina BaštaWikipedia: World War II in Yugoslavia - 1948
The People's Liberation Army launched the Liaoshen campaign, the first of the three major military campaigns during the late stage of the Chinese Civil War.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Chinese Civil War - 1952
Three boys in Flatwoods, West Virginia, U.S., reported seeing a ten-foot-tall (3 m) monster in the woods while investigating a UFO.
North America · Flatwoods, West VirginiaWikipedia: Flatwoods monster - 1953
U.S. Senator and future President John Fitzgerald Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island.
North America · St. Mary's ChurchWikipedia: John F. Kennedy - 1958
Jack Kilby demonstrates the first working integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Jack Kilby - 1959
Bonanza, the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color, is launched in the United States.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Bonanza - 1959
The Soviet Union launches a large rocket, Lunik II, at the Moon.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Soviet Union - 1961
Air France Flight 2005 crashes near Rabat–Salé Airport, in Rabat, Morocco, killing 77 people.
Africa · Air France Flight 2005Wikipedia: Air France Flight 2005 - 1961
The African and Malagasy Union is founded.
no place on the mapWikipedia: African and Malagasy Union - 1962
US President John F. Kennedy delivers his "We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice University.
North America · Rice UniversityWikipedia: We choose to go to the Moon - 1966
Gemini 11, the penultimate mission of NASA's Gemini program, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the Apollo lunar missions and Artemis II).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gemini 11 - 1969
Philippine Air Lines Flight 158 crashes in Antipolo, near Manila International Airport in the Philippines, killing 45 people.
Asia · AntipoloWikipedia: Philippine Air Lines Flight 158 - 1970
Dawson's Field hijackings: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in Zarqa, Jordan, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in Amman.
Asia · Dawson's Field hijackingsWikipedia: Dawson's Field hijackings - 1974
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, 'Messiah' of the Rastafari movement, is deposed following a military coup by the Derg, ending a reign of 58 years.
Africa · EthiopiaWikipedia: Haile Selassie - 1977
South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Internal resistance to apartheid - 1980
Florida Commuter Airlines Flight 65 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off West End, Bahamas, killing 34 people.
Latin America · Florida Commuter Airlines Flight 65Wikipedia: Florida Commuter Airlines Flight 65 - 1980
The 43rd government of Turkey is overthrown in a coup d'état led by General Kenan Evren.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1980 Turkish coup d'état - 1983
A Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, is robbed of approximately US$7 million by Los Macheteros.
North America · West Hartford, ConnecticutWikipedia: Wells Fargo - 1983
The USSR vetoes a United Nations Security Council Resolution deploring the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 - 1984
Dwight Gooden sets the baseball record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie with 276, previously set by Herb Score with 246 in 1954. Gooden's 276 strikeouts that season, pitched in 218 innings, set the current record.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dwight Gooden - 1988
Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula two days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.
Latin America · JamaicaWikipedia: Hurricane Gilbert - 1990
The Red Cross organizations of mainland China and Taiwan sign the Kinmen Agreement on repatriation of illegal immigrants and criminal suspects after two days of talks in Kinmen, Fujian Province in response to the two tragedies in repatriation in the previous two months. It is the first agreement reached by private organizations across the Taiwan Strait.
Asia · KinmenWikipedia: Kinmen Agreement - 1990
The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German reunification.
- 1991
NASA launches Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-48 to deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle Discovery - 1992
Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path, is captured by Peruvian special forces; shortly thereafter the rest of Shining Path's leadership fell as well.
Latin America · PeruWikipedia: Abimael Guzmán - 1992
NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-47, which marks the 50th shuttle mission. On board are Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spacecraft, and Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 1993
NASA launches Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51.
no place on the mapWikipedia: STS-51 - 1994
Frank Eugene Corder fatally crashes a single-engine Cessna 150 into the White House's south lawn, striking the West Wing. There were no other casualties.
North America · White HouseWikipedia: White House - 1995
Hurricane Ismael formed off the southwest coast of Mexico; it went on to kill over a hundred people in the country.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Hurricane Ismael - 2001
Ansett Australia, Australia's first commercial interstate airline, collapses due to increased strain on the international airline industry, leaving 10,000 people unemployed.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ansett Australia - 2003
Iraq War: In Fallujah, U.S. forces mistakenly shoot and kill eight Iraqi police officers.
Asia · FallujahWikipedia: Iraq War - 2003
The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
Britain & Ireland · Pan Am Flight 103Wikipedia: Pan Am Flight 103 - 2003
The first public release of Steam, a distribution service for computer games, was made available for download.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Steam - 2003
Typhoon Maemi, the strongest recorded typhoon to strike South Korea, made landfall near Busan.
Asia · BusanWikipedia: Typhoon Maemi - 2005
Israeli–Palestinian conflict: the Israeli disengagement from Gaza is completed, leaving some 2,530 homes demolished.
Asia · Gaza StripWikipedia: Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip - 2007
Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of plunder.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Joseph Estrada - 2007
Two earthquakes measuring 8.4 and 7.9 on the Richter Scale hits the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing 25 people and injuring 161.
Asia · 2007 Bengkulu earthquakesWikipedia: 2007 Bengkulu earthquakes - 2008
The 2008 Chatsworth train collision in Los Angeles between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train kills 25 people.
North America · 2008 Chatsworth train collisionWikipedia: 2008 Chatsworth train collision - 2012
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 crashes on approach to Palana Airport, killing 10 and injuring four.
Asia · Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251Wikipedia: Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 - 2013
NASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to enter interstellar space.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 2014
The Synagogue Church building collapse results in the deaths of 115 people and several injured, in the Church run by Nigeria's T. B. Joshua.
Africa · Synagogue Church of All NationsWikipedia: Synagogue Church of All Nations - 2015
An explosion involving illegally stored mining detonators in Petlawad, India, killed 104 people and injured more than 150 others.
Asia · Petlawad explosionWikipedia: Petlawad explosion - 2021
Siberian Light Aviation Flight 51 crashes short of the runway at Kazachinskoye Airport, killing four.
Asia · Kazachinskoe AirportWikipedia: Siberian Light Aviation Flight 51
What the other Wikipedias remember
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Romanian and were translated for this page.
- 1920
In Antwerp, at the Summer Olympic Games, the Olympic flag with five rings is used for the first time.
Europe · AntwerpTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in RomanianWikipedia: Jocurile Olimpice de vară din 1920
Who was born on 12 September
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 223 are shown.
- 1897
Irène Joliot-Curie, French chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1956)
13th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Irène Joliot-Curie - 1921
Stanisław Lem, Polish philosopher and author (died 2006)
- 1973
Paul Walker, American actor (died 2013)
GlendaleWikipedia: Paul Walker - 1913
Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (died 1980)
OakvilleWikipedia: Jesse Owens - 1986
Emmy Rossum, American singer and actress
New York CityWikipedia: Emmy Rossum - 1494
Francis I of France (died 1547)
Castle of CognacWikipedia: Francis I of France - 1957
Hans Zimmer, German composer and producer
FrankfurtWikipedia: Hans Zimmer - 1997
Sydney Sweeney, American actress
SpokaneWikipedia: Sydney Sweeney - 1852
H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1928)
MorleyWikipedia: H. H. Asquith - 1981
Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
ChicagoWikipedia: Jennifer Hudson - 1902
Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazilian physician and politician, 21st President of Brazil (died 1976)
DiamantinaWikipedia: Juscelino Kubitschek - 1888
Maurice Chevalier, French actor, singer, and dancer (died 1972)
20th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Maurice Chevalier - 1986
Yuto Nagatomo, Japanese footballer
- 1880
H. L. Mencken, American journalist and critic (died 1956)
BaltimoreWikipedia: H. L. Mencken - 1980
Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
ShanghaiWikipedia: Yao Ming - 1961
Mylène Farmer, Canadian-French singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
PierrefondsWikipedia: Mylène Farmer - 1931
Ian Holm, English actor (died 2020)
GoodmayesWikipedia: Ian Holm - 1924
Amílcar Cabral, Guinea-Bissauan political leader (died 1973)
- 1944
Barry White, American singer-songwriter (died 2003)
GalvestonWikipedia: Barry White - 1951
Bertie Ahern, Irish accountant and politician, 11th Taoiseach of Ireland
DrumcondraWikipedia: Bertie Ahern - 1967
Louis C.K., American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
Washington, D.C.Wikipedia: Louis C.K. - 1994
RM, South Korean rapper, songwriter and record producer
GoyangWikipedia: RM - 1994
Elina Svitolina, Ukrainian tennis player
- 1943
Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lankan-Canadian author and poet
ColomboWikipedia: Michael Ondaatje - 1956
Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (died 2003)
British Hong KongWikipedia: Leslie Cheung - 1959
Sigmar Gabriel, German educator and politician, 17th Vice-Chancellor of Germany
- 1949
Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater and politician
MoscowWikipedia: Irina Rodnina - 1931
George Jones, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)
SaratogaWikipedia: George Jones - 1951
Joe Pantoliano, American actor and producer
HobokenWikipedia: Joe Pantoliano - 1968
Paul F. Tompkins, American comedian, actor, and writer
Mount AiryWikipedia: Paul F. Tompkins - 1976
Maciej Żurawski, Polish footballer
- 1986
Alfie Allen, English actor
HammersmithWikipedia: Alfie Allen - 1914
Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh-English soldier and actor (died 1999)
- 1953
Nan Goldin, American photographer
Washington, D.C.Wikipedia: Nan Goldin - 1978
Benjamin McKenzie, American actor
AustinWikipedia: Ben McKenzie - 1837
Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse (died 1892)
Prinz-Carl-PalaisWikipedia: Louis IV of Hesse - 1829
Anselm Feuerbach, German painter (died 1880)
- 1952
Neil Peart, Canadian drummer, songwriter, and producer (died 2020)
HamiltonWikipedia: Neil Peart - 1974
Nuno Valente, Portuguese footballer and coach
LisbonWikipedia: Nuno Valente - 1995
Steven Gardiner, Bahamian sprinter
Central AbacoWikipedia: Steven Gardiner - 1818
Richard Jordan Gatling, American inventor, invented the Gatling gun (died 1903)
Hertford CountyWikipedia: Richard Jordan Gatling - 1885
Heinrich Hoffmann, German photographer and art dealer (died 1957)
- 1940
Linda Gray, American model and actress
Santa MonicaWikipedia: Linda Gray - 1957
Rachel Ward, English-Australian actress
Chipping NortonWikipedia: Rachel Ward - 1996
Colin Ford, American actor
NashvilleWikipedia: Colin Ford - 1978
Elisabetta Canalis, Italian model and actress
- 1934
Glenn Davis, American hurdler, sprinter, and football player (died 2009)
WellsburgWikipedia: Glenn Davis - 1959
Scott Brown, American colonel and politician
KitteryWikipedia: Scott Brown - 1984
Petra Marklund, Swedish singer
- 1964
Dieter Hecking, German footballer and manager
Castrop-RauxelWikipedia: Dieter Hecking - 1927
Mathé Altéry, French soprano and actress
- 1894
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Indian novelist and short story writer (died 1950)
KanchraparaWikipedia: Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay - 1993
Kelsea Ballerini, American country pop singer
- 1900
Haskell Curry, American mathematician, logician, and academic (died 1982)
MillisWikipedia: Haskell Curry - 1971
Younes El Aynaoui, Moroccan tennis player
- 1982
Zoran Planinić, Croatian basketball player
- 1945
Milo Manara, Italian author and illustrator
- 1978
Ruben Studdard, American R&B, pop, and gospel singer
FrankfurtWikipedia: Ruben Studdard - 1984
Nashat Akram, Iraqi footballer
HillahWikipedia: Nashat Akram - 1898
Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American painter and photographer (died 1969)
KaunasWikipedia: Ben Shahn
What is celebrated on 12 September
- Christian feast day: Ailbe (Elvis, Eilfyw) of Emly
- Christian feast day: Guy of Anderlecht
- Christian feast day: The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Christian feast day: John Henry Hobart (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Christian feast day: Laisrén mac Nad Froích
- Christian feast day: Sacerdos of Lyon
- Christian feast day: Blessed Thomas of Zumárraga
- Christian feast day: September 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commemoration of the mass hanging of the Saint Patrick's Battalion (Mexico)
- Day of Conception (Russia)
- Defenders Day (Maryland, United States)
- Enkutatash falls on this day if it is a leap year. Celebrated on the first day of Mäskäräm. (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rastafari)
- Nayrouz (Coptic Orthodox Church) (leap years only, September 11 on normal years)
- National Day (Cape Verde)
A greeting link for someone
Type a name and, if you like, the year of birth. The link opens with a greeting, and beside each event it says how old the person turned that day, or how many years before their birth it happened.
The name and the year go only into the link you send.
All 366 days
How the globe is made
Where the events come from
Each edition of this page uses the day’s list from Wikipedia in its own language: Romanian, English, Spanish, Chinese. The lists are written by volunteers and differ from one edition to the next; the text of each event is Wikipedia’s, with a link to the article. A row that appears twice in a list is shown once. The lists have not been checked event by event: they are Wikipedia’s, mistakes included.
For events before 1582, and for countries that moved to the Gregorian calendar later (Britain in 1752, Russia in 1918), the same day may be counted Old Style in one list and New Style in another.
The chapter “What the other Wikipedias remember” adds up to five events a day from the lists of the other three editions, only for years in which the English list has nothing on that day. They were translated for this page, passed the same filters as the tour, and are not counted among the events of the English list.
How an event gets onto the map
The place comes from Wikidata. If the sentence links to the article about the event itself (a battle, an opening, an earthquake), dated to the same year, the ray stands on its coordinates or on those of its location. Otherwise it stands on the first place the sentence links to: a town, a building, a mountain, an island. This second step can be wrong: sometimes the sentence only mentions the place. That is why the page says, under each event, which place the ray stands on.
When the sentence links to a single state or province, or to a single sea, lake or desert larger than 5,000 km², the globe shows a dashed circle, not a ray. The circle has the area Wikidata gives, with its radius kept between 1.2° and 16°, or a radius of 4.5° when Wikidata gives no area; it says only that the sentence links to that place. Organisations, ships, spacecraft, museum objects, rivers, mountain ranges, languages and continents are never used as places. When a sentence names several states and no exact place, the event stays in the list only.
What the height means
The height of a ray shows how many years have passed, on a logarithmic scale: 10 years, 100 years and 1,000 years are equal steps apart; anything older than about 2,600 years has the tallest ray. The colour runs from pale yellow for recent years to violet for antiquity.
Where the tour stops
In each region the tour stops at up to three events (five in Britain and Ireland), chosen mainly by three things: whether Wikipedia’s editors put the event in the “On this day” box of their main page (the English, Spanish and Chinese editions), how many Wikipedia editions have an article about it, and how many of the four lists include it. Events whose sentence or article is about a war, an attack, a crime or a disaster are left out of the tour; they stay in the whole list, in Wikipedia’s wording. The filter is a list of words and a list of Wikidata types, so it can miss some.
The tour of births names the people with articles in the most editions and leaves aside those whom the list or Wikidata describes as rulers, politicians, commanders, leaders of movements or criminals; they stay in the list.
The Earth and the Sun
The daytime images are NASA’s Blue Marble Next Generation mosaics, one for each month of 2004; the night side is Black Marble 2016. The tilt of the line between day and night is computed for the day; the hour is chosen so that the place being read is in daylight. The latitude where the Sun stands overhead is the average of the four years of the leap cycle; in a given year it can differ by up to 0.4°.
The day you were born
The number ones come from the weekly lists on Wikipedia: Billboard for the United States (from 1940; the Hot 100 from August 1958), the UK Singles Chart (from November 1952), Los 40 Principales for Spain (from July 1966) and, for Romania, the Romanian Top 100 and Airplay 100 (2001–2021, with missing weeks). The page shows the chart of the week in which the day of birth falls, with its date; Billboard and the UK chart are dated at the end of their week. For Romania before 2001 and for China these sources have no weekly chart.
The films are those that reached cinemas in the United States up to ten days before or three days after that day (some of them in a few cinemas at first), from the English Wikipedia’s yearly lists (from 1968), in order of how many editions have an article about them. The events “in those days” are the ones on the neighbouring days’ lists that carry the year of birth, passed through the same filter as the tour.
The day of birth, year included
The Moon, the star sign and the constellation are worked out by the page itself, for noon Universal Time on the day. The lit part of the Moon is rounded and can differ by a few per cent from that at the hour of birth. The sign follows the usual zodiac of twelve equal parts starting at the March equinox; the constellation is the one the Sun actually stood in front of, by the borders set by the International Astronomical Union, and within a day of a border the page does not name it. When the Sun changes sign while it is that day anywhere on Earth, the page gives the moment of crossing, rounded to ten minutes and accurate to within about a quarter of an hour, and the clock time in a few cities, with the time zone and summer time of that year.
The year in the Chinese calendar is the one your device’s own calendar gives for the date, checked against the Hong Kong Observatory’s tables. “All your birthdays” uses the same sources as the rest of the chapter for the same day in every year since the birth: the temperature, well-known launches that took place on that very day, matches of the teams the edition follows, snow deeper than 10 cm and strong geomagnetic storms. The three things at the top and the four on the picture are chosen in a fixed order (the song, the animal, a full Moon, a well-known launch before an ordinary earthquake); on the picture you can change them.
When the link carries a year of birth, the page adds a few things about that exact day. The weather is the Met Office’s Central England temperature record and the readings from New York’s Central Park; the “usual high” is the average of the daily highs of 1961–1990 for that date, with two days either side. The carbon dioxide figure is the monthly mean at the Mauna Loa observatory, where measurements begin in March 1958.
The earthquake is the one with the largest magnitude in the USGS catalogue for that day, counted in Universal Time. Before the 1960s the catalogue has gaps even above magnitude 5.5, so in the older years many days have no earthquake. The page gives only the magnitude and the place: the country the epicentre falls in or, when the epicentre is at sea within 300 km of a coast, the nearest country; farther out, only the ocean.
The launches are those that reached orbit or left for the Moon and the planets, from Jonathan McDowell’s GCAT catalogue. If nothing left that day, the page shows the nearest launch within three days before or after, and says how many days away it was. The geomagnetic storm appears only when the Kp index reached at least 5 in one of the day’s eight three-hour intervals.
The animal comes from GBIF: an observation made by a person (the animal seen or heard, or its tracks), dated to that exact day, with coordinates and a CC0 or CC BY licence. Only a few hundred well-known species are searched (mammals, birds, turtles, butterflies); of those noted that day, mammals and species with articles in many Wikipedia editions come first; birds noted almost every day, and species used recently, wait their turn. Observations dated 1 January are left out, because records without a day are often filed there. An observation shows that the animal was recorded there, not how many animals there were.
The matches are those between national teams. Only matches of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Canada and Australia are shown, along with those at the big final tournaments. The picture to send is drawn in the page from the day’s globe and the facts above, and stays on your device until you send it.
Sources
- Events, births and holidays: the day’s page on Wikipedia, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates, places of birth and the number of editions: Wikidata (CC0).
- The Earth by day: NASA Blue Marble Next Generation. The Earth by night: NASA Black Marble 2016.
- Borders and regions: Natural Earth.
- World population and births per year: UN World Population Prospects 2024.
- Charts and films: Wikipedia’s lists for Billboard, the UK Singles Chart, Los 40 Principales, Romanian Top 100, Airplay 100 and American films by year (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Weather: Met Office Hadley Centre, HadCET (Open Government Licence) and NOAA GHCN-Daily, New York Central Park. Carbon dioxide: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Mauna Loa.
- Earthquakes: the USGS catalogue. Launches: Jonathan McDowell, GCAT (CC BY). Kp index: GFZ Potsdam (CC BY 4.0). Matches: International football results, Mart Jürisoo (CC0).
- Animal observations: GBIF, with a link to each record; species names come from Wikidata.