A birthday on the globe
14 December on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 14 December, the English Wikipedia lists 58 events and 241 births. 27 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 14 December through the years
The Earth on 14 December
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in December 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 14 December the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 23.2° south. In London, the day lasts about 7 hours 55 minutes.
Beyond 67° south the Sun no longer sets; beyond 67° north 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 · Glasgow Subway
1896
The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
On the map: Glasgow Subway.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Europe · Berlin State Opera
1925
Wozzeck, Alban Berg's first opera, is premiered at the Berlin State Opera conducted by Erich Kleiber.
On the map: Berlin State Opera.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Europe · Millau
2004
The Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, is formally inaugurated near Millau, France.
On the map: Millau.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Latin America · Buenos Aires
1914
Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressive Party (Partido Demócrata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
On the map: Buenos Aires.
Latin America · Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020
2020
A total solar eclipse is visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · San Francisco
1902
The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from San Francisco to Honolulu.
On the map: San Francisco.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
North America · New York City
1918
Giacomo Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi premieres at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
On the map: New York City.
North America · Supreme Court of the United States
1964
American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.
On the map: Supreme Court of the United States.
Oceans · South Pole
1911
Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
On the map: South Pole.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
14 December
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 Chinese and Spanish and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Chinese · Headquarters of the United Nations
1946
The United Nations General Assembly decides to establish the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
On the map: Headquarters of the United Nations.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Stanford University
1967
At Stanford University (United States), Arthur Kornberg and his colleague announce the first successful synthesis of DNA.
On the map: Stanford University.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
14 December
Born on 14 December#
The English Wikipedia lists 241 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 14 December
1546
Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and chemist (died 1601)
Place of birth: Knutstorp Castle.
Born on 14 December
1988
Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer
Place of birth: Salinas.
Born on 14 December
1970
Anna Maria Jopek, Polish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
Place of birth: Warsaw.
Born on 14 December
1979
Michael Owen, English footballer and sportscaster
Place of birth: Chester.
Born on 14 December
1895
Paul Éluard, French poet and author (died 1952)
Place of birth: Saint-Denis.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1640
Aphra Behn, English playwright and author (died 1689)
Place of birth: Canterbury.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1946
Jane Birkin, English-French actress and singer (died 2023)
Place of birth: Marylebone.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1979
Sophie Monk, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress
Place of birth: London.
14 December
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: 14 December 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 14 December
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.
- 557
Constantinople is severely damaged by an earthquake, which cracks the dome of Hagia Sophia.
Asia · 557 Constantinople earthquakeWikipedia: 557 Constantinople earthquake - 835
Sweet Dew Incident: Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspires to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot is foiled.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Eunuch - 872
Pope John VIII is elected following the death of Hadrian II.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pope John VIII - 1287
St. Lucia's flood: The Zuiderzee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.
no place on the mapWikipedia: St. Lucia's flood - 1542
Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen of Scots at the age of one week on the death of her father, King James V.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mary, Queen of Scots - 1650
English domestic servant Anne Greene survived being hanged for infanticide.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Anne Greene - 1751
The Theresian Military Academy is founded in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Europe · Theresian Military AcademyWikipedia: Theresian Military Academy - 1780
Founding Father Alexander Hamilton marries Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York.
North America · Schuyler MansionWikipedia: Schuyler Mansion - 1782
The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly 2.5 km (1.6 mi).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Montgolfier brothers - 1812
The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: French invasion of Russia - 1814
War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.
North America · Battle of Lake BorgneWikipedia: Battle of Lake Borgne - 1819
Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.
North America · AlabamaWikipedia: Alabama - 1836
The Toledo War unofficially ends as the "Frostbitten Convention" votes to accept Congress' terms for admitting Michigan as a U.S. state.
North America · MichiganWikipedia: Toledo War - 1863
American Civil War: The Confederate victory under General James Longstreet at the Battle of Bean's Station in East Tennessee ends the Knoxville Campaign, but achieves very little as Longstreet returns to Virginia next spring.
North America · Knoxville campaignWikipedia: American Civil War - 1896
The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
Britain & Ireland · Glasgow SubwayWikipedia: Glasgow Subway - 1900
Quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law (quantum theory) at the Physic Society in Berlin.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Quantum mechanics - 1902
The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from San Francisco to Honolulu.
North America · San FranciscoWikipedia: Commercial Pacific Cable Company - 1903
The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
North America · Kitty Hawk, North CarolinaWikipedia: Wright brothers - 1907
The Thomas W. Lawson, the largest ever ship without a heat engine, runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
Britain & Ireland · Isles of ScillyWikipedia: Thomas W. Lawson - 1909
New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory.
Oceania · Australian Capital TerritoryWikipedia: Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909 - 1911
Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
Oceans · South PoleWikipedia: Roald Amundsen - 1913
Haruna, the fourth and last Kongō-class ship, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.
Asia · Empire of JapanWikipedia: World War I - 1914
Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressive Party (Partido Demócrata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Latin America · Buenos AiresWikipedia: Lisandro de la Torre - 1918
Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King of Finland, renounces the throne.
Europe · Kingdom of FinlandWikipedia: Parliament of Finland - 1918
Giacomo Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi premieres at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
North America · New York CityWikipedia: Metropolitan Opera - 1918
Portuguese President Sidónio Pais is assassinated.
no place on the mapWikipedia: President of Portugal - 1918
The 1918 United Kingdom general election occurs, the first where women were permitted to vote. In Ireland the Irish republican political party Sinn Féin wins a landslide victory with nearly 47% of the popular vote.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1918 United Kingdom general election - 1925
Wozzeck, Alban Berg's first opera, is premiered at the Berlin State Opera conducted by Erich Kleiber.
Europe · Berlin State OperaWikipedia: Berlin State Opera - 1939
Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Winter War - 1940
Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Plutonium - 1942
An Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20 crashes near Tashkent, killing all 36 people on board.
Asia · TashkentWikipedia: 1942 Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20bis crash - 1948
Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann are granted a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the earliest known interactive electronic game.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. - 1955
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations through United Nations Security Council Resolution 109.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Albania - 1958
The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition - 1960
Australian cricketer Ian Meckiff was run out on the last day of the first Test match between Australia and the West Indies, resulting in the first tied Test in cricket history.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ian Meckiff - 1960
Convention against Discrimination in Education of UNESCO is adopted.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Convention Against Discrimination in Education - 1962
NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 1963
The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles, California.
North America · Baldwin Hills Dam disasterWikipedia: Baldwin Hills Dam disaster - 1964
American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.
North America · Supreme Court of the United StatesWikipedia: Supreme Court of the United States - 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War: Over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals are executed by the Pakistan Army and their local allies. (The date is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day.)
Asia · East PakistanWikipedia: Bangladesh Liberation War - 1972
Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the most recent person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Apollo program - 1981
Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights.
Asia · Golan HeightsWikipedia: Arab–Israeli conflict - 1985
Wilma Mankiller takes office as the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
North America · Cherokee NationWikipedia: Wilma Mankiller - 1986
Qasba Aligarh massacre: Over 400 Muhajirs killed in revenge killings in Qasba colony after a raid on Pashtun heroin processing and distribution center in Sohrab Goth by the security forces.
Asia · Qasba Aligarh massacreWikipedia: Qasba Aligarh massacre - 1992
War in Abkhazia: Siege of Tkvarcheli: A helicopter carrying evacuees from Tkvarcheli is shot down, resulting in at least 52 deaths, including 25 children. The incident catalyses more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.
Asia · Siege of TkvarcheliWikipedia: 1992 Russian Air Force Mil Mi-8 shootdown - 1994
Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Three Gorges Dam - 1995
Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by the leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the same day, NATO began ground peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
North America · Dayton AgreementWikipedia: Dayton Agreement - 1998
Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav Army ambushes a group of Kosovo Liberation Army fighters attempting to smuggle weapons from Albania into Kosovo, killing 36.
no place on the mapWikipedia: December 14, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush - 1999
Torrential rains cause flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.
Latin America · Vargas tragedyWikipedia: Vargas tragedy - 2003
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pervez Musharraf - 2004
The Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, is formally inaugurated near Millau, France.
Europe · MillauWikipedia: Millau Viaduct - 2008
During a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at U.S. president George W. Bush and Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, yelling "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq".
Asia · BaghdadWikipedia: George W. Bush shoe-throwing incident - 2012
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
North America · Sandy Hook Elementary School shootingWikipedia: Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - 2013
A reported coup attempt in South Sudan leads to continued fighting and hundreds of casualties.
Africa · South SudanWikipedia: South Sudanese Civil War - 2017
The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion.
no place on the mapWikipedia: The Walt Disney Company - 2020
A total solar eclipse is visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean.
Latin America · Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020Wikipedia: Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020 - 2025
At least 16 people are killed, including one gunman, and 43 injured in a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in the deadliest terror incident in Australia.
Oceania · Bondi Beach shootingWikipedia: Bondi Beach shooting - 2025
Filmmakers Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner are stabbed to death in their Brentwood, Los Angeles residence.
North America · Killing of Rob and Michele ReinerWikipedia: Killing of Rob and Michele Reiner
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 Chinese and Spanish and were translated for this page.
- 1946
The United Nations General Assembly decides to establish the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
North America · Headquarters of the United NationsTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in ChineseWikipedia: 联合国总部大楼 - 1967
At Stanford University (United States), Arthur Kornberg and his colleague announce the first successful synthesis of DNA.
North America · Stanford UniversityTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in SpanishWikipedia: Universidad Stanford
Who was born on 14 December
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 241 are shown.
- 1947
Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian economist and politician, 36th President of Brazil
Belo HorizonteWikipedia: Dilma Rousseff - 1546
Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and chemist (died 1601)
Knutstorp CastleWikipedia: Tycho Brahe - 1895
George VI of the United Kingdom (died 1952)
York CottageWikipedia: George VI - 1988
Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer
SalinasWikipedia: Vanessa Hudgens - 1970
Anna Maria Jopek, Polish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1979
Michael Owen, English footballer and sportscaster
ChesterWikipedia: Michael Owen - 1895
Paul Éluard, French poet and author (died 1952)
Saint-DenisWikipedia: Paul Éluard - 1924
Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (died 1988)
PeshawarWikipedia: Raj Kapoor - 1640
Aphra Behn, English playwright and author (died 1689)
CanterburyWikipedia: Aphra Behn - 1922
Nikolay Basov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2001)
- 1966
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Danish academic and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1883
Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, developed aikido (died 1969)
- 1914
Karl Carstens, German lieutenant and politician, 5th President of the Federal Republic of Germany (died 1992)
BremenWikipedia: Karl Carstens - 1946
Jane Birkin, English-French actress and singer (died 2023)
MaryleboneWikipedia: Jane Birkin - 1985
Jakub Błaszczykowski, Polish footballer
Truskolasy, Silesian VoivodeshipWikipedia: Jakub Błaszczykowski - 1870
Karl Renner, Austrian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Austria (died 1950)
Dolní DunajoviceWikipedia: Karl Renner - 1996
Raphinha, Brazilian footballer
Porto AlegreWikipedia: Raphinha - 1946
Patty Duke, American actress (died 2016)
QueensWikipedia: Patty Duke - 1901
Paul of Greece (died 1964)
Tatoi PalaceWikipedia: Paul of Greece - 1992
Ryo Miyaichi, Japanese footballer
OkazakiWikipedia: Ryō Miyaichi - 1897
Kurt Schuschnigg, Italian-Austrian lawyer and politician, 15th Federal Chancellor of Austria (died 1977)
Riva del GardaWikipedia: Kurt Schuschnigg - 1909
Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1975)
BoulderWikipedia: Edward Tatum - 1935
Lee Remick, American actress (died 1991)
QuincyWikipedia: Lee Remick - 1995
Álvaro Odriozola, Spanish footballer
San SebastiánWikipedia: Álvaro Odriozola - 1960
James Comey, American lawyer, 7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
YonkersWikipedia: James Comey - 1979
Sophie Monk, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress
LondonWikipedia: Sophie Monk - 1969
Natascha McElhone, English-Irish actress
Walton-on-ThamesWikipedia: Natascha McElhone - 2002
Francisco Conceição, Portuguese footballer
- 1993
Antonio Giovinazzi, Italian race car driver
Martina FrancaWikipedia: Antonio Giovinazzi - 1916
Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer (died 1965)
San FranciscoWikipedia: Shirley Jackson - 1918
B. K. S. Iyengar, Indian yoga instructor and author, founded Iyengar Yoga (died 2014)
Kolar districtWikipedia: B. K. S. Iyengar - 1951
Jan Timman, Dutch chess player and author (died 2026)
AmsterdamWikipedia: Jan Timman - 1980
Didier Zokora, Ivorian footballer
AbidjanWikipedia: Didier Zokora - 1984
Jackson Rathbone, American actor, singer, and musician
SingaporeWikipedia: Jackson Rathbone - 1824
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter and illustrator (died 1898)
- 1948
Dee Wallace, American actress
Kansas CityWikipedia: Dee Wallace - 1979
Jean-Alain Boumsong, French footballer
- 1946
Stan Smith, American tennis player and coach
PasadenaWikipedia: Stan Smith - 1946
Antony Beevor, English historian and author
KensingtonWikipedia: Antony Beevor - 1982
Steve Sidwell, English footballer
LiverpoolWikipedia: Steve Sidwell - 1949
Cliff Williams, Australian bass player
RomfordWikipedia: Cliff Williams - 1992
Tori Kelly, American singer-songwriter
WildomarWikipedia: Tori Kelly - 1897
Margaret Chase Smith, American educator and politician (died 1995)
SkowheganWikipedia: Margaret Chase Smith - 1938
Leonardo Boff, Brazilian theologian and author
ConcórdiaWikipedia: Leonardo Boff - 1960
Chris Waddle, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
FellingWikipedia: Chris Waddle - 1988
Nicolas Batum, French basketball player
LisieuxWikipedia: Nicolas Batum - 1866
Roger Fry, English painter and critic (died 1934)
LondonWikipedia: Roger Fry - 1978
Patty Schnyder, Swiss tennis player
- 1934
Shyam Benegal, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2024)
TrimulgherryWikipedia: Shyam Benegal - 1996
Barbie Ferreira, American actress and model
East HarlemWikipedia: Barbie Ferreira - 1009
Go-Suzaku, emperor of Japan (died 1045)
Tsuchimikado-donoWikipedia: Emperor Go-Suzaku - 1631
Anne Conway, English philosopher and author (died 1679)
LondonWikipedia: Anne Conway - 1956
Hanni Wenzel, German skier
StraubingWikipedia: Hanni Wenzel - 1976
Santiago Ezquerro, Spanish footballer
CalahorraWikipedia: Santiago Ezquerro - 1984
Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer
BelfastWikipedia: Chris Brunt - 1896
Jimmy Doolittle, American general and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1993)
AlamedaWikipedia: Jimmy Doolittle - 1923
Gerard Reve, Dutch-Belgian author and poet (died 2006)
AmsterdamWikipedia: Gerard Reve - 1946
Ruth Fuchs, German javelin thrower and politician (died 2023)
- 1972
Miranda Hart, English actress
TorquayWikipedia: Miranda Hart - 1789
Maria Szymanowska, Polish composer and pianist (died 1831)
What is celebrated on 14 December
- Christian feast day: Folcwin
- Christian feast day: John of the Cross
- Christian feast day: John III of the Sedre (Syriac Orthodox Church)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Mary Frances Schervier
- Christian feast day: Nicasius of Rheims
- Christian feast day: Nimatullah Kassab (Maronite Church)
- Christian feast day: Spyridon (Western Church)
- Christian feast day: Venantius Fortunatus
- Christian feast day: December 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Alabama Day (Alabama)
- Forty-seven Ronin Remembrance Day (Sengaku-ji, Tokyo)
- Martyred Intellectuals Day (Bangladesh)
- Monkey Day
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.