A birthday on the globe
14 February on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 14 February, the English Wikipedia lists 74 events and 231 births. 42 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; 11 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 February through the years
The Earth on 14 February
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in February 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 14 February the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 13.2° south. In London, the day lasts about 9 hours 55 minutes.
Beyond 77° south the Sun no longer sets; beyond 77° 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.
14 February
Britain and Ireland#
Three events from the day’s list are placed here, between 1556 and 1852.
Britain & Ireland · Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
1556
Having been declared a heretic and laicized by Pope Paul IV on 4 December 1555, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is publicly defrocked at Christ Church Cathedral.
On the map: Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
Britain & Ireland · London
1613
Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate at Whitehall Palace, London.
On the map: London.
Wikipedia: Wedding of Frederick V of the Palatinate and Princess Elizabeth
Britain & Ireland · Great Ormond Street Hospital
1852
Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.
On the map: Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Europe · 1130 papal election
1130
The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “1130 papal election”.
Asia · Sri Temasek
1992
Sri Temasek, the official residence of the prime minister of Singapore, was declared a national monument.
On the map: Sri Temasek.
North America · New Orleans
1855
Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
On the map: New Orleans.
North America · United States Congress
1899
Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.
On the map: United States Congress.
North America · University of California, Berkeley
1961
Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.
On the map: University of California, Berkeley.
14 February
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 Spanish and Romanian and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Seville
1503
In Seville (Spain), the Casa de Contratación de Indias is created, intended as a depository for goods imported from and exported to the Americas, by royal decrees of 10 January and 14 February.
On the map: Seville.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Seville
1936
In Seville (Spanish Republic), the Cuban aviator Menéndez Peláez lands, successfully completing the flight from Cuba to Spain.
On the map: Seville.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Romanian · 1952 Winter Olympics
1952
The Winter Olympic Games open in Oslo, Norway.
On the map: 1952 Winter Olympics.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
The article on Wikipedia in Romanian: Jocurile Olimpice de iarnă din 1952
From Wikipedia in Romanian · 1980 Winter Olympics
1980
The Winter Olympic Games open in Lake Placid, New York, United States.
On the map: 1980 Winter Olympics.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
The article on Wikipedia in Romanian: Jocurile Olimpice de iarnă din 1980
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Stanford University
1982
Physicists at Stanford University say they have succeeded in detecting a magnetic monopole.
On the map: Stanford University.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
14 February
Born on 14 February#
The English Wikipedia lists 231 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 February
1970
Simon Pegg, English actor, director, and producer
Place of birth: Brockworth.
Born on 14 February
1869
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1959)
Place of birth: Glencorse.
Born on 14 February
1404
Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher (died 1472)
Place of birth: Genoa.
Born on 14 February
1987
Edinson Cavani, Uruguayan footballer
Place of birth: Salto.
Born on 14 February
1988
Ángel Di María, Argentinian footballer
Place of birth: Rosario.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1951
Kevin Keegan, English footballer and manager (died 2026)
Place of birth: Armthorpe.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1944
Alan Parker, English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2020)
Place of birth: Islington.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1992
Freddie Highmore, English actor
Place of birth: Camden Town.
14 February
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 February 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 February
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 21 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.
- 748
Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
Asia · MervWikipedia: Abbasid revolution - 763
The death of Ibrahim ibn Abdallah marks the end of the Alid revolt of 762–763.
Asia · Alid revolt of 762–763Wikipedia: Alid revolt of 762–763 - 842
Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Charles the Bald - 1014
Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pope Benedict VIII - 1130
The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals.
Europe · 1130 papal electionWikipedia: 1130 papal election - 1349
Strasbourg massacre: Several thousand Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg after being accused of causing the Black Death.
Europe · Strasbourg massacreWikipedia: Strasbourg massacre - 1530
Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.
Latin America · MexicoWikipedia: Conquistador - 1556
Coronation of Akbar as ruler of the Mughal Empire.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Akbar - 1556
Having been declared a heretic and laicized by Pope Paul IV on 4 December 1555, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is publicly defrocked at Christ Church Cathedral.
Britain & Ireland · Christ Church Cathedral, OxfordWikipedia: Heresy - 1613
Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate at Whitehall Palace, London.
Britain & Ireland · LondonWikipedia: Wedding of Frederick V of the Palatinate and Princess Elizabeth - 1655
The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.
Europe · Spanish EmpireWikipedia: Mapuche - 1778
The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Flag of the United States - 1779
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.
North America · Battle of Kettle CreekWikipedia: Battle of Kettle Creek - 1779
James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
North America · Kealakekua, HawaiiWikipedia: Death of James Cook - 1797
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis, (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
Europe · Battle of Cape St. VincentWikipedia: Battle of Cape St. Vincent - 1804
Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
Asia · Ottoman EmpireWikipedia: First Serbian Uprising - 1831
Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
Africa · Tigray ProvinceWikipedia: Battle of Debre Abbay - 1835
The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
North America · Kirtland, OhioWikipedia: Quorum of the Twelve - 1849
In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
no place on the mapWikipedia: James K. Polk - 1852
Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.
Britain & Ireland · Great Ormond Street HospitalWikipedia: Great Ormond Street Hospital - 1855
Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
North America · New OrleansWikipedia: Texas - 1859
Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
North America · OregonWikipedia: Oregon - 1876
Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Alexander Graham Bell - 1879
The War of the Pacific breaks out when the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
Latin America · AntofagastaWikipedia: War of the Pacific - 1895
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, once described as the second-most quoted English-language play after Hamlet, premiered in London.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Oscar Wilde - 1899
Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: United States Congress - 1900
The British Army begins the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
Africa · Battle of the Tugela HeightsWikipedia: Battle of the Tugela Heights - 1903
The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
no place on the mapWikipedia: United States Department of Commerce and Labor - 1912
Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Arizona - 1912
The U.S. Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.
no place on the mapWikipedia: United States Navy - 1914
The animated film Gertie the Dinosaur was released, later greatly influencing future animators such as the Fleischer brothers and Walt Disney.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gertie the Dinosaur - 1916
World War I: Britain, France and Russia made the Declaration of Sainte-Adresse, stating that they would refuse to sign any peace treaty with the Central Powers that failed to ensure the political and economic independence of Belgium.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World War I - 1918
Soviet Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.
Asia · Russian Soviet Federative Socialist RepublicWikipedia: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic - 1919
The Polish–Soviet War begins.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Polish–Soviet War - 1920
The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
North America · ChicagoWikipedia: League of Women Voters - 1924
The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
no place on the mapWikipedia: IBM - 1929
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago.
North America · Saint Valentine's Day MassacreWikipedia: Saint Valentine's Day Massacre - 1938
The Singapore Naval Base, the cornerstone of the Singapore strategy, a British naval defence policy, was opened.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Singapore Naval Base - 1939
World War II: German battleship Bismarck is launched.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World War II - 1942
World War II: Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
Asia · Battle of Pasir PanjangWikipedia: Battle of Pasir Panjang - 1943
World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.
Europe · Rostov-on-DonWikipedia: Rostov-on-Don - 1943
World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army launches a counter-attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.
Africa · Battle of Sidi Bou ZidWikipedia: Tunisian campaign - 1944
World War II: In the action of 14 February 1944, a Royal Navy submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian Regia Marina submarine in the Strait of Malacca.
Asia · Action of 14 February 1944Wikipedia: Action of 14 February 1944 - 1945
President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations.
Asia · Saudi ArabiaWikipedia: Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1945
World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans
Europe · MostarWikipedia: Mostar - 1945
World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by a United States Army Air Forces squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet Red Army's Vistula–Oder Offensive.
Europe · PragueWikipedia: Bombing of Prague - 1945
World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden.
Europe · Bombing of DresdenWikipedia: Bombing of Dresden - 1946
The Bank of England is nationalized.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Bank of England - 1947
The act abolishing all noble ranks and related styles comes into force in Hungary.
Europe · Second Hungarian RepublicWikipedia: Statute IV of 1947 regarding the abolition of certain titles and ranks - 1949
The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.
North America · QuebecWikipedia: Quiet Revolution - 1949
The Knesset (parliament of Israel) convenes for the first time.
Asia · IsraelWikipedia: Israel - 1954
First Indochina War - small French garrison at Đắk Đoa is overrun by the Viet Minh after a week's siege.
Asia · Siege of Đắk ĐoaWikipedia: First Indochina War - 1961
Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.
North America · University of California, BerkeleyWikipedia: Timeline of chemical element discoveries - 1979
In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
Asia · KabulWikipedia: Kabul - 1983
United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.
North America · Knoxville, TennesseeWikipedia: Knoxville, Tennessee - 1989
Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.
Asia · IranWikipedia: Iran - 1989
Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.
Asia · Bhopal disasterWikipedia: Bhopal disaster - 1990
Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India.
Asia · Indian Airlines Flight 605Wikipedia: Indian Airlines Flight 605 - 1990
The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later becomes famous as Pale Blue Dot.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Voyager 1 - 1992
Sri Temasek, the official residence of the prime minister of Singapore, was declared a national monument.
Asia · Sri TemasekWikipedia: Sri Temasek - 1998
An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which killed 120.
Africa · YaoundéWikipedia: Yaoundé train explosion - 2000
The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NEAR Shoemaker - 2003
Iraq disarmament crisis: UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix reports to the United Nations Security Council that disarmament inspectors have found no weapons of mass destruction in Ba'athist Iraq.
Asia · Ba'athist IraqWikipedia: Iraq disarmament crisis - 2004
In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 28 people, and wounding 193 others.
Europe · MoscowWikipedia: Moscow - 2005
In Beirut, 23 people, including former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, are killed when the equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT is detonated while Hariri's motorcade drives through the city.
Asia · Assassination of Rafic HaririWikipedia: Assassination of Rafic Hariri - 2005
Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit Makati, Davao City, and General Santos, all in the Philippines.
Asia · MakatiWikipedia: Al-Qaeda - 2005
YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.
no place on the mapWikipedia: YouTube - 2007
The first of several bombings in Zahedan, Iran, killed 18 members of the Revolutionary Guards.
Asia · ZahedanWikipedia: 2007 Zahedan bombings - 2008
Northern Illinois University shooting: A gunman opens fire in a lecture hall of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb County, Illinois, resulting in six fatalities (including the gunman) and 21 injuries.
North America · 2008 Northern Illinois University shootingWikipedia: 2008 Northern Illinois University shooting - 2011
As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'.
Asia · Day of RageWikipedia: Arab Spring - 2018
A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is one of the deadliest school massacres with 17 fatalities and 17 injuries.
North America · Parkland high school shootingWikipedia: Parkland high school shooting - 2018
Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Jacob Zuma - 2019
Pulwama attack takes place in Lethpora in Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and a suicide bomber were killed and 35 were injured.
Asia · 2019 Pulwama attackWikipedia: 2019 Pulwama attack - 2020
At least 22 people are killed in an attack on a village in Northwest Region, Cameroon.
Africa · Ngarbuh massacreWikipedia: Ngarbuh massacre
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 Spanish and Romanian and were translated for this page.
- 1503
In Seville (Spain), the Casa de Contratación de Indias is created, intended as a depository for goods imported from and exported to the Americas, by royal decrees of 10 January and 14 February.
- 1936
In Seville (Spanish Republic), the Cuban aviator Menéndez Peláez lands, successfully completing the flight from Cuba to Spain.
- 1952
The Winter Olympic Games open in Oslo, Norway.
Europe · 1952 Winter OlympicsTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in RomanianWikipedia: Jocurile Olimpice de iarnă din 1952 - 1980
The Winter Olympic Games open in Lake Placid, New York, United States.
North America · 1980 Winter OlympicsTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in RomanianWikipedia: Jocurile Olimpice de iarnă din 1980 - 1982
Physicists at Stanford University say they have succeeded in detecting a magnetic monopole.
North America · Stanford UniversityTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in SpanishWikipedia: Universidad Stanford
Who was born on 14 February
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 231 are shown.
- 1967
Mark Rutte, Dutch businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
The HagueWikipedia: Mark Rutte - 1483
Babur, Mughal emperor (died 1530)
AndijanWikipedia: Babur - 1970
Simon Pegg, English actor, director, and producer
BrockworthWikipedia: Simon Pegg - 1869
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1959)
GlencorseWikipedia: C. T. R. Wilson - 1404
Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher (died 1472)
- 1987
Edinson Cavani, Uruguayan footballer
- 1988
Ángel Di María, Argentinian footballer
RosarioWikipedia: Ángel Di María - 1942
Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, 108th Mayor of New York City
- 1945
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
- 1951
Kevin Keegan, English footballer and manager (died 2026)
ArmthorpeWikipedia: Kevin Keegan - 1992
Christian Eriksen, Danish footballer
MiddelfartWikipedia: Christian Eriksen - 1895
Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (died 1973)
ZuffenhausenWikipedia: Max Horkheimer - 1983
Bacary Sagna, French footballer
- 1944
Alan Parker, English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2020)
IslingtonWikipedia: Alan Parker - 1952
Sushma Swaraj, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2019)
Ambala CantonmentWikipedia: Sushma Swaraj - 1978
Danai Gurira, American-Zimbabwean actress
GrinnellWikipedia: Danai Gurira - 1996
Lucas Hernandez, French footballer
MarseilleWikipedia: Lucas Hernandez - 1917
Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011)
New York CityWikipedia: Herbert A. Hauptman - 1882
John Barrymore, American actor (died 1942)
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: John Barrymore - 1898
Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (died 1974)
- 1997
Breel Embolo, Swiss footballer
YaoundéWikipedia: Breel Embolo - 1946
Gregory Hines, American actor, singer, and dancer (died 2003)
New York CityWikipedia: Gregory Hines - 1985
Philippe Senderos, Swiss footballer
- 1939
Eugene Fama, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1991
Karol G, Colombian singer and songwriter
MedellínWikipedia: Karol G - 1992
Freddie Highmore, English actor
Camden TownWikipedia: Freddie Highmore - 1977
Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist
KatherineWikipedia: Cadel Evans - 1894
Jack Benny, American actor and producer (died 1974)
ChicagoWikipedia: Jack Benny - 1912
Tibor Sekelj, Hungarian lawyer, explorer, and author (died 1988)
Spišská SobotaWikipedia: Tibor Sekelj - 1828
Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (died 1885)
- 1902
Thelma Ritter, American actress and singer (died 1969)
BrooklynWikipedia: Thelma Ritter - 1763
Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (died 1813)
- 1913
Jimmy Hoffa, American trade union leader (died 1975)
BrazilWikipedia: Jimmy Hoffa - 1944
Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author
Washington, D.C.Wikipedia: Carl Bernstein - 1974
Valentina Vezzali, Italian fencer and politician
- 1999
Tyler Adams, American soccer player
Wappingers FallsWikipedia: Tyler Adams - 1927
Lois Maxwell, Canadian-Australian model and actress (died 2007)
KitchenerWikipedia: Lois Maxwell - 1959
Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress
IndianaWikipedia: Renée Fleming - 1602
Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (died 1676)
- 1932
Alexander Kluge, German author, film director and public intellectual (died 2026)
HalberstadtWikipedia: Alexander Kluge - 1944
Ronnie Peterson, Swedish racing driver (died 1978)
- 1960
Meg Tilly, American actress and author
Long BeachWikipedia: Meg Tilly - 1972
Rob Thomas, American singer-songwriter
LandstuhlWikipedia: Rob Thomas - 1614
John Wilkins, English bishop, academic and natural philosopher (died 1672)
FawsleyWikipedia: John Wilkins - 1936
Anna German, Polish singer (died 1982)
UrgenchWikipedia: Anna German - 1972
Najwa Nimri, Spanish actress and singer
PamplonaWikipedia: Najwa Nimri - 1895
Wilhelm Burgdorf, German general (died 1945)
FürstenwaldeWikipedia: Wilhelm Burgdorf - 1932
Harriet Andersson, Swedish actress
StockholmWikipedia: Harriet Andersson - 1947
Phạm Tuân, Vietnamese aviator and cosmonaut
Quốc TuấnWikipedia: Phạm Tuân - 1978
Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
CoatesvilleWikipedia: Richard Hamilton - 1888
Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist (died 1956)
- 1916
Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director and producer (died 1996)
- 1986
Tiffany Thornton, American actress and singer
College StationWikipedia: Tiffany Thornton - 1989
Adam Matuszczyk, Polish footballer
GliwiceWikipedia: Adam Matuszczyk - 1929
Vic Morrow, American actor and director (died 1982)
The BronxWikipedia: Vic Morrow - 1934
Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (died 2016)
- 1971
Gheorghe Mureșan, Romanian basketball player
Tritenii de JosWikipedia: Gheorghe Mureșan - 1819
Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter (died 1890)
MooresburgWikipedia: Christopher Latham Sholes - 1942
Andrew Robinson, American actor and director
New York CityWikipedia: Andrew Robinson - 1967
Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian-Swiss tennis player
What is celebrated on 14 February
- Christian feast day: Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Eleuchadius
- Christian feast day: Manchan
- Christian feast day: Valentine (see also Valentine's Day)
- Christian feast day: Vicente Vilar David
- Christian feast day: February 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Statehood Day (Arizona, United States)
- Statehood Day (Oregon, United States)
- Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Armenian Apostolic Church)
- Parents' Worship Day (parts of India)
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.