A birthday on the globe
15 January on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 15 January, the English Wikipedia lists 62 events and 227 births. 30 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; six 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 15 January through the years
The Earth on 15 January
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in January 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 15 January the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 21.2° south. In London, the day lasts about 8 hours 20 minutes.
Beyond 69° south the Sun no longer sets; beyond 69° 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 · Westminster Abbey
1559
Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey, London.
On the map: Westminster Abbey.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
Britain & Ireland · British Museum
1759
The British Museum opens to the public.
On the map: British Museum.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
Europe · Banneux
1933
A teenage girl in Banneux, Belgium, reported the first of several Marian apparitions, now known as Our Lady of Banneux.
On the map: Banneux.
Asia · Palestinian Arabic
1911
Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded.
On the map: Palestinian Arabic.
North America · United States Congress
1782
Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
On the map: United States Congress.
North America · Buffalo Bill Dam
1910
Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 99 m (325 ft).
On the map: Buffalo Bill Dam.
North America · The Pentagon
1943
The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington County, Virginia.
On the map: The Pentagon.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese.
15 January
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 were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Chinese · Aswan Dam
1971
Egypt's Aswan Dam is formally put into use. The dam was built with Soviet assistance and was inaugurated by the then Egyptian president Sadat and the then Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, Kosygin.
On the map: Aswan Dam.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
15 January
Born on 15 January#
The English Wikipedia lists 227 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 15 January
1622
Molière, French actor and playwright (died 1673)
Place of birth: Paris.
Born on 15 January
1850
Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (died 1891)
Place of birth: Moscow.
Born on 15 January
1850
Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (died 1889)
Place of birth: Botoșani.
Born on 15 January
1908
Edward Teller, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (died 2003)
Place of birth: Budapest.
Born on 15 January
1996
Dove Cameron, American actress and singer
Place of birth: Bainbridge Island.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1994
Eric Dier, English footballer
Place of birth: Cheltenham.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1983
Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
Place of birth: The Meadows.
15 January
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: 15 January 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 15 January
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 26 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.
- 69
Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Otho - 1535
King Henry VIII issues letters patent incorporating the title Supreme Head of the Church of England into his royal title.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Henry VIII - 1541
King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the "Holy Catholic faith".
North America · New FranceWikipedia: Francis I of France - 1559
Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey, London.
Britain & Ireland · Westminster AbbeyWikipedia: Elizabeth I - 1582
Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Europe · Polish–Lithuanian CommonwealthWikipedia: Truce of Yam-Zapolsky - 1759
The British Museum opens to the public.
Britain & Ireland · British MuseumWikipedia: British Museum - 1777
American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence.
no place on the mapWikipedia: American Revolutionary War - 1782
Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: United States Congress - 1815
War of 1812: American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
North America · Capture of USS PresidentWikipedia: Capture of USS President - 1818
A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a "supplement" (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light.
no place on the mapWikipedia: David Brewster - 1822
Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Greek War of Independence - 1857
In British Hong Kong, hundreds of Europeans were non-lethally poisoned by arsenic in bread from a locally owned bakery, leading to geopolitical tension.
no place on the mapWikipedia: British Hong Kong - 1865
American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
North America · Second Battle of Fort FisherWikipedia: American Civil War - 1867
Forty people die when ice covering the boating lake at Regent's Park, London, collapses.
Britain & Ireland · Regent's Park skating disasterWikipedia: Regent's Park skating disaster - 1870
Thomas Nast publishes a political cartoon symbolizing the Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion") for Harper's Weekly.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Thomas Nast - 1876
The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl.
Africa · PaarlWikipedia: Afrikaans - 1885
Wilson Bentley took the first known photograph of a snowflake by attaching a bellows camera to a microscope.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wilson Bentley - 1889
The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.
North America · AtlantaWikipedia: The Coca-Cola Company - 1892
James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
no place on the mapWikipedia: James Naismith - 1908
The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Alpha Kappa Alpha - 1910
Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 99 m (325 ft).
North America · Buffalo Bill DamWikipedia: Buffalo Bill Dam - 1911
Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded.
Asia · Palestinian ArabicWikipedia: Palestinian Arabic - 1919
Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150.
North America · Great Molasses FloodWikipedia: Great Molasses Flood - 1919
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent communists in Germany, are clubbed and then shot to death by members of the Freikorps at the end of the Spartacist uprising.
Europe · BerlinWikipedia: Spartacist uprising - 1933
A teenage girl in Banneux, Belgium, reported the first of several Marian apparitions, now known as Our Lady of Banneux.
Europe · BanneuxWikipedia: Banneux - 1934
The 8.0 Mw Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people.
Asia · 1934 Nepal–India earthquakeWikipedia: 1934 Nepal–India earthquake - 1936
The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
North America · Toledo, OhioWikipedia: O-I Glass - 1937
Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republicans both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
Europe · Second Battle of the Corunna RoadWikipedia: Spanish Civil War - 1943
The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington County, Virginia.
North America · The PentagonWikipedia: The Pentagon - 1943
World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World War II - 1947
The Black Dahlia murder: The dismembered corpse of Elizabeth Short is found in Los Angeles.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Black Dahlia - 1949
Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist government.
Asia · TianjinWikipedia: Chinese Civil War - 1951
Ilse Koch, wife of Karl-Otto Koch, the Nazi commander of the Buchenwald and Majdanek concentration camps, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a West German court.
Europe · Buchenwald concentration campWikipedia: Buchenwald concentration camp - 1962
Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dutch New Guinea - 1962
The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Derveni papyrus - 1966
The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d'état.
Africa · 1966 Nigerian coup d'étatWikipedia: 1966 Nigerian coup d'état - 1967
The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.
North America · Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumWikipedia: 1966 Green Bay Packers season - 1969
The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Soviet Union - 1970
Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
Africa · LibyaWikipedia: Muammar Gaddafi - 1970
Nigerian Civil War: Biafran rebels surrender following an unsuccessful 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Nigerian Civil War - 1973
Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
Asia · North VietnamWikipedia: Vietnam War - 1974
American serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as the "BTK killer", murdered his first four victims.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dennis Rader - 1975
The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal.
Europe · Alvor AgreementWikipedia: Alvor Agreement - 1976
Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Life imprisonment in the United States - 1977
Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes in Kälvesta near Stockholm Bromma Airport in Stockholm, Sweden, killing 22 people.
Europe · Linjeflyg Flight 618Wikipedia: Linjeflyg Flight 618 - 1981
Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish trade union Solidarity at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
Europe · Vatican CityWikipedia: Pope John Paul II - 1981
The American serial police-procedural television show Hill Street Blues aired its pilot episode, "Hill Street Station".
no place on the mapWikipedia: Police procedural - 1991
Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Elizabeth II - 1991
The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gulf War - 2001
Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, is launched (Wikipedia Day).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wikipedia - 2005
ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon.
no place on the mapWikipedia: European Space Agency - 2009
US Airways Flight 1549 ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off. This becomes known as "The Miracle on the Hudson" as all 155 people on board were rescued.
North America · US Airways Flight 1549Wikipedia: US Airways Flight 1549 - 2013
A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others.
Africa · GizaWikipedia: Badrashin railway accident - 2015
The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the Swiss franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Swiss National Bank - 2016
The Kenyan Army suffers its worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 Kenyan soldiers are killed in the battle.
Africa · Battle of El AddeWikipedia: Battle of El Adde - 2018
British multinational construction and facilities management services company Carillion goes into liquidation – officially, "the largest ever trading liquidation in the UK".
no place on the mapWikipedia: Construction - 2019
Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19.
Africa · Nairobi DusitD2 complex attackWikipedia: Nairobi DusitD2 complex attack - 2019
Theresa May's UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Theresa May - 2020
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirms the first case of COVID-19 in Japan.
no place on the mapWikipedia: COVID-19 pandemic in Japan - 2021
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia's Sulawesi island killing at least 105 and injuring 3,369 people.
Asia · 2021 West Sulawesi earthquakeWikipedia: 2021 West Sulawesi earthquake - 2022
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupts, cutting off communications with Tonga and causing a tsunami across the Pacific.
Oceania · 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunamiWikipedia: 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami - 2023
Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes near Pokhara International Airport, killing all 72 people on board.
Asia · Yeti Airlines Flight 691Wikipedia: Yeti Airlines Flight 691
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 were translated for this page.
- 1971
Egypt's Aswan Dam is formally put into use. The dam was built with Soviet assistance and was inaugurated by the then Egyptian president Sadat and the then Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, Kosygin.
Who was born on 15 January
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 227 are shown.
- 1929
Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)
- 1622
Molière, French actor and playwright (died 1673)
ParisWikipedia: Molière - 1918
Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian colonel and politician, second President of Egypt (died 1970)
- 1809
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French economist and politician (died 1865)
- 1850
Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (died 1891)
- 1850
Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (died 1889)
BotoșaniWikipedia: Mihai Eminescu - 1908
Edward Teller, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (died 2003)
BudapestWikipedia: Edward Teller - 1996
Dove Cameron, American actress and singer
Bainbridge IslandWikipedia: Dove Cameron - 1902
Nâzım Hikmet, Greek-Turkish author, poet, and playwright (died 1963)
ThessalonikiWikipedia: Nâzım Hikmet - 1958
Boris Tadić, Serbian psychologist and politician, 16th President of Serbia
SarajevoWikipedia: Boris Tadić - 1902
Saud of Saudi Arabia (died 1969)
Kuwait CityWikipedia: Saud of Saudi Arabia - 1791
Franz Grillparzer, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (died 1872)
- 1895
Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1973)
- 1981
Pitbull, American rapper and producer
MiamiWikipedia: Pitbull - 1795
Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright, composer, and poet (died 1829)
- 1988
Skrillex, American DJ and producer
Los AngelesWikipedia: Skrillex - 1994
Eric Dier, English footballer
CheltenhamWikipedia: Eric Dier - 1923
Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese economist and politician, fourth President of the Republic of China (died 2020)
Sanshi villageWikipedia: Lee Teng-hui - 1866
Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, historian, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1931)
- 1432
Afonso V of Portugal (died 1481)
- 1971
Regina King, American actress
Los AngelesWikipedia: Regina King - 1863
Wilhelm Marx, German lawyer and politician, 17th Chancellor of Germany (died 1946)
CologneWikipedia: Wilhelm Marx - 1991
Marc Bartra, Spanish footballer
Sant Jaume dels DomenysWikipedia: Marc Bartra - 1984
Ben Shapiro, American author and commentator
Los AngelesWikipedia: Ben Shapiro - 1975
Mary Pierce, Canadian-American tennis player and coach
MontrealWikipedia: Mary Pierce - 1869
Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish poet, playwright, and painter (died 1907)
- 1918
João Figueiredo, Brazilian general and politician, 30th President of Brazil (died 1999)
Rio de JaneiroWikipedia: João Figueiredo - 1956
Mayawati, Indian educator and politician, 23rd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
New DelhiWikipedia: Mayawati - 1941
Captain Beefheart, American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist (died 2010)
GlendaleWikipedia: Captain Beefheart - 1973
Essam El Hadary, Egyptian footballer
Kafr El BattikhWikipedia: Essam El Hadary - 1979
Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
VratsaWikipedia: Martin Petrov - 1989
Martin Dúbravka, Slovak footballer
- 1981
El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
Nguer MalalWikipedia: El Hadji Diouf - 1985
René Adler, German footballer
LeipzigWikipedia: René Adler - 1913
Lloyd Bridges, American actor (died 1998)
San LeandroWikipedia: Lloyd Bridges - 1992
Joël Veltman, Dutch footballer
VelsenWikipedia: Joël Veltman - 1912
Michel Debré, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1996)
- 1875
Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and journalist (died 1929)
- 1882
Princess Margaret of Connaught (died 1920)
Bagshot Park MansionWikipedia: Princess Margaret of Connaught - 1983
Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
BarcelosWikipedia: Hugo Viana - 1926
Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (died 2005)
ViennaWikipedia: Maria Schell - 1935
Robert Silverberg, American author and editor
New York CityWikipedia: Robert Silverberg - 1943
Margaret Beckett, English metallurgist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Ashton-under-LyneWikipedia: Margaret Beckett - 1983
Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
The MeadowsWikipedia: Jermaine Pennant - 1950
Marius Trésor, French footballer and coach
Sainte-AnneWikipedia: Marius Trésor - 1955
Andreas Gursky, German photographer
LeipzigWikipedia: Andreas Gursky - 1991
Darya Klishina, Russian long jumper
- 1970
Shane McMahon, American wrestler and businessman
GaithersburgWikipedia: Shane McMahon - 1992
Joshua King, Norwegian footballer
- 1842
Josef Breuer, Austrian physician and psychiatrist (died 1925)
ViennaWikipedia: Josef Breuer - 1987
Kelly Kelly, American wrestler and model
- 1988
Daniel Caligiuri, German footballer
Villingen-SchwenningenWikipedia: Daniel Caligiuri - 1991
Nicolai Jørgensen, Danish footballer
BallerupWikipedia: Nicolai Jørgensen - 1907
Janusz Kusociński, Polish runner and soldier (died 1940)
- 1945
Princess Michael of Kent
Karlovy VaryWikipedia: Princess Michael of Kent - 2004
Grace VanderWaal, American singer-songwriter
- 1842
Mary MacKillop, Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (died 1909)
MelbourneWikipedia: Mary MacKillop - 1858
Giovanni Segantini, Italian painter (died 1899)
- 1919
George Cadle Price, Belizean politician, first Prime Minister of Belize (died 2011)
Belize CityWikipedia: George Cadle Price - 1957
Mario Van Peebles, Mexican-American actor and director
Mexico CityWikipedia: Mario Van Peebles
What is celebrated on 15 January
- Arbor Day (Egypt)
- Armed Forces Remembrance Day (Nigeria)
- Army Day (India)
- Christian feast day: Abeluzius (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church)
- Christian feast day: Arnold Janssen
- Christian feast day: Francis Ferdinand de Capillas (one of Martyr Saints of China)
- Christian feast day: Ita
- Christian feast day: Our Lady of the Poor
- Christian feast day: Macarius of Egypt (Western Christianity)
- Christian feast day: Maurus and Placidus (Order of Saint Benedict)
- Christian feast day: Paul the Hermit
- Christian feast day: January 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- John Chilembwe Day (Malawi)
- Korean Alphabet Day (North Korea)
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.