A birthday on the globe
16 July on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 16 July, the English Wikipedia lists 55 events and 196 births. 32 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; three 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 16 July through the years
The Earth on 16 July
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in July 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 16 July the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 21.4° north. In London, the day lasts about 16 hours 10 minutes.
Beyond 69° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 69° south it no longer rises.
The line between day and night is tilted on the globe exactly as on this day of the year. On the dark side you can see the lights of towns.
Europe · Arjona, Spain
1232
The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks the Muhammad's first rise to prominence; he later established the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain.
On the map: Arjona, Spain.
Europe · Vic, Spain
1849
Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
On the map: Vic, Spain.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Europe · Lourdes apparitions
1858
The last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.
On the map: Lourdes apparitions.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Asia · Hagia Sophia
1054
Three Roman legates place - acting illegally on their own authority - a bull of excommunication against Michael I Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, and his followers on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the formal start of the East–West Schism.
On the map: Hagia Sophia.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
Latin America · La Paz
1809
The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
On the map: La Paz.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Latin America · Uruguay v Brazil
1950
Uruguay beats hosts Brazil 2–1 to win the World Cup in a match dubbed as the Maracanazo.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Uruguay v Brazil”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · Washington, D.C.
1790
The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
On the map: Washington, D.C..
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese.
North America · Trinity
1945
Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Trinity”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese.
North America · Millennium Park
2004
Millennium Park, a public park in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the world's largest rooftop gardens, opened to the public.
On the map: Millennium Park.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
16 July
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 · Battle of Britain
1940
Hitler issues "Operation Sea Lion" and the Battle of Britain begins.
On the map: Battle of Britain.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
From Wikipedia in Chinese · Moscow
2001
In Moscow, the Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the Russian President Putin sign the Sino-Russian Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation. Besides expanding mutual investment in the energy sector, it also recognises Vladivostok and the neighbouring Far East as Russian territory.
On the map: Moscow.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
16 July
Born on 16 July#
The English Wikipedia lists 196 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 16 July
1872
Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (died 1928)
Place of birth: Borge Municipality.
Born on 16 July
1968
Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia and Citizendium
Place of birth: Bellevue.
Born on 16 July
1907
Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (died 1990)
Place of birth: Brooklyn.
Born on 16 July
1983
Katrina Kaif, British Indian actress and model
Place of birth: British Hong Kong.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1723
Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (died 1792)
Place of birth: Plympton.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1928
Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (died 2016)
Place of birth: Herne Hill.
16 July
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: 16 July 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 16 July
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 20 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.
- 622
The Hijrah of Muhammad begins, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Hijrah - 997
Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
Asia · Byzantine EmpireWikipedia: Battle of Spercheios - 1054
Three Roman legates place - acting illegally on their own authority - a bull of excommunication against Michael I Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, and his followers on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the formal start of the East–West Schism.
Asia · Hagia SophiaWikipedia: East–West Schism - 1212
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, the forces of kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain.
Europe · Battle of Las Navas de TolosaWikipedia: Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa - 1232
The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks the Muhammad's first rise to prominence; he later established the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain.
Europe · Arjona, SpainWikipedia: Arjona, Spain - 1251
Celebrated by the Carmelite Order–but doubted by modern historians–as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Carmelites - 1377
King Richard II of England is crowned.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Richard II of England - 1536
Jacques Cartier, navigator and explorer, returns home to St. Malo after claiming Stadacona (Quebec), Hochelaga (Montreal) and the River of Canada (St. Lawrence River) region for France.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Jacques Cartier - 1661
The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Banknote - 1683
Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.
Asia · Battle of PenghuWikipedia: Battle of Penghu - 1769
Father Junípero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, California.
North America · Mission San Diego de AlcaláWikipedia: Junípero Serra - 1779
American Revolutionary War: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point.
North America · Battle of Stony PointWikipedia: Battle of Stony Point - 1782
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail premiered in Vienna, after which Emperor Joseph II anecdotally remarked that it had "too many notes".
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 1790
The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
North America · Washington, D.C.Wikipedia: Washington, D.C. - 1809
The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
Latin America · La PazWikipedia: La Paz revolution - 1849
Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Europe · Vic, SpainWikipedia: Anthony Mary Claret - 1858
The last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.
Europe · Lourdes apparitionsWikipedia: Lourdes apparitions - 1861
American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
North America · First Battle of Bull RunWikipedia: American Civil War - 1862
American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
no place on the mapWikipedia: United States Navy - 1877
The Imperial Russian army under Grand Duke Nicholas defeats the Ottoman army and takes the city of Nikopol (modern Bulgaria).
Europe · Battle of NikopolWikipedia: Battle of Nikopol - 1909
Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Persian Constitutional Revolution - 1910
John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: John Robertson Duigan - 1915
At Treasure Island on the Delaware River in the United States, the First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Delaware River - 1915
Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Henry James - 1916
Max Reger's Hebbel Requiem is first performed in a memorial concert for the composer, conducted by Philipp Wolfrum.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Max Reger - 1927
Augusto César Sandino leads a raid on U.S. Marines and Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one of the first dive-bombing attacks in history.
Latin America · OcotalWikipedia: Augusto César Sandino - 1931
Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Emperor of Ethiopia - 1935
The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
North America · Oklahoma CityWikipedia: Parking meter - 1942
Holocaust: Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv): The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz.
Europe · Vélodrome d'HiverWikipedia: The Holocaust - 1945
Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
North America · TrinityWikipedia: Trinity - 1948
Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Asia · NazarethWikipedia: 1948 Arab–Israeli War - 1948
The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane.
Asia · Miss MacaoWikipedia: Miss Macao - 1950
Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army.
Asia · Chaplain–Medic massacreWikipedia: Chaplain–Medic massacre - 1950
Uruguay beats hosts Brazil 2–1 to win the World Cup in a match dubbed as the Maracanazo.
Latin America · Uruguay v BrazilWikipedia: Uruguay v Brazil - 1951
J. D. Salinger publishes his popular yet controversial novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
no place on the mapWikipedia: J. D. Salinger - 1951
King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin of Belgium.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Leopold III of Belgium - 1957
KLM Flight 844 crashes off the Schouten Islands in present day Indonesia (then Netherlands New Guinea), killing 58 people.
Asia · KLM Flight 844Wikipedia: KLM Flight 844 - 1965
South Vietnamese Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, a formerly undetected communist spy and double agent, is hunted down and killed by unknown individuals after being sentenced to death in absentia for a February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyễn Khánh.
Asia · Ho Chi Minh CityWikipedia: 1965 South Vietnamese coup - 1965
The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mont Blanc Tunnel - 1969
The Apollo 11 lunar landing mission is launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida, USA.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Apollo 11 - 1979
Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
no place on the mapWikipedia: President of Iraq - 1983
Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.
Britain & Ireland · British Airways Helicopters Flight 5918Wikipedia: British Airways Helicopters Flight 5918 - 1990
The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac.
Asia · 1990 Luzon earthquakeWikipedia: 1990 Luzon earthquake - 1990
The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
Europe · Ukrainian Soviet Socialist RepublicWikipedia: Verkhovna Rada - 1994
The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is destroyed in a head-on collision with Jupiter.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 - 2003
A faction of the armed forces of São Tomé and Príncipe led by Major Fernando Pereira overthrew the government of Fradique de Menezes in a bloodless coup d'état.
Africa · São ToméWikipedia: 2003 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état - 2004
Millennium Park, a public park in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the world's largest rooftop gardens, opened to the public.
North America · Millennium ParkWikipedia: Millennium Park - 2005
An Antonov An-24 crashes near Baney in Bioko Norte, Equatorial Guinea, killing 60 people.
Africa · BiokoWikipedia: 2005 Equatorial Express Airlines An-24 crash - 2007
An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing eight people, injuring at least 800 and damaging a nuclear power plant.
Asia · 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquakeWikipedia: 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake - 2008
A tainted milk powder scandal broke in China which ultimately involved an estimated 300,000 victims, the vast majority infants, with 54,000 hospitalized with kidney problems and six deaths.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 2008 Chinese milk scandal - 2009
Teoh Beng Hock, an aide to a politician in Malaysia is found dead on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the offices of the Anti-Corruption Commission, sparking an inquest that gains nationwide attention.
Asia · MalaysiaWikipedia: Teoh Beng Hock - 2013
As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India.
Asia · Bihar school meal poisoning incidentWikipedia: Bihar school meal poisoning incident - 2013
Syrian civil war: The Battle of Ras al-Ayn resumes between the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist forces, beginning the Rojava–Islamist conflict.
Asia · Battle of Ras al-AynWikipedia: Battle of Ras al-Ayn - 2015
Four U.S. Marines and a United States Navy Sailor are killed in the a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
North America · 2015 Chattanooga shootingsWikipedia: 2015 Chattanooga shootings - 2019
A 100-year-old building in Mumbai, India, collapses, killing at least 10 people and leaving many others trapped.
Asia · MumbaiWikipedia: Mumbai
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.
- 1940
Hitler issues "Operation Sea Lion" and the Battle of Britain begins.
Britain & Ireland · Battle of BritainTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in ChineseWikipedia: 不列颠战役 - 2001
In Moscow, the Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the Russian President Putin sign the Sino-Russian Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation. Besides expanding mutual investment in the energy sector, it also recognises Vladivostok and the neighbouring Far East as Russian territory.
Who was born on 16 July
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 196 are shown.
- 1872
Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (died 1928)
Borge MunicipalityWikipedia: Roald Amundsen - 1968
Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia and Citizendium
BellevueWikipedia: Larry Sanger - 1989
Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer
CardiffWikipedia: Gareth Bale - 1907
Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (died 1990)
BrooklynWikipedia: Barbara Stanwyck - 1983
Katrina Kaif, British Indian actress and model
British Hong KongWikipedia: Katrina Kaif - 1988
Sergio Busquets, Spanish footballer
SabadellWikipedia: Sergio Busquets - 1911
Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1995)
IndependenceWikipedia: Ginger Rogers - 1896
Trygve Lie, Norwegian trade union leader and politician, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 1968)
GrünerløkkaWikipedia: Trygve Lie - 1936
Yasuo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 91st Prime Minister of Japan
SetagayaWikipedia: Yasuo Fukuda - 1967
Will Ferrell, American actor, comedian, and producer
IrvineWikipedia: Will Ferrell - 1796
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and etcher (died 1875)
Rue du BacWikipedia: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - 1888
Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1966)
AmsterdamWikipedia: Frits Zernike - 1194
Clare of Assisi, Italian nun and saint (died 1253)
- 1723
Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (died 1792)
PlymptonWikipedia: Joshua Reynolds - 1964
Miguel Induráin, Spanish cyclist
Villava/AtarrabiaWikipedia: Miguel Induráin - 1942
Margaret Court, Australian tennis player and minister
- 1486
Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (died 1530)
FlorenceWikipedia: Andrea del Sarto - 1926
Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015)
BrooklynWikipedia: Irwin Rose - 1969
Sahra Wagenknecht, German politician
- 1821
Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (died 1910)
- 1862
Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist (died 1931)
Holly SpringsWikipedia: Ida B. Wells - 1987
Mousa Dembélé, Belgian footballer
WilrijkWikipedia: Mousa Dembélé - 1919
Choi Kyu-hah, South Korean politician, 4th President of South Korea (died 2006)
- 1982
Carli Lloyd, American soccer player
Delran TownshipWikipedia: Carli Lloyd - 1928
Robert Sheckley, American author and screenwriter (died 2005)
MaplewoodWikipedia: Robert Sheckley - 1928
Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (died 2016)
Herne HillWikipedia: Anita Brookner - 1963
Phoebe Cates, American actress
ManhattanWikipedia: Phoebe Cates - 1979
Jayma Mays, American actress
BristolWikipedia: Jayma Mays - 1902
Alexander Luria, Russian psychologist and physician (died 1977)
- 1943
Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban-American author, poet, and playwright (died 1990)
Holguín ProvinceWikipedia: Reinaldo Arenas - 1858
Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1931)
- 1963
Srečko Katanec, Slovenian footballer and coach
LjubljanaWikipedia: Srečko Katanec - 1941
Dag Solstad, Norwegian author and playwright (died 2025)
SandefjordWikipedia: Dag Solstad - 1948
Lars Lagerbäck, Swedish footballer and manager
KatrineholmWikipedia: Lars Lagerbäck - 1956
Tony Kushner, American playwright and screenwriter
ManhattanWikipedia: Tony Kushner - 1971
Corey Feldman, American actor
ChatsworthWikipedia: Corey Feldman - 1976
Bobby Lashley, American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist
Junction CityWikipedia: Bobby Lashley - 1990
James Maslow, American actor, singer and dancer
New York CityWikipedia: James Maslow - 1994
Shericka Jackson, Jamaican sprinter
Saint Ann's BayWikipedia: Shericka Jackson - 1970
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thai director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1981
Vicente Rodríguez, Spanish footballer
ValenciaWikipedia: Vicente Rodríguez - 1990
Wizkid, Nigerian singer and songwriter
LagosWikipedia: Wizkid - 1991
Alexandra Shipp, American actress and singer
PhoenixWikipedia: Alexandra Shipp - 1948
Rubén Blades, Panamanian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
Panama CityWikipedia: Rubén Blades - 1982
Michael Umaña, Costa Rican footballer
Santa AnaWikipedia: Michael Umaña - 1941
Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer-songwriter (died 2006)
KingstonWikipedia: Desmond Dekker - 1962
Grigory Leps, Russian singer-songwriter
- 1939
Ruth Perry, Liberian politician (died 2017)
Grand Cape Mount CountyWikipedia: Ruth Perry - 1947
Assata Shakur, American-Cuban criminal and activist (died 2025)
New York CityWikipedia: Assata Shakur - 1952
Stewart Copeland, American drummer and songwriter
AlexandriaWikipedia: Stewart Copeland - 1958
Michael Flatley, American-Irish dancer and choreographer
ChicagoWikipedia: Michael Flatley - 1982
André Greipel, German cyclist
RostockWikipedia: André Greipel - 1987
AnnaLynne McCord, American actress and producer
AtlantaWikipedia: AnnaLynne McCord - 1611
Cecilia Renata of Austria (died 1644)
- 1948
Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist and conductor
Tel AvivWikipedia: Pinchas Zukerman - 1990
Johann Zarco, French motorcycle racer
CannesWikipedia: Johann Zarco - 1981
Zach Randolph, American basketball player
MarionWikipedia: Zach Randolph - 1919
Hermine Braunsteiner, Austrian SS officer and Majdanek concentration camp guard (died 1999)
- 1976
Anna Smashnova, Belarusian-Israeli tennis player
- 1517
Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, English duchess (died 1559)
HertfordshireWikipedia: Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk
What is celebrated on 16 July
- Christian feast day: André de Soveral
- Christian feast day: Gondulphus of Tongeren
- Christian feast day: Helier
- Christian feast day: Blessed Irmgard of Chiemsee
- Christian feast day: Marie-Madeleine Postel
- Christian feast day: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Fiesta de La Tirana (Tarapacá Region, Chile)
- Christian feast day: Reineldis
- Christian feast day: Sisenandus of Beja
- Christian feast day: July 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Engineer's Day (Honduras)
- Holocaust Memorial Day (France)
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.