A birthday on the globe
17 September on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 17 September, the English Wikipedia lists 79 events and 266 births. 43 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; four 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 17 September through the years
The Earth on 17 September
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in September 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 17 September the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 2.3° north. In London, the day lasts about 12 hours 35 minutes.
Beyond 88° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 88° 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 · Stockholm
1543
The first Finnish-language book, the Abckiria by Mikael Agricola, is published in Stockholm.
On the map: Stockholm.
Europe · Bergerac
1577
The Treaty of Bergerac is signed between King Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
On the map: Bergerac.
North America · Boston
1630
The city of Boston, Massachusetts, is founded in North America.
On the map: Boston.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian and Chinese.
North America · Fort Pitt
1778
The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe.
On the map: Fort Pitt.
North America · Constitutional Convention
1787
The United States Constitution is signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Constitutional Convention”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
17 September
What the other Wikipedias remember#
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Romanian and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Romanian · Seoul Olympic Main Stadium
1988
The 24th Summer Olympic Games open in Seoul.
On the map: Seoul Olympic Main Stadium.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
The article on Wikipedia in Romanian: Jocurile Olimpice de vară din 1988
17 September
Born on 17 September#
The English Wikipedia lists 266 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 17 September
1826
Bernhard Riemann, German-Italian mathematician and academic (died 1866)
Place of birth: Breselenz.
Born on 17 September
1968
Anastacia, American singer-songwriter
Place of birth: Chicago.
Born on 17 September
1857
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian scientist and engineer (died 1935)
Place of birth: Izhevskoe.
Born on 17 September
1975
Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
Place of birth: El Cajon.
Born on 17 September
1931
Anne Bancroft, American actress (died 2005)
Place of birth: The Bronx.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1960
Damon Hill, English racing driver and guitarist
Place of birth: Hampstead.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1929
Stirling Moss, English racing driver and sportscaster (died 2020)
Place of birth: West Kensington.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1977
Simone Perrotta, Italian footballer
Place of birth: Ashton-under-Lyne.
17 September
Number one in the charts that week
At the cinema
An animal recorded that day
The record can be seen in GBIF, which brings together wildlife records from around the world.
All your birthdays
The weather that day
Data: Met Office Hadley Centre (HadCET); NOAA (GHCN-Daily, Mauna Loa).
Above the Earth
Sources: Jonathan McDowell, GCAT (launches); GFZ Potsdam (Kp index). Days are counted in Universal Time.
Football that day
International matches played that day:
Source: the “International football results” dataset kept by Mart Jürisoo (CC0).
Also that day
The earthquake’s page at the USGS
Source: the USGS catalogue. The day is counted in Universal Time (UTC).
In those days
Make a link for someone
Type the name, pick the day and the year of birth. The link opens straight on their day, with their name in the greeting.
The link carries the name, date and place typed here; anyone who gets it can see them.
Put another birthday beside it
Your mother’s, your child’s, a friend’s: the two days appear side by side.
Below: 17 September through the years.
The whole globe of the day
Drag the globe to turn it. Touch a ray or a point to read what happened there.
Everything Wikipedia lists for 17 September
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 32 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.
- 14
The Roman Senate decides to deify the late emperor Augustus.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Roman Senate - 1111
Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
Europe · Kingdom of GaliciaWikipedia: Kingdom of Galicia - 1176
The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empire to recover central Anatolia from the Seljuk Turks.
Asia · Battle of MyriokephalonWikipedia: Battle of Myriokephalon - 1382
Louis the Great's daughter, Mary, is crowned "king" of Hungary.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Louis I of Hungary - 1390
Manuel drives his nephew John VII, who had declared himself emperor in April of that year, out from Constantinople and ends John's reign.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Manuel II Palaiologos - 1462
Thirteen Years' War: A Polish army under Piotr Dunin decisively defeats the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Świecino.
Europe · Battle of ŚwiecinoWikipedia: Battle of Świecino - 1543
The first Finnish-language book, the Abckiria by Mikael Agricola, is published in Stockholm.
Europe · StockholmWikipedia: Finnish language - 1577
The Treaty of Bergerac is signed between King Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
Europe · BergeracWikipedia: Treaty of Bergerac - 1620
Polish–Ottoman War: The Ottoman Empire defeats the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Battle of Cecora.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Battle of Cecora - 1630
The city of Boston, Massachusetts, is founded in North America.
North America · BostonWikipedia: Boston - 1631
Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
Europe · Battle of BreitenfeldWikipedia: Battle of Breitenfeld - 1658
The Battle of Vilanova is fought between Portugal and Spain during the Portuguese Restoration War.
Europe · Battle of VilanovaWikipedia: Battle of Vilanova - 1683
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules", later known as protozoa.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - 1775
American Revolutionary War: The invasion of Quebec by the Continental Army begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
North America · Siege of Fort St. JeanWikipedia: Invasion of Quebec - 1776
The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
North America · Presidio of San FranciscoWikipedia: Presidio of San Francisco - 1778
The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe.
North America · Fort PittWikipedia: Treaty of Fort Pitt - 1787
The United States Constitution is signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end.
North America · Constitutional ConventionWikipedia: Constitutional Convention - 1793
War of the Pyrenees: France defeats a Spanish force at the Battle of Peyrestortes.
Europe · Battle of PeyrestortesWikipedia: Battle of Peyrestortes - 1794
Flanders Campaign: France completes its conquest of the Austrian Netherlands at the Battle of Sprimont.
Europe · Battle of SprimontWikipedia: Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition - 1809
Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War; the territory that will become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
Europe · Treaty of FredrikshamnWikipedia: Treaty of Fredrikshamn - 1849
American abolitionist Harriet Tubman makes her first attempt to escape from slavery.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Harriet Tubman - 1859
Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Norton I, Emperor of the United States".
no place on the mapWikipedia: Emperor Norton - 1861
Argentine Civil Wars: The State of Buenos Aires defeats the Argentine Confederation at the Battle of Pavón.
Latin America · Battle of PavónWikipedia: Battle of Pavón - 1862
American Civil War: George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac halts the first invasion of the North by Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history.
North America · Battle of AntietamWikipedia: American Civil War - 1862
American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
North America · Allegheny ArsenalWikipedia: Allegheny Arsenal - 1878
A British surveyor was detained by the Zulu on the border with the Colony of Natal; a demand for reparations for the incident formed part of an ultimatum that led to the Anglo-Zulu War.
Africa · Colony of NatalWikipedia: Anglo-Zulu War - 1894
Battle of the Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
Asia · Battle of the Yalu RiverWikipedia: Battle of the Yalu River - 1900
Philippine–American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham Jr. at Mabitac.
Asia · MabitacWikipedia: Battle of Mabitac - 1901
Second Boer War: A Boer column defeats a British force at the Battle of Blood River Poort.
Africa · Battle of Blood River PoortWikipedia: Battle of Blood River Poort - 1901
Second Boer War: Boers capture a squadron of the 17th Lancers at the Battle of Elands River.
Africa · Battle of Elands RiverWikipedia: Battle of Elands River - 1908
The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes, killing Selfridge, who becomes the first airplane fatality.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wright Flyer - 1914
Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Andrew Fisher - 1914
World War I: The Race to the Sea begins.
Europe · Race to the SeaWikipedia: World War I - 1916
World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Manfred von Richthofen - 1920
The National Football League is organized as the American Professional Football Association in Canton, Ohio.
no place on the mapWikipedia: National Football League - 1924
The Border Protection Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Border Protection Corps - 1928
The Okeechobee hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing more than 2,500 people.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1928 Okeechobee hurricane - 1930
The Kurdish Ararat rebellion is suppressed by the Turks.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ararat rebellion - 1932
A speech by Laureano Gómez leads to the escalation of the Leticia Incident.
Latin America · LeticiaWikipedia: Colombia–Peru War - 1935
The Niagara Gorge Railroad ceases operations after a rockslide.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Niagara Gorge Railroad - 1939
World War II: German submarine U-29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
no place on the mapWikipedia: German submarine U-29 - 1939
World War II: The Soviet invasion of Poland begins.
Europe · Soviet invasion of PolandWikipedia: World War II - 1940
World War II: Due to setbacks in the Battle of Britain and approaching autumn weather, Hitler postpones Operation Sea Lion.
Britain & Ireland · Battle of BritainWikipedia: Battle of Britain - 1941
World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense restores compulsory military training.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Vsevobuch - 1941
World War II: Soviet forces enter Tehran during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.
Asia · Anglo-Soviet invasion of IranWikipedia: Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran - 1944
World War II: Allied airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden and British XXX Corps advances into the Netherlands as the "Garden" half of the Operation.
Europe · Operation Market GardenWikipedia: Operation Market Garden - 1944
World War II: German forces are attacked by the Allies in the Battle of San Marino.
Europe · San MarinoWikipedia: Battle of San Marino - 1944
World War II: Soviet troops launch the Tallinn Offensive against Germany and pro-independence Estonian units.
Europe · Tallinn offensiveWikipedia: Tallinn offensive - 1948
The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the United Nations to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Lehi - 1948
The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his sovereignty over the Hyderabad State and joins the Indian Union.
Asia · Hyderabad StateWikipedia: Nizam of Hyderabad - 1949
The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.
North America · Toronto HarbourWikipedia: SS Noronic - 1950
The People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps (Then known as the PLAAF 1st Ground Forces Brigade) is founded.
no place on the mapWikipedia: People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps - 1950
The Republic of India formally recognised the State of Israel.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Israel - 1958
Tintin in Tibet, the twentieth volume of The Adventures of Tintin by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé and which he regarded as his favourite in the series, began serialisation.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Tintin in Tibet - 1961
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 crashes during takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing all 37 people on board.
North America · Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706Wikipedia: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 - 1961
The world's first retractable roof stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
North America · Civic ArenaWikipedia: Civic Arena - 1962
NASA announced the Next Nine astronauts selected for the purpose of landing on the moon.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 1965
The Battle of Chawinda is fought between Pakistan and India.
Asia · ChawindaWikipedia: Battle of Chawinda - 1970
The Jordanian army entered Amman as part of operations to oust Palestinian fedayeen from the country in events later known as Black September.
Asia · AmmanWikipedia: Black September - 1974
Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Bangladesh - 1976
The Space Shuttle Enterprise is unveiled by NASA.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle Enterprise - 1978
The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
North America · Camp DavidWikipedia: Camp David Accords - 1980
After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gdańsk Shipyard - 1980
Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Anastasio Somoza Debayle - 1983
Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Vanessa Williams - 1985
Four years after AIDS was first identified in the United States, Ronald Reagan publicly acknowledged AIDS (video featured) for the first time.
no place on the mapWikipedia: HIV/AIDS - 1991
Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Estonia - 1991
The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Linux - 1992
An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin.
Europe · Mykonos restaurant assassinationsWikipedia: Mykonos restaurant assassinations - 2001
George W. Bush, president of the United States, delivers remarks at the Islamic Center of Washington praising Muslim Americans and condemning Islamophobia in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
North America · Islamic Center of WashingtonWikipedia: Remarks at the Islamic Center of Washington - 2001
The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
North America · ShanksvilleWikipedia: September 11 attacks - 2006
An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, sparking widespread protests across the country.
Europe · Őszöd speechWikipedia: Őszöd speech - 2006
Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the volcano in at least 10,000 years.
North America · Fourpeaked MountainWikipedia: Fourpeaked Mountain - 2008
Seven al-Qaeda fighters attack the embassy of the United States in Sanaa, Yemen, leaving 20 people dead.
Asia · 2008 attack on the United States embassy in SanaaWikipedia: 2008 attack on the United States embassy in Sanaa - 2011
Occupy Wall Street movement begins in Zuccotti Park, New York City.
North America · Occupy Wall StreetWikipedia: Occupy Wall Street - 2013
Grand Theft Auto V earns more than half a billion dollars on its first day of release.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Grand Theft Auto V - 2016
Two bombs explode in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and Manhattan. Thirty-one people are injured in the Manhattan bombing.
North America · 2016 New York and New Jersey bombingsWikipedia: 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings - 2018
A Russian reconnaissance aircraft carrying 15 people on board is brought down by a Syrian surface-to-air missile over the Mediterranean Sea.
Asia · Syria missile strikesWikipedia: Syria missile strikes - 2025
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement
What the other Wikipedias remember
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Romanian and were translated for this page.
- 1988
The 24th Summer Olympic Games open in Seoul.
Asia · Seoul Olympic Main StadiumTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in RomanianWikipedia: Jocurile Olimpice de vară din 1988
Who was born on 17 September
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 266 are shown.
- 1950
Narendra Modi, Indian politician; Chief Minister of Gujarat and 14th Prime Minister of India
VadnagarWikipedia: Narendra Modi - 1826
Bernhard Riemann, German-Italian mathematician and academic (died 1866)
BreselenzWikipedia: Bernhard Riemann - 1968
Anastacia, American singer-songwriter
ChicagoWikipedia: Anastacia - 1857
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian scientist and engineer (died 1935)
IzhevskoeWikipedia: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - 1975
Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
El CajonWikipedia: Jimmie Johnson - 1550
Paul V, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1621)
- 1931
Anne Bancroft, American actress (died 2005)
The BronxWikipedia: Anne Bancroft - 1956
Almazbek Atambayev, Kyrgyz politician, 4th President of Kyrgyzstan
- 1743
Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician and political scientist (died 1794)
RibemontWikipedia: Marquis de Condorcet - 1958
Janez Janša, Slovenian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Slovenia
GrosupljeWikipedia: Janez Janša - 1935
Ken Kesey, American novelist, essayist, and poet (died 2001)
La JuntaWikipedia: Ken Kesey - 1923
Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1953)
Mount OliveWikipedia: Hank Williams - 1859
Billy the Kid, American gunman (died 1881)
New York CityWikipedia: Billy the Kid - 1922
Agostinho Neto, Angolan poet and politician, 1st President of Angola (died 1979)
- 879
Charles the Simple, Frankish king (died 929)
- 1883
William Carlos Williams, American poet, short story writer, and essayist (died 1963)
RutherfordWikipedia: William Carlos Williams - 1944
Reinhold Messner, Italian mountaineer and explorer
- 1960
Damon Hill, English racing driver and guitarist
HampsteadWikipedia: Damon Hill - 1968
Tito Vilanova, Spanish footballer and manager (died 2014)
Bellcaire d'EmpordàWikipedia: Tito Vilanova - 1869
Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian political scientist, historian, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1938)
StavangerWikipedia: Christian Lous Lange - 1918
Chaim Herzog, Irish-born Israeli general and politician, 6th President of Israel (died 1997)
BelfastWikipedia: Chaim Herzog - 1930
Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (died 2016)
HerefordWikipedia: Edgar Mitchell - 1965
Bryan Singer, American director, producer, and screenwriter
New York CityWikipedia: Bryan Singer - 1996
Esteban Ocon, French Formula One racing driver
ÉvreuxWikipedia: Esteban Ocon - 1929
Stirling Moss, English racing driver and sportscaster (died 2020)
West KensingtonWikipedia: Stirling Moss - 1977
Simone Perrotta, Italian footballer
Ashton-under-LyneWikipedia: Simone Perrotta - 1985
Tomáš Berdych, Czech tennis player
Valašské MeziříčíWikipedia: Tomáš Berdych - 1985
Alexander Ovechkin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1945
Phil Jackson, American basketball player and coach
Deer LodgeWikipedia: Phil Jackson - 1688
Maria Luisa of Savoy, queen consort of Spain (died 1714)
Royal Palace of TurinWikipedia: Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy - 1978
Arne Slot, Dutch football manager
BergentheimWikipedia: Arne Slot - 1930
Thomas P. Stafford, American general, pilot, and astronaut (died 2024)
WeatherfordWikipedia: Thomas P. Stafford - 1931
Jean-Claude Carrière, French actor and screenwriter (died 2021)
Colombières-sur-OrbWikipedia: Jean-Claude Carrière - 1962
Baz Luhrmann, Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
SydneyWikipedia: Baz Luhrmann - 1915
M. F. Husain, Indian painter and director (died 2011)
PandharpurWikipedia: M. F. Husain - 1965
Kyle Chandler, American actor
BuffaloWikipedia: Kyle Chandler - 1969
Keith Flint, English singer-songwriter (died 2019)
RedbridgeWikipedia: Keith Flint - 1928
Roddy McDowall, English-American actor (died 1998)
Herne HillWikipedia: Roddy McDowall - 1933
Chuck Grassley, American lawyer and politician
New HartfordWikipedia: Chuck Grassley - 1996
Duje Ćaleta-Car, Croatian footballer
ŠibenikWikipedia: Duje Ćaleta-Car - 1820
Émile Augier, French playwright (died 1889)
ValenceWikipedia: Émile Augier - 1974
Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player and coach
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: Rasheed Wallace - 1926
Jean-Marie Lustiger, French cardinal (died 2007)
12th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Jean-Marie Lustiger - 1991
Mena Massoud, Egyptian-Canadian actor
- 1993
Sofiane Boufal, Moroccan footballer
17th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Sofiane Boufal - 1906
J. R. Jayewardene, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Sri Lanka (died 1996)
ColomboWikipedia: J. R. Jayewardene - 1934
Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (died 1969)
San DiegoWikipedia: Maureen Connolly - 1948
John Ritter, American actor and producer (died 2003)
BurbankWikipedia: John Ritter - 1971
Bobby Lee, American actor and comedian
San DiegoWikipedia: Bobby Lee - 1986
Sophie, English music producer, disc jockey and singer (died 2021)
GlasgowWikipedia: Sophie - 1864
Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Ukrainian writer (died 1913)
VinnytsiaWikipedia: Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky - 1995
Patrick Mahomes, American football player
- 1955
Charles Martinet, American actor
San JoseWikipedia: Charles Martinet - 1986
Paolo De Ceglie, Italian footballer
- 1879
Periyar, Indian social activist and politician (died 1973)
ErodeWikipedia: Periyar - 1939
David Souter, American lawyer and jurist (died 2025)
MelroseWikipedia: David Souter - 1940
Jan Eliasson, Swedish politician and diplomat, 4th Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
GothenburgWikipedia: Jan Eliasson - 1989
Danielle Brooks, American actress
AugustaWikipedia: Danielle Brooks - 1739
John Rutledge, American judge and politician, 2nd Chief Justice of the United States (died 1800)
CharlestonWikipedia: John Rutledge - 1867
Vera Yevstafievna Popova, Russian chemist (died 1896)
Saint PetersburgWikipedia: Vera Yevstafievna Popova
What is celebrated on 17 September
- Australian Citizenship Day
- Christian feast day: Albert of Vercelli
- Christian feast day: Ariadne of Phrygia
- Christian feast day: Blessed Cecilia Eusepi
- Christian feast day: Stanislaus Papczyński
- Christian feast day: Hildegard of Bingen
- Christian feast day: Lambert
- Christian feast day: Robert Bellarmine
- Christian feast day: Satyrus of Milan
- Christian feast day: Socrates and Stephen
- Christian feast day: Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński
- Christian feast day: September 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, observed on the previous Friday if it falls on a Saturday, the following Monday if on a Sunday; and the beginning of the Constitution Week (United States)
- Heroes' Day (Angola)
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.