A birthday on the globe
19 November on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 19 November, the English Wikipedia lists 56 events and 259 births. 31 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 19 November through the years
The Earth on 19 November
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in November 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 19 November the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 19.4° south. In London, the day lasts about 8 hours 40 minutes.
Beyond 71° south the Sun no longer sets; beyond 71° 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.
Europe · St. Peter's Basilica
1646
The current Saint Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site.
On the map: St. Peter's Basilica.
Europe · University of Warsaw
1816
Warsaw University is established.
On the map: University of Warsaw.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese.
Europe · Odesa
1881
A meteorite lands near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odesa, Ukraine.
On the map: Odesa.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Asia · Narendra Modi Stadium
2023
The 2023 Cricket World Cup final takes place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, played between host nation India and Australia.
On the map: Narendra Modi Stadium.
19 November
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 Spanish and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Romanian · Madrid
1819
The Prado Museum in Madrid is inaugurated.
On the map: Madrid.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Delhi
1982
In New Delhi (India), the 9th Asian Games begin.
On the map: Delhi.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
The article on Wikipedia in Spanish: Juegos Asiáticos de 1982
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Seoul
1992
The Russian president Boris Yeltsin announces in Seoul Russia's decision to halt the manufacture of nuclear submarines.
On the map: Seoul.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · International Court of Justice
2012
The International Court of Justice in The Hague announces its ruling on the territorial dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua.
On the map: International Court of Justice.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
The article on Wikipedia in Spanish: Corte Internacional de Justicia
19 November
Born on 19 November#
The English Wikipedia lists 259 births for this day. The blue points are the birthplaces of 58 of these people: those written about in the most Wikipedia editions, where Wikidata gives a place of birth.
Born on 19 November
1962
Jodie Foster, American actress, director, and producer
Place of birth: Los Angeles.
Born on 19 November
1711
Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian physicist, chemist, astronomer, and geographer (died 1765)
Place of birth: Mishaninskaya.
Born on 19 November
1888
José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban-American chess player and theologian (died 1942)
Place of birth: Havana.
Born on 19 November
1933
Larry King, American journalist and talk show host (died 2021)
Place of birth: Brooklyn.
Born on 19 November
1909
Peter Drucker, Austrian-American theorist, educator, and author (died 2005).
Place of birth: Vienna.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1985
Chris Eagles, English footballer
Place of birth: Hemel Hempstead.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1992
James Tarkowski, English footballer
Place of birth: Manchester.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1919
Alan Young, English-Canadian actor, singer, and director (died 2016)
Place of birth: North Shields.
19 November
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: 19 November 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 19 November
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 21 events have no place on the map: the sentence links to no place with coordinates, only to places too wide to mark, or to several countries.
- 461
Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The real power is in the hands of the magister militum Ricimer.
Europe · Western Roman EmpireWikipedia: Libius Severus - 636
The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in Iraq.
Asia · Battle of al-QadisiyyahWikipedia: Battle of al-Qadisiyyah - 1620
The Mayflower, which brought the Pilgrims from England to the New World, sighted Cape Cod.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mayflower - 1646
The current Saint Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site.
Europe · St. Peter's BasilicaWikipedia: St. Peter's Basilica - 1794
The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to resolve some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.
Britain & Ireland · LondonWikipedia: Jay Treaty - 1802
The Garinagu arrive at British Honduras (present-day Belize).
Latin America · BelizeWikipedia: Garifuna - 1808
Finnish War: The Convention of Olkijoki in Raahe ends hostilities in Finland.
Europe · RaaheWikipedia: Finnish War - 1816
Warsaw University is established.
Europe · University of WarsawWikipedia: University of Warsaw - 1824
Temenggong Abdul Rahman of Johor and Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor ceded the governance of Singapore to the British East India Company.
Asia · JohorWikipedia: Temenggong Abdul Rahman - 1847
The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railroad, is opened.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Montreal and Lachine Railroad - 1863
American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
North America · Gettysburg AddressWikipedia: American Civil War - 1881
A meteorite lands near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odesa, Ukraine.
Europe · OdesaWikipedia: Meteorite fall - 1885
Serbo-Bulgarian War: Bulgarian victory in the Battle of Slivnitsa solidifies the unification between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia.
Europe · Battle of SlivnitsaWikipedia: Serbo-Bulgarian War - 1911
The Doom Bar in Cornwall claims two ships, Island Maid and Angele, the latter killing the entire crew except the captain.
Britain & Ireland · Doom BarWikipedia: Doom Bar - 1912
First Balkan War: The Serbian Army captures Bitola, ending the five-century-long Ottoman rule of Macedonia.
Europe · Battle of MonastirWikipedia: First Balkan War - 1916
Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Samuel Goldwyn - 1933
The Union of the Right, a coalition of right-wing parties, won the majority of seats in the 1933 Spanish general election, the first election in the country with suffrage extended to women.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1933 Spanish general election - 1941
World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.
Oceans · Sinking of HMAS SydneyWikipedia: Sinking of HMAS Sydney - 1942
Mutesa II is crowned the 35th and last Kabaka (king) of Buganda, prior to the restoration of the kingdom in 1993.
Africa · BugandaWikipedia: Mutesa II of Buganda - 1942
World War II: Battle of Stalingrad: Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.
Europe · Battle of StalingradWikipedia: Operation Uranus - 1943
The Holocaust: Nazis liquidate Janowska concentration camp in Lemberg (Lviv), western Ukraine, murdering at least 6,000 Jews after a failed uprising and mass escape attempt.
Europe · Janowska concentration campWikipedia: The Holocaust - 1944
The founding congress of the Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine is held in Mukachevo.
Europe · MukachevoWikipedia: Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine - 1944
World War II: Thirty members of the Luxembourgish resistance defend the town of Vianden against a larger Waffen-SS attack in the Battle of Vianden.
Europe · ViandenWikipedia: German occupation of Luxembourg during World War II - 1944
World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the sixth War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1946
Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Afghanistan - 1950
US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of NATO-Europe.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NATO - 1952
Greek Field Marshal Alexander Papagos becomes the 152nd Prime Minister of Greece.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Alexandros Papagos - 1954
Télé Monte Carlo, Europe's oldest private television channel, is launched by Prince Rainier III.
no place on the mapWikipedia: TMC - 1955
National Review publishes its first issue.
no place on the mapWikipedia: National Review - 1967
The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
no place on the mapWikipedia: TVB - 1969
Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum (the "Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Apollo program - 1969
Association football player Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Association football - 1977
TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 crashes in the Madeira Islands, killing 131.
Europe · TAP Flight 425Wikipedia: TAP Flight 425 - 1979
Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
Asia · Iran hostage crisisWikipedia: Iran hostage crisis - 1984
San Juanico disaster: A series of explosions at the Pemex petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City starts a major fire and kills about 500 people.
Latin America · San Juanico disasterWikipedia: San Juanico disaster - 1985
Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
Europe · GenevaWikipedia: Cold War - 1985
Pennzoil wins a US$10.53 billion judgment against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in the history of the United States, stemming from Texaco executing a contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pennzoil - 1985
Police in Baling, Malaysia, lay siege to houses occupied by an Islamic sect of about 400 people led by Ibrahim Mahmud.
Asia · Memali IncidentWikipedia: Memali Incident - 1988
Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatists in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Kosovo - 1991
Mexican singer Luis Miguel released the album Romance, which led to a revival of interest in bolero music.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Luis Miguel - 1993
A factory fire killed 87 and injured 51 in Shenzhen, China.
Asia · Longgang DistrictWikipedia: 1993 Zhili toy factory fire - 1994
In the United Kingdom, the first National Lottery draw is held. A £1 ticket gave a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.
no place on the mapWikipedia: National Lottery - 1996
A Beechcraft 1900 and a Beechcraft King Air collide at Quincy Regional Airport in Quincy, Illinois, killing 14.
North America · United Express Flight 5925Wikipedia: United Express Flight 5925 - 1996
Space Shuttle program: Columbia is launched on STS-80, which would become the longest mission in the program at 17 days. On this mission, astronaut Story Musgrave becomes the only astronaut to fly on all five space shuttles.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle program - 1997
Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-87.
no place on the mapWikipedia: STS-87 - 1998
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings into U.S. President Bill Clinton.
North America · Clinton–Lewinsky scandalWikipedia: Clinton–Lewinsky scandal - 1999
John Carpenter becomes the first person to win the top prize in the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
no place on the mapWikipedia: John Carpenter - 1999
Shenzhou 1: The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Shenzhou 1 - 2001
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act is enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Act created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
North America · ShanksvilleWikipedia: September 11 attacks - 2002
The Greek oil tanker Prestige splits in half and sinks off the coast of Galicia, releasing over 76,000 m3 (20 million US gal) of oil in the largest environmental disaster in Spanish and Portuguese history.
Europe · Prestige oil spillWikipedia: Prestige oil spill - 2004
The worst brawl in NBA history results in several players being suspended. Several players and fans are charged with assault and battery.
North America · The Palace of Auburn HillsWikipedia: Malice at the Palace - 2005
Iraq War: A group of United States Marines massacred 25 people in the town of Haditha.
Asia · Haditha massacreWikipedia: Haditha massacre - 2010
The first of four explosions takes place at the Pike River Mine in New Zealand. Twenty-nine people are killed in the nation's worst mining disaster since 1914.
Oceania · Pike River Mine disasterWikipedia: Pike River Mine disaster - 2013
A double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut kills 23 people and injures 160 others.
Asia · 2013 Iranian embassy bombing in BeirutWikipedia: 2013 Iranian embassy bombing in Beirut - 2022
A gunman kills five and injures 17 at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
North America · Colorado Springs, ColoradoWikipedia: 2022 Club Q shooting - 2023
The 2023 Cricket World Cup final takes place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, played between host nation India and Australia.
Asia · Narendra Modi StadiumWikipedia: 2023 Cricket World Cup final
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 Spanish and were translated for this page.
- 1819
The Prado Museum in Madrid is inaugurated.
- 1982
In New Delhi (India), the 9th Asian Games begin.
- 1992
The Russian president Boris Yeltsin announces in Seoul Russia's decision to halt the manufacture of nuclear submarines.
- 2012
The International Court of Justice in The Hague announces its ruling on the territorial dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua.
Europe · International Court of JusticeTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in SpanishWikipedia: Corte Internacional de Justicia
Who was born on 19 November
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 259 are shown.
- 1917
Indira Gandhi, Indian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of India (died 1984)
PrayagrajWikipedia: Indira Gandhi - 1831
James A. Garfield, American general, lawyer, and politician, 20th President of the United States (died 1881)
Moreland HillsWikipedia: James A. Garfield - 1962
Jodie Foster, American actress, director, and producer
Los AngelesWikipedia: Jodie Foster - 1600
Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland (died 1649)
Dunfermline PalaceWikipedia: Charles I of England - 1711
Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian physicist, chemist, astronomer, and geographer (died 1765)
MishaninskayaWikipedia: Mikhail Lomonosov - 1954
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egyptian field marshal and politician, 6th President of Egypt
- 1888
José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban-American chess player and theologian (died 1942)
- 1933
Larry King, American journalist and talk show host (died 2021)
BrooklynWikipedia: Larry King - 1875
Mikhail Kalinin, Russian civil servant and politician, 1st Head of State of The Soviet Union (died 1946)
Verkhnaya TroitsaWikipedia: Mikhail Kalinin - 1909
Peter Drucker, Austrian-American theorist, educator, and author (died 2005).
ViennaWikipedia: Peter Drucker - 1961
Meg Ryan, American actress and producer
FairfieldWikipedia: Meg Ryan - 1938
Ted Turner, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Turner Broadcasting System (died 2026)
CincinnatiWikipedia: Ted Turner - 1925
Zygmunt Bauman, Polish-English sociologist, historian, and academic (died 2017)
- 1887
James B. Sumner, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955)
- 1959
Allison Janney, American actress
- 1900
Anna Seghers, German author and politician (died 1983)
- 1975
Sushmita Sen, Indian actress, model and Miss Universe 1994
HyderabadWikipedia: Sushmita Sen - 1983
Adam Driver, American actor
San DiegoWikipedia: Adam Driver - 1805
Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and engineer, developed the Suez Canal (died 1894)
VersaillesWikipedia: Ferdinand de Lesseps - 1912
George Emil Palade, Romanian-American biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2008)
- 1965
Laurent Blanc, French footballer and manager
- 1942
Calvin Klein, American fashion designer, founded Calvin Klein Inc.
The BronxWikipedia: Calvin Klein - 1833
Wilhelm Dilthey, German psychologist, sociologist, and historian (died 1911)
BiebrichWikipedia: Wilhelm Dilthey - 1920
Gene Tierney, American actress and singer (died 1991)
BrooklynWikipedia: Gene Tierney - 1976
Jack Dorsey, American businessman, co-founded Twitter
St. LouisWikipedia: Jack Dorsey - 1957
Ofra Haza, Israeli singer-songwriter and actress (died 2000)
Hatikva QuarterWikipedia: Ofra Haza - 1936
Yuan T. Lee, Taiwanese-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1770
Bertel Thorvaldsen, Danish sculptor and academic (died 1844)
CopenhagenWikipedia: Bertel Thorvaldsen - 1915
Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1974)
BurlingameWikipedia: Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr. - 1956
Eileen Collins, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
- 1993
Suso, Spanish footballer
CádizWikipedia: Suso - 1934
Valentin Ivanov, Russian footballer and manager (died 2011)
- 1939
Emil Constantinescu, Romanian academic and politician, 3rd President of Romania
- 1958
Algirdas Butkevičius, Lithuanian sergeant and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Lithuania
PaežeriaiWikipedia: Algirdas Butkevičius - 1958
Charlie Kaufman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
New York CityWikipedia: Charlie Kaufman - 1843
Richard Avenarius, German-Swiss philosopher and academic (died 1896)
- 1889
Clifton Webb, American actor, singer, and dancer (died 1966)
IndianapolisWikipedia: Clifton Webb - 1932
Eleanor F. Helin, American astronomer (died 2009)
PasadenaWikipedia: Eleanor F. Helin - 1966
Jason Scott Lee, American actor and martial artist
Los AngelesWikipedia: Jason Scott Lee - 1989
Tyga, American rapper
ComptonWikipedia: Tyga - 1934
Kurt Hamrin, Swedish footballer and scout (died 2024)
StockholmWikipedia: Kurt Hamrin - 1935
Jack Welch, American engineer, businessman, and author (died 2020)
PeabodyWikipedia: Jack Welch - 1966
Gail Devers, American sprinter and hurdler
SeattleWikipedia: Gail Devers - 1977
Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistani politician
- 1905
Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist, composer and bandleader (died 1956)
ShenandoahWikipedia: Tommy Dorsey - 1999
Evgenia Medvedeva, Russian figure skater
- 1922
Yuri Knorozov, Ukrainian-Russian linguist, epigrapher, and ethnographer (died 1999)
KharkivWikipedia: Yuri Knorozov - 1984
Jorge Fucile, Uruguayan footballer
MontevideoWikipedia: Jorge Fucile - 1985
Chris Eagles, English footballer
Hemel HempsteadWikipedia: Chris Eagles - 1992
James Tarkowski, English footballer
ManchesterWikipedia: James Tarkowski - 1876
Tatyana Afanasyeva, Russian-Dutch mathematician and theorist (died 1964)
- 1919
Alan Young, English-Canadian actor, singer, and director (died 2016)
North ShieldsWikipedia: Alan Young - 1919
Gillo Pontecorvo, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2006)
- 1926
Jeane Kirkpatrick, American academic and diplomat, 16th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (died 2006)
- 1954
Kathleen Quinlan, American actress
PasadenaWikipedia: Kathleen Quinlan - 1979
Barry Jenkins, American director, screenwriter, and producer
- 1503
Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma (died 1547)
- 1894
Américo Tomás, Portuguese admiral and politician, 14th President of Portugal (died 1987)
LisbonWikipedia: Américo Tomás - 1901
Nina Bari, Russian mathematician (died 1961)
MoscowWikipedia: Nina Bari - 1464
Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (died 1526)
What is celebrated on 19 November
- Christian feast day: Blessed Giacomo Benefatti
- Christian feast day: Mechthild of Hackeborn
- Christian feast day: Obadiah (Eastern Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Raphael Kalinowski
- Christian feast day: Severinus, Exuperius, and Felician
- Christian feast day: November 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Discovery of Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
- Day of Missile Forces and Artillery (Russia, Belarus)
- Flag Day (Brazil)
- Garifuna Settlement Day (Belize)
- International Men's Day
- Liberation Day (Mali)
- Martyrs' Day (Uttar Pradesh, India)
- The Sovereign Prince's Day (Monaco)
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.