A birthday on the globe
22 June on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 22 June, the English Wikipedia lists 56 events and 254 births. 33 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; five 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 22 June through the years
The Earth on 22 June
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in June 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 22 June the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 23.5° north. In London, the day lasts about 16 hours 40 minutes.
Beyond 67° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 67° 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.
Britain & Ireland · London Underground
1907
The London Underground's Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway opens.
On the map: London Underground.
Britain & Ireland · Westminster Abbey
1911
George V and Mary of Teck are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
On the map: Westminster Abbey.
Britain & Ireland · Tilbury
1948
The ship HMT Empire Windrush brought the first group of 802 West Indian immigrants to Tilbury, marking the start of modern immigration to the United Kingdom.
On the map: Tilbury.
Britain & Ireland · Gatwick Airport
1984
Virgin Atlantic launches with its first flight from London to Newark.
On the map: Gatwick Airport.
Asia · Council of Ephesus
431
The Council of Ephesus, the third ecumenical council, begins, dealing with Nestorianism.
On the map: Council of Ephesus.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Asia · Natanz nuclear facility
2025
The United States conducts airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
On the map: Natanz nuclear facility.
Wikipedia: 2025 United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
North America · United States Congress
1870
The United States Department of Justice is created by the U.S. Congress.
On the map: United States Congress.
North America · United States Naval Observatory
1978
Charon, the first of Pluto's satellites to be discovered, was first seen at the United States Naval Observatory by James W. Christy.
On the map: United States Naval Observatory.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
22 June
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 · Jerusalem
2008
The Global South alliance of the Anglican Communion, headed by Peter Akinola, Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, holds the first Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem, Israel.
On the map: Jerusalem.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
22 June
Born on 22 June#
The English Wikipedia lists 254 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 22 June
1964
Dan Brown, American author and academic
Place of birth: Exeter.
Born on 22 June
1939
Ada Yonath, Israeli crystallographer and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (died 2026)
Place of birth: Jerusalem.
Born on 22 June
1906
Billy Wilder, Austrian-born American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2002)
Place of birth: Sucha Beskidzka.
Born on 22 June
1987
Lee Min-ho, South Korean actor, singer, model, creative director and businessman
Place of birth: Dongjak District.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1856
Henry Rider Haggard, English novelist (died 1925).
Place of birth: Bradenham.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1943
J. Michael Kosterlitz, British-American physicist
Place of birth: Aberdeen.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1757
George Vancouver, English lieutenant and explorer (died 1798).
Place of birth: King's Lynn.
22 June
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: 22 June 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 22 June
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 18 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.
- 217 BC
Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.
Asia · Battle of RaphiaWikipedia: Battle of Raphia - 168 BC
Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus who surrenders after the battle, ending the Third Macedonian War.
Europe · Battle of PydnaWikipedia: Battle of Pydna - 431
The Council of Ephesus, the third ecumenical council, begins, dealing with Nestorianism.
Asia · Council of EphesusWikipedia: Council of Ephesus - 813
Battle of Versinikia: The Bulgars led by Krum defeat the Byzantine army near Edirne. Emperor Michael I is forced to abdicate in favor of Leo V the Armenian.
Asia · Battle of VersinikiaWikipedia: Battle of Versinikia - 816
Election of pope Stephen IV following the death of pope Leo III earlier that month.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pope Stephen IV - 910
The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Hungarians - 1527
Fatahillah expels Portuguese forces from Sunda Kelapa, now regarded as the foundation of Jakarta.
Asia · Sunda KelapaWikipedia: Fatahillah - 1555
A Mughal army under Humayun and Bairam Khan defeats an Afghan army under Sikandar Shah Suri in the battle of Sirhind, allowing Humayun to capture Delhi and reestablish the Mughal Empire in India.
Asia · Sirhind-FategarhWikipedia: Battle of Sirhind - 1593
Battle of Sisak: Allied Christian troops defeat the Ottomans.
Europe · Battle of SisakWikipedia: Battle of Sisak - 1633
The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe in the form he presented it in, after heated controversy.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith - 1774
The British pass the Quebec Act, setting out rules of governance for the colony of Quebec in British North America.
North America · QuebecWikipedia: Quebec Act - 1783
A poisonous cloud caused by the eruption of the Laki volcano in Iceland reaches Le Havre in France.
Europe · LakiWikipedia: Volcanic eruption - 1793
Haitian Revolution: The Battle of Cap-Français ends with French Republican troops and black slave insurgents capturing the city.
Latin America · Battle of Cap-FrançaisWikipedia: Haitian Revolution - 1807
In the Chesapeake–Leopard affair, the British warship HMS Leopard attacks and boards the American frigate USS Chesapeake.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Chesapeake–Leopard affair - 1812
France declares war on Russia, starting Napoleon's invasion.
no place on the mapWikipedia: French invasion of Russia - 1813
War of 1812: After learning of American plans for a surprise attack on Beaver Dams in Ontario, Laura Secord sets out on a thirty kilometres (19 mi) journey on foot to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon.
North America · OntarioWikipedia: War of 1812 - 1839
Cherokee leaders Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot are assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota, which had resulted in the Trail of Tears.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Treaty of New Echota - 1870
The United States Department of Justice is created by the U.S. Congress.
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: United States Congress - 1893
The Royal Navy battleship HMS Camperdown accidentally rams the British Mediterranean Fleet flagship HMS Victoria which sinks taking 358 crew with her, including the fleet's commander, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mediterranean Fleet - 1897
British colonial officers Charles Walter Rand and Lt. Charles Egerton Ayerst are assassinated in Pune, Maharashtra, India by the Chapekar brothers and Mahadeo Vinayak Ranade, who are later caught and hanged.
Asia · PuneWikipedia: British Raj - 1898
Spanish–American War: In a chaotic operation, 6,000 men of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps begins landing at Daiquirí, Cuba, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Santiago de Cuba. Lt. Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo of the Spanish Army outnumbers them two-to-one, but does not oppose the landings.
Latin America · DaiquiríWikipedia: Spanish–American War - 1907
The London Underground's Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway opens.
Britain & Ireland · London UndergroundWikipedia: London Underground - 1911
George V and Mary of Teck are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Britain & Ireland · Westminster AbbeyWikipedia: Coronation of George V and Mary - 1911
Mexican Revolution: Government forces bring an end to the Magonista rebellion of 1911 in the Second Battle of Tijuana.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Magonista rebellion of 1911 - 1918
The Hammond Circus Train Wreck kills 86 and injures 127 near Hammond, Indiana.
North America · Hammond, IndianaWikipedia: Hammond Circus train wreck - 1922
British Army Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson is killed by the Irish Republican Army helping to spark the Irish Civil War.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Irish Civil War - 1940
World War II: France is forced to sign the Second Compiègne armistice with Germany, in the same railroad car in which the Germans signed the Armistice in 1918.
Europe · Armistice of 22 June 1940Wikipedia: Armistice of 22 June 1940 - 1941
World War II: As Axis troops began their invasion of the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian Activist Front started an uprising to liberate Lithuania from Soviet occupation.
Europe · LithuaniaWikipedia: June Uprising in Lithuania - 1941
World War II: German minister of foreign affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop presented a declaration of war to the Soviet ambassador Vladimir Dekanozov in Berlin.
no place on the mapWikipedia: German declaration of war on the Soviet Union - 1941
World War II: Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Operation Barbarossa - 1942
The Pledge of Allegiance is formally adopted by U.S. Congress.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pledge of Allegiance - 1942
World War II: Erwin Rommel is promoted to Field Marshal after the Axis capture of Tobruk.
Africa · TobrukWikipedia: Axis capture of Tobruk - 1944
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1944
World War II: Opening day of the Soviet Union's Operation Bagration against the Army Group Centre.
Europe · Byelorussian Soviet Socialist RepublicWikipedia: Operation Bagration - 1945
World War II: The Battle of Okinawa comes to an end with an American flag-raising ceremony.
Asia · Battle of OkinawaWikipedia: Battle of Okinawa - 1948
King George VI formally gives up the title "Emperor of India", half a year after Britain actually gave up its rule of India.
no place on the mapWikipedia: George VI - 1948
The ship HMT Empire Windrush brought the first group of 802 West Indian immigrants to Tilbury, marking the start of modern immigration to the United Kingdom.
Britain & Ireland · TilburyWikipedia: HMT Empire Windrush - 1962
Air France Flight 117 crashes on approach to Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport in Guadeloupe, killing 112 people.
Europe · Air France Flight 117Wikipedia: Air France Flight 117 - 1965
The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea is signed.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Treaty on Basic Relations Between Japan and the Republic of Korea - 1966
Vietnamese Buddhist activist leader Thích Trí Quang was arrested as the military junta of Nguyen Cao Ky crushed the Buddhist Uprising.
Asia · Da NangWikipedia: Buddhist Uprising - 1969
The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, Ohio, drawing national attention to water pollution, and spurring the passing of the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
North America · ClevelandWikipedia: Clean Water Act - 1978
Charon, the first of Pluto's satellites to be discovered, was first seen at the United States Naval Observatory by James W. Christy.
North America · United States Naval ObservatoryWikipedia: United States Naval Observatory - 1979
Former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was acquitted of conspiracy to murder Norman Scott, who had accused Thorpe of having a relationship with him.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Liberal Party - 1984
Virgin Atlantic launches with its first flight from London to Newark.
Britain & Ireland · Gatwick AirportWikipedia: Virgin Atlantic - 1986
The famous Hand of God goal, scored by Diego Maradona in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and England, ignites controversy. This was later followed by the Goal of the Century. Argentina wins 2–1 and later goes on to win the World Cup.
Latin America · Estadio AztecaWikipedia: The hand of God - 1990
Cold War: Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cold War - 2000
Wuhan Airlines Flight 343 is struck by lightning and crashes into Wuhan's Hanyang District, killing 49 people.
Asia · Wuhan Airlines Flight 343Wikipedia: Wuhan Airlines Flight 343 - 2002
An earthquake measuring 6.5 Mw strikes a region of northwestern Iran killing at least 261 people and injuring 1,300 others and eventually causing widespread public anger due to the slow official response.
Asia · 2002 Bou'in-Zahra earthquakeWikipedia: 2002 Bou'in-Zahra earthquake - 2007
The small town of Elie, Manitoba is hit by Canada's most intense tornado on record.
North America · 2007 Elie tornadoWikipedia: 2007 Elie tornado - 2009
A Washington D.C Metro train traveling southbound near Fort Totten station collides into another train waiting to enter the station. Nine people are killed in the collision (eight passengers and the train operator) and at least 80 others are injured.
North America · June 2009 Washington Metro train collisionWikipedia: June 2009 Washington Metro train collision - 2012
A Turkish Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter plane is shot down by the Syrian Armed Forces, killing both of the plane's pilots and worsening already-strained relations between Turkey and Syria.
Asia · 2012 Turkish F-4 Phantom shootdownWikipedia: 2012 Turkish F-4 Phantom shootdown - 2012
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is removed from office by impeachment and succeeded by Federico Franco.
Latin America · ParaguayWikipedia: Impeachment of Fernando Lugo - 2015
The Afghan National Assembly building is attacked by gunmen after a suicide bombing. All six of the gunmen are killed and 18 people are injured.
Asia · KabulWikipedia: 2015 Kabul Parliament attack - 2022
An earthquake occurs in eastern Afghanistan resulting in over 1,000 deaths.
Asia · June 2022 Afghanistan earthquakeWikipedia: June 2022 Afghanistan earthquake - 2023
Irish broadcaster RTÉ announced that between 2017 and 2022 it had paid €345,000 more than had been previously disclosed to presenter Ryan Tubridy.
no place on the mapWikipedia: RTÉ secret payment scandal - 2025
The United States conducts airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Asia · Natanz nuclear facilityWikipedia: 2025 United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
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.
- 2008
The Global South alliance of the Anglican Communion, headed by Peter Akinola, Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, holds the first Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem, Israel.
Who was born on 22 June
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 254 are shown.
- 1949
Meryl Streep, American actress
SummitWikipedia: Meryl Streep - 1898
Erich Maria Remarque, German-Swiss soldier and author (died 1970)
OsnabrückWikipedia: Erich Maria Remarque - 1964
Dan Brown, American author and academic
ExeterWikipedia: Dan Brown - 1805
Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian journalist and politician (died 1872).
- 1767
Wilhelm von Humboldt, German philosopher, academic, and politician, Interior Minister of Prussia (died 1835).
KabinetthausWikipedia: Wilhelm von Humboldt - 1939
Ada Yonath, Israeli crystallographer and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (died 2026)
JerusalemWikipedia: Ada Yonath - 1906
Billy Wilder, Austrian-born American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2002)
Sucha BeskidzkaWikipedia: Billy Wilder - 1987
Lee Min-ho, South Korean actor, singer, model, creative director and businessman
Dongjak DistrictWikipedia: Lee Min-ho - 1864
Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician and academic (died 1909)
AleksotasWikipedia: Hermann Minkowski - 1953
Cyndi Lauper, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
QueensWikipedia: Cyndi Lauper - 1996
Rodri, Spanish footballer
MadridWikipedia: Rodri - 1940
Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2016)
- 1949
Elizabeth Warren, American academic and politician
Oklahoma CityWikipedia: Elizabeth Warren - 1910
Konrad Zuse, German computer scientist and engineer, invented the Z3 computer (died 1995)
WilmersdorfWikipedia: Konrad Zuse - 1856
Henry Rider Haggard, English novelist (died 1925).
BradenhamWikipedia: H. Rider Haggard - 1943
J. Michael Kosterlitz, British-American physicist
AberdeenWikipedia: J. Michael Kosterlitz - 1936
Kris Kristofferson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 2024)
BrownsvilleWikipedia: Kris Kristofferson - 1837
Paul Morphy, American chess player (died 1884)
New OrleansWikipedia: Paul Morphy - 1757
George Vancouver, English lieutenant and explorer (died 1798).
King's LynnWikipedia: George Vancouver - 1947
Jerry Rawlings, Ghanaian lieutenant and politician, President of Ghana (died 2020)
- 1996
Mikel Merino, Spanish footballer
PamplonaWikipedia: Mikel Merino - 1887
Julian Huxley, English biologist and academic (died 1975)
LondonWikipedia: Julian Huxley - 1932
Amrish Puri, Indian actor (died 2005)
JalandharWikipedia: Amrish Puri - 1958
Bruce Campbell, American actor, director, producer and writer
Royal OakWikipedia: Bruce Campbell - 1897
Norbert Elias, German-Dutch sociologist and philosopher (died 1990)
WrocławWikipedia: Norbert Elias - 1947
Octavia E. Butler, American author (died 2006)
PasadenaWikipedia: Octavia E. Butler - 1947
Bruno Latour, French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist (died 2022)
BeauneWikipedia: Bruno Latour - 1993
Loris Karius, German footballer
Biberach an der RißWikipedia: Loris Karius - 1933
Dianne Feinstein, American politician (died 2023)
San FranciscoWikipedia: Dianne Feinstein - 1974
Vijay, Indian actor
ChennaiWikipedia: C. Joseph Vijay - 1982
Andoni Iraola, Spanish footballer and manager
UsurbilWikipedia: Andoni Iraola - 1994
Sébastien Haller, French-Ivorian footballer
Ris-OrangisWikipedia: Sébastien Haller - 1965
Ľubomír Moravčík, Czech footballer and manager
- 1966
Emmanuelle Seigner, French actress
- 1974
Jo Cox, British politician (died 2016)
BatleyWikipedia: Jo Cox - 1000
Robert I, duke of Normandy (died 1035)
NormandyWikipedia: Robert I of Normandy - 1903
John Dillinger, American criminal (died 1934)
IndianapolisWikipedia: John Dillinger - 1928
Ralph Waite, American actor and director (died 2014)
White PlainsWikipedia: Ralph Waite - 1932
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, Princess of Iran (died 2001)
Isa ibn Maryam HospitalWikipedia: Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary - 1952
Graham Greene, Canadian actor
OhswekenWikipedia: Graham Greene - 1962
Stephen Chow, Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Hong KongWikipedia: Stephen Chow - 1960
Erin Brockovich, American lawyer and environmentalist
LawrenceWikipedia: Erin Brockovich - 1984
Janko Tipsarević, Serbian tennis player
BelgradeWikipedia: Janko Tipsarević - 1964
Amy Brenneman, American actress
New LondonWikipedia: Amy Brenneman - 1892
Robert Ritter von Greim, German general and pilot (died 1945)
- 1943
Klaus Maria Brandauer, Austrian actor and director
Bad AusseeWikipedia: Klaus Maria Brandauer - 1950
Adrian Năstase, Romanian lawyer and politician, 59th Prime Minister of Romania
BucharestWikipedia: Adrian Năstase - 1971
Mary Lynn Rajskub, American actress and comedian
DetroitWikipedia: Mary Lynn Rajskub - 1947
Pete Maravich, American basketball player (died 1988)
AliquippaWikipedia: Pete Maravich - 1949
Lindsay Wagner, American actress
Los AngelesWikipedia: Lindsay Wagner - 1962
Clyde Drexler, American basketball player and coach
New OrleansWikipedia: Clyde Drexler - 1993
Danny Ward, Welsh footballer
WrexhamWikipedia: Danny Ward - 1861
Maximilian von Spee, Danish-German admiral (died 1914)
CopenhagenWikipedia: Maximilian von Spee - 1922
Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist (died 1995)
MitchellvilleWikipedia: Clair Patterson - 1871
William McDougall, English psychologist and polymath (died 1938)
LancashireWikipedia: William McDougall - 1953
Wim Eijk, Dutch cardinal
DuivendrechtWikipedia: Wim Eijk - 1965
Uwe Boll, German director, producer, and screenwriter
WermelskirchenWikipedia: Uwe Boll - 1850
Ignác Goldziher, Hungarian scholar of Islam (died 1921)
SzékesfehérvárWikipedia: Ignác Goldziher - 1885
Milan Vidmar, Slovenian engineer and chess player (died 1962)
LjubljanaWikipedia: Milan Vidmar - 1941
Ed Bradley, American journalist (died 2006)
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: Ed Bradley
What is celebrated on 22 June
- Christian feast day: Aaron of Aleth
- Christian feast day: Alban, first recorded Martyr in Britain (commemoration, Anglicanism)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Pope Innocent V
- Christian feast day: Eusebius of Samosata (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Christian feast day: John Fisher (Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Nicetas of Remesiana
- Christian feast day: Paulinus of Nola
- Christian feast day: Thomas More (Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: June 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Anti-Fascist Struggle Day (Croatia)
- Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War (Belarus)
- Father's Day (Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey)
- Teachers' Day (El Salvador)
- Windrush Day (UK)
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.