A birthday on the globe
22 March on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 22 March, the English Wikipedia lists 69 events and 227 births. 35 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; eight 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 March through the years
The Earth on 22 March
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in March 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 22 March the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 0.8° north. In London, the day lasts about 12 hours 20 minutes.
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 · Parc des Princes
1906
The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris.
On the map: Parc des Princes.
Africa · Cairo
1945
The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.
On the map: Cairo.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Asia · Arabia Petraea
106
Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
On the map: Arabia Petraea.
Asia · Wat Phra Kaew
1784
The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
On the map: Wat Phra Kaew.
North America · 1934 Masters Tournament
1934
The first Masters Tournament is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “1934 Masters Tournament”.
North America · Supreme Court of the United States
1972
In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.
On the map: Supreme Court of the United States.
North America · United States Congress
1988
The United States Congress votes to override President Ronald Reagan's veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987.
On the map: United States Congress.
22 March
Born on 22 March#
The English Wikipedia lists 227 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 22 March
1976
Reese Witherspoon, American actress
Place of birth: New Orleans.
Born on 22 March
1599
Anthony van Dyck, Flemish-English painter and etcher (died 1641)
Place of birth: Antwerp.
Born on 22 March
1394
Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer and mathematician (died 1449)
Place of birth: Soltaniyeh.
Born on 22 March
1931
William Shatner, Canadian actor
Place of birth: Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
Born on 22 March
1931
Burton Richter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018)
Place of birth: New York City.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1948
Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer and director
Place of birth: Kensington.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1785
Adam Sedgwick, English scientist (died 1873)
Place of birth: Dent.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1808
Caroline Norton, English feminist, social reformer, and author (died 1877)
Place of birth: London.
22 March
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 March 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 March
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 26 events have no place on the map: the sentence links to no place with coordinates, only to places too wide to mark, or to several countries.
- 106
Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
Asia · Arabia PetraeaWikipedia: Bostran era - 235
Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Crisis of the Third Century - 871
Æthelred of Wessex is defeated by a Danish invasion army at the Battle of Marton.
Britain & Ireland · Great BritainWikipedia: Battle of Meretun - 1185
Battle of Yashima: the Japanese forces of the Taira clan are defeated by the Minamoto clan.
Asia · Battle of YashimaWikipedia: Battle of Yashima - 1312
Vox in excelso: Pope Clement V dissolves the Order of the Knights Templar.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Knights Templar - 1508
Ferdinand II of Aragon commissions Amerigo Vespucci chief navigator of the Spanish Empire.
Europe · Spanish EmpireWikipedia: Ferdinand II of Aragon - 1621
The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony, led by governor John Carver, sign a peace treaty with Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags; Squanto serves as an interpreter between the two sides.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pilgrims - 1622
Jamestown massacre: Algonquians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population, during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.
North America · Indian massacre of 1622Wikipedia: Indian massacre of 1622 - 1631
The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Massachusetts Bay Colony - 1638
Anne Hutchinson is expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Anne Hutchinson - 1668
Notable Privateer Henry Morgan lands in Cuba to raid and plunder the inland town of Puerto del Príncipe during the latter stages of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660).
Latin America · CamagüeyWikipedia: Anglo-Spanish War - 1739
Nader Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
Asia · DelhiWikipedia: Nader Shah - 1765
The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act that introduces a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Parliament of Great Britain - 1784
The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
Asia · Wat Phra KaewWikipedia: Emerald Buddha - 1792
Battle of Croix-des-Bouquets: Black slave insurgents gain a victory in the first major battle of the Haitian Revolution.
Latin America · Battle of Croix-des-BouquetsWikipedia: Battle of Croix-des-Bouquets - 1794
The Slave Trade Act of 1794 bans the export of slaves from the United States, and prohibits American citizens from outfitting a ship for the purpose of importing slaves.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Slave Trade Act of 1794 - 1829
In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.
no place on the mapWikipedia: London Protocol - 1849
The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.
Europe · Battle of NovaraWikipedia: Battle of Novara - 1871
In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.
North America · North CarolinaWikipedia: North Carolina - 1873
The Spanish National Assembly abolishes slavery in Puerto Rico.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cortes Generales - 1894
The Stanley Cup ice hockey competition is held for the first time, in Montreal, Canada.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Stanley Cup - 1895
Before the Société pour L'Encouragement à l'Industrie, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology publicly for the first time.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Lumière brothers - 1896
Charilaos Vasilakos wins the first modern Olympic marathon race with a time of three hours and 18 minutes.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Charilaos Vasilakos - 1906
The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris.
Europe · Parc des PrincesWikipedia: Parc des Princes - 1913
Mystic Phan Xích Long, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Vietnam, is arrested for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French Indochina, which was nevertheless carried out by his supporters the following day.
Asia · French IndochinaWikipedia: Phan Xích Long - 1916
Yuan Shikai abdicates as Emperor of China, restoring the Republic and returning to the Presidency.
Asia · Beiyang governmentWikipedia: Yuan Shikai - 1920
Azeri and Turkish army soldiers with participation of Kurdish gangs attack the Armenian inhabitants of Shushi (Nagorno Karabakh).
Asia · ShushaWikipedia: Shusha massacre - 1933
Cullen–Harrison Act: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an amendment to the Volstead Act, legalizing the manufacture and sale of "3.2 beer" (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cullen–Harrison Act - 1933
Nazi Germany opens its first concentration camp, Dachau.
Europe · Dachau concentration campWikipedia: Nazi Germany - 1934
The first Masters Tournament is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
North America · 1934 Masters TournamentWikipedia: 1934 Masters Tournament - 1939
Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania - 1942
World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy's Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte.
Oceans · Second Battle of SirteWikipedia: Second Battle of Sirte - 1943
British propaganda radio station Deutscher Kurzwellensender Atlantik began broadcasting to German submariners.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Deutscher Kurzwellensender Atlantik - 1943
World War II: The entire village of Khatyn (in present-day Republic of Belarus) is burnt alive by Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118.
Europe · Khatyn massacreWikipedia: Khatyn massacre - 1945
The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.
Africa · CairoWikipedia: Arab League - 1945
World War II: The city of Hildesheim, Germany, is heavily damaged in a British air raid, though it had little military significance and Germany was on the verge of final defeat.
Europe · HildesheimWikipedia: Bombing of Hildesheim in World War II - 1946
The United Kingdom grants full independence to Transjordan.
Asia · JordanWikipedia: Jordan - 1955
A United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster crashes into Hawaii's Waiʻanae Range, killing 66.
North America · 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crashWikipedia: 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash - 1957
A United States Air Force aircraft disappears with all 67 people on board somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.
Oceans · 1957 Pacific Ocean Boeing C-97 disappearanceWikipedia: 1957 Pacific Ocean Boeing C-97 disappearance - 1960
Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Arthur Leonard Schawlow - 1963
The Beatles release their debut album Please Please Me.
no place on the mapWikipedia: The Beatles - 1972
In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.
North America · Supreme Court of the United StatesWikipedia: Supreme Court of the United States - 1972
The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Equal Rights Amendment - 1975
A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama, causes a dangerous reduction in cooling water levels.
North America · Browns Ferry Nuclear PlantWikipedia: Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant - 1978
Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope suspended between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Latin America · San Juan, Puerto RicoWikipedia: Karl Wallenda - 1982
NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3.
North America · Kennedy Space CenterWikipedia: NASA - 1984
Teachers at a preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, were falsely charged with the sexual abuse of schoolchildren, leading to the longest and costliest criminal trial in United States history.
North America · Manhattan Beach, CaliforniaWikipedia: Manhattan Beach, California - 1988
The United States Congress votes to override President Ronald Reagan's veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987.
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: United States Congress - 1992
Fall of communism in Albania: The Democratic Party of Albania wins a decisive majority in the parliamentary election.
Europe · AlbaniaWikipedia: Fall of communism in Albania - 1992
USAir Flight 405 crashes shortly after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport, leading to a number of studies into the effect that ice has on aircraft.
North America · USAir Flight 405Wikipedia: USAir Flight 405 - 1993
The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Intel - 1995
Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Astronaut - 1996
NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on its 16th mission, STS-76.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle Atlantis - 1997
Comet Hale–Bopp reaches its closest approach to Earth at 1.315 AU.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Comet Hale–Bopp - 1997
Tara Lipinski, aged 14 years and nine months, becomes the youngest women's World Figure Skating Champion.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Tara Lipinski - 2004
Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force Hellfire missiles.
Asia · Gaza StripWikipedia: Gaza Strip - 2006
Three Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague from the U.S., Tom Fox.
Asia · BaghdadWikipedia: Community Peacemaker Teams - 2013
At least 37 people are killed and 200 are injured after a fire destroys a camp containing Burmese refugees near Ban Mae, Thailand.
Asia · Ban MaeWikipedia: 2013 Thailand refugee camp fire - 2014
A massive landslide in Oso, Washington, killed 43 people after engulfing a rural neighborhood, the largest death toll for a standalone landslide in U.S. history.
North America · 2014 Oso landslideWikipedia: 2014 Oso landslide - 2016
Three suicide bombers kill 32 people and injure 316 in the 2016 Brussels bombings at the airport and at the Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station.
Europe · 2016 Brussels bombingsWikipedia: 2016 Brussels bombings - 2017
A terrorist attack in London near the Houses of Parliament leaves four people dead and at least 20 injured.
Britain & Ireland · 2017 Westminster attackWikipedia: 2017 Westminster attack - 2017
Syrian civil war: Five hundred members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are airlifted south of the Euphrates by United States Air Force helicopters, beginning the Battle of Tabqa.
Asia · Battle of TabqaWikipedia: Syrian civil war - 2019
The Special Counsel investigation on the 2016 United States presidential election concludes when Robert Mueller submits his report to the United States Attorney General.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 2016 United States presidential election - 2019
Two buses crash in Kitampo, a town north of Ghana's capital Accra, killing at least 50 people.
Africa · AccraWikipedia: Ghana - 2020
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announces a national lockdown and the country's first ever self-imposed curfew, in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19.
no place on the mapWikipedia: COVID-19 pandemic in Greece - 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces the country's largest ever self-imposed curfew, in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19.
no place on the mapWikipedia: COVID-19 pandemic in India - 2021
Ten people are killed in a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado.
North America · 2021 Boulder shootingWikipedia: 2021 Boulder shooting - 2024
At least 151 people are killed and 609 injured in a bombing and mass shooting at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Russia.
Europe · Crocus City Hall attackWikipedia: Crocus City Hall attack - 2026
Air Canada Express Flight 8646, a Bombardier CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation, collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Two fatalities were reported, both being the captain and the co-pilot. This marked the first fatal accident involving a CRJ-900.
North America · Air Canada Express Flight 8646Wikipedia: Air Canada Express Flight 8646
Who was born on 22 March
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 227 are shown.
- 1868
Robert Andrews Millikan, American colonel and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1953)
MorrisonWikipedia: Robert Millikan - 1976
Reese Witherspoon, American actress
New OrleansWikipedia: Reese Witherspoon - 1599
Anthony van Dyck, Flemish-English painter and etcher (died 1641)
AntwerpWikipedia: Anthony van Dyck - 1459
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1519)
Wiener NeustadtWikipedia: Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor - 1394
Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer and mathematician (died 1449)
SoltaniyehWikipedia: Ulugh Beg - 1931
William Shatner, Canadian actor
Notre-Dame-de-GrâceWikipedia: William Shatner - 1931
Burton Richter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018)
New York CityWikipedia: Burton Richter - 1869
Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (died 1964)
- 1948
Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer and director
KensingtonWikipedia: Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1933
Abolhassan Banisadr, Iranian economist and politician, 1st President of Iran (died 2021)
- 1941
Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (died 2019)
ZurichWikipedia: Bruno Ganz - 1929
P. Ramlee, Malaysian actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer (died 1973)
George TownWikipedia: P. Ramlee - 1857
Paul Doumer, French mathematician, journalist, and politician, 14th President of France (died 1932)
AurillacWikipedia: Paul Doumer - 1955
Valdis Zatlers, Latvian physician and politician, 7th President of Latvia
- 1609
John II Casimir Vasa, Polish king (died 1672)
- 1949
Fanny Ardant, French actress
SaumurWikipedia: Fanny Ardant - 1963
Martín Vizcarra, Peruvian engineer and politician, 67th President of Peru
- 1728
Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter and theorist (died 1779)
Ústí nad LabemWikipedia: Anton Raphael Mengs - 1999
Mick Schumacher, German racing driver
Vufflens-le-ChâteauWikipedia: Mick Schumacher - 1943
George Benson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
PittsburghWikipedia: George Benson - 1842
Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1912)
- 1940
Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (died 1996)
French IndochinaWikipedia: Haing S. Ngor - 1921
Nino Manfredi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2004)
Castro dei VolsciWikipedia: Nino Manfredi - 1937
Angelo Badalamenti, American pianist and composer (died 2022)
BrooklynWikipedia: Angelo Badalamenti - 1984
Piotr Trochowski, German footballer
- 1997
Alex Meret, Italian footballer
- 1896
Joseph Schildkraut, Austrian-American actor (died 1964)
- 1956
Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
- 1935
M. Emmet Walsh, American actor (died 2024)
OgdensburgWikipedia: M. Emmet Walsh - 1785
Adam Sedgwick, English scientist (died 1873)
- 1909
Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author and educator (died 1983)
Saint BonifaceWikipedia: Gabrielle Roy - 1982
Constance Wu, American actress
RichmondWikipedia: Constance Wu - 1887
Chico Marx, American actor (died 1961)
ManhattanWikipedia: Chico Marx - 1918
Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese politician, 4th President of Guyana (died 1997)
Port MourantWikipedia: Cheddi Jagan - 1975
Cole Hauser, American actor
Santa BarbaraWikipedia: Cole Hauser - 1972
Shawn Bradley, German-American basketball player, coach, and actor
LandstuhlWikipedia: Shawn Bradley - 1994
Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarusian tennis player
- 1817
Braxton Bragg, American general (died 1876)
WarrentonWikipedia: Braxton Bragg - 1975
Anne Dudek, American actress
- 1985
Jakob Fuglsang, Danish cyclist
- 875
William I, Duke of Aquitaine (died 918)
- 1212
Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (died 1235)
- 1517
Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer (died 1590)
ChioggiaWikipedia: Gioseffo Zarlino - 1912
Agnes Martin, Canadian-American painter and educator (died 2004)
MacklinWikipedia: Agnes Martin - 1920
Katsuko Saruhashi, Japanese geochemist (died 2007)
- 1936
Roger Whittaker, Kenyan-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2023)
NairobiWikipedia: Roger Whittaker - 1974
Philippe Clement, Belgian footballer
AntwerpWikipedia: Philippe Clement - 1808
Caroline Norton, English feminist, social reformer, and author (died 1877)
- 1942
Jorge Ben Jor, Brazilian singer-songwriter
Rio de JaneiroWikipedia: Jorge Ben - 1974
Marcus Camby, American basketball player
HartfordWikipedia: Marcus Camby - 1896
He Long, Chinese general and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 1969)
Sangzhi CountyWikipedia: He Long - 1917
Virginia Grey, American actress (died 2004)
Los AngelesWikipedia: Virginia Grey - 1937
Armin Hary, German sprinter
QuierschiedWikipedia: Armin Hary - 1945
Eric Roth, American screenwriter and producer
New York CityWikipedia: Eric Roth - 1967
Mario Cipollini, Italian cyclist
- 1970
Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
- 1663
August Hermann Francke, German clergyman, philanthropist, and scholar (died 1727)
- 1886
August Rei, Estonian lawyer and politician, Head of State of Estonia (died 1963)
PilistvereWikipedia: August Rei - 1907
James M. Gavin, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (died 1990)
BrooklynWikipedia: James M. Gavin - 1934
May Britt, Swedish actress (died 2025)
Gustav Vasa parishWikipedia: May Britt
What is celebrated on 22 March
- Bihar Day (Bihar, India)
- Christian feast day: Basil of Ancyra
- Christian feast day: Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen
- Christian feast day: Darerca of Ireland
- Christian feast day: Epaphroditus
- Christian feast day: Jonathan Edwards (Lutheranism)
- Christian feast day: Lea of Rome
- Christian feast day: Nicholas Owen
- Christian feast day: Paul of Narbonne
- Christian feast day: March 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Easter Sunday can fall (last in 1818, will not happen again until 2285), while April 25 is the latest. (Christianity)
- Emancipation Day or Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Puerto Rico)
- World Water Day (International)
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.