A birthday on the globe
22 May on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 22 May, the English Wikipedia lists 85 events and 210 births. 49 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; nine 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 May through the years
The Earth on 22 May
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in May 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 22 May the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 20.4° north. In London, the day lasts about 15 hours 55 minutes.
Beyond 70° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 70° 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 · East End of London
1897
The first Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames was opened to improve commerce and trade in the East End of London.
On the map: East End of London.
Europe · Trevi Fountain
1762
Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
On the map: Trevi Fountain.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Romanian.
Europe · Hamburg
1762
Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
On the map: Hamburg.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Europe · Bernabéu
2010
Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
On the map: Bernabéu.
Asia · Shiraz
1844
In Shiraz, Iran, the Báb declared himself to be a messenger of God to Mullá Husayn, leading to the foundation of Bábism, considered to be a precursor to the Baháʼí Faith.
On the map: Shiraz.
Asia · Shibuya
1980
Location testing for Pac-Man, a Japanese arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular culture, began in Shibuya, Tokyo.
On the map: Shibuya.
Asia · Tokyo Skytree
2012
Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the third tallest man-made structure on Earth after Merdeka 118 (680.5 m) and Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
On the map: Tokyo Skytree.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Romanian.
Oceania · Eden Park
1987
First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
On the map: Eden Park.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · Savannah, Georgia
1819
SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
On the map: Savannah, Georgia.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · New York City
1846
The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
On the map: New York City.
22 May
Born on 22 May#
The English Wikipedia lists 210 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 May
1813
Richard Wagner, German composer (died 1883)
Place of birth: Leipzig.
Born on 22 May
1859
Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (died 1930)
Place of birth: Edinburgh.
Born on 22 May
1987
Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
Place of birth: Belgrade.
Born on 22 May
1924
Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (died 2018)
Place of birth: 6th arrondissement of Paris.
Born on 22 May
1907
Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (died 1989)
Place of birth: Dorking.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1946
George Best, Northern Irish footballer (died 2005)
Place of birth: Belfast.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1970
Naomi Campbell, English model
Place of birth: Lambeth.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1943
Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020)
Place of birth: Belfast.
22 May
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 May 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 May
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 27 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.
- 192
Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dong Zhuo - 760
Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Halley's Comet - 853
A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
Africa · Sack of DamiettaWikipedia: Sack of Damietta - 1176
The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.
Asia · AleppoWikipedia: Order of Assassins - 1200
King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
Europe · Treaty of Le GouletWikipedia: Treaty of Le Goulet - 1246
Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.
Europe · Kingdom of GermanyWikipedia: Henry Raspe - 1254
Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
Europe · Republic of VeniceWikipedia: Kingdom of Serbia - 1370
Brussels massacre: An estimated 13 Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, in an anti-Semitic attack, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.
Europe · Brussels massacreWikipedia: Brussels massacre - 1377
Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pope Gregory XI - 1455
Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
Britain & Ireland · First Battle of St AlbansWikipedia: Wars of the Roses - 1520
The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
Latin America · Massacre in the Great Temple of TenochtitlanWikipedia: Massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan - 1629
Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
Europe · LübeckWikipedia: Treaty of Lübeck - 1762
Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
Europe · HamburgWikipedia: Treaty of Hamburg - 1762
Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
Europe · Trevi FountainWikipedia: Trevi Fountain - 1766
A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
Asia · 1766 Istanbul earthquakeWikipedia: 1766 Istanbul earthquake - 1804
The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Lewis and Clark Expedition - 1807
A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Grand jury - 1809
On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is defeated in a major battle for the first time in his career, and repelled by an enemy army for the first time in a decade.
Europe · Battle of Aspern–EsslingWikipedia: Battle of Aspern–Essling - 1816
A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.
Britain & Ireland · LittleportWikipedia: Ely and Littleport riots of 1816 - 1819
SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
North America · Savannah, GeorgiaWikipedia: SS Savannah - 1826
HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
no place on the mapWikipedia: HMS Beagle - 1840
The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
Oceania · New South WalesWikipedia: Penal transportation - 1844
In Shiraz, Iran, the Báb declared himself to be a messenger of God to Mullá Husayn, leading to the foundation of Bábism, considered to be a precursor to the Baháʼí Faith.
Asia · ShirazWikipedia: Shiraz - 1846
The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
North America · New York CityWikipedia: Associated Press - 1848
Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
Europe · MartiniqueWikipedia: History of Martinique - 1849
Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
no place on the mapWikipedia: President of the United States - 1856
Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Caning of Charles Sumner - 1863
American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.
North America · Siege of Port HudsonWikipedia: American Civil War - 1864
American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends in failure.
North America · Red River campaignWikipedia: Red River campaign - 1866
Oliver Winchester founds the Winchester Repeating Arms.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Oliver Winchester - 1872
Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Reconstruction era - 1874
Verdi's Requiem is first performed at San Marco in Milan on the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.
Europe · San Marco, MilanWikipedia: Requiem - 1897
The first Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames was opened to improve commerce and trade in the East End of London.
Britain & Ireland · East End of LondonWikipedia: Blackwall Tunnel - 1905
The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II establishes the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is sometimes celebrated on this day, although most do so on May 23 instead, which is when this event was publicly announced.
no place on the mapWikipedia: List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire - 1906
The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wright brothers - 1911
The Uruguayan Regional Workers' Federation declares a general strike in solidarity with trolley workers in Montevideo.
Latin America · MontevideoWikipedia: Uruguayan Regional Workers' Federation - 1915
Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.
North America · Lassen PeakWikipedia: Lassen Peak - 1915
Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.
Britain & Ireland · Gretna GreenWikipedia: Quintinshill rail disaster - 1916
A British army defeats a force of the Darfur Sultanate under Sultan Ali Dinar due to its superior firepower in the battle of Beringia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Invasion of Darfur - 1926
Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.[vague]
no place on the mapWikipedia: Chiang Kai-shek - 1927
Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world's most destructive earthquakes.
Asia · 1927 Gulang earthquakeWikipedia: 1927 Gulang earthquake - 1939
World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
Europe · BerlinWikipedia: Pact of Steel - 1941
During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.
Asia · FallujahWikipedia: Anglo-Iraqi War - 1942
Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.
no place on the mapWikipedia: History of Mexico - 1943
Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Joseph Stalin - 1947
Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cold War - 1948
Finnish President J. K. Paasikivi releases Yrjö Leino from his duties as interior minister after the Finnish parliament adopted a motion of censure of Leino with connection to his illegal handing over of nineteen people to the Soviet Union in 1945.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Parliament of Finland - 1957
South Africa's government approves of racial separation in universities.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Apartheid - 1958
The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths are estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
Asia · Dominion of CeylonWikipedia: 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom - 1960
The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
Latin America · 1960 Valdivia earthquakeWikipedia: 1960 Valdivia earthquake - 1962
Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes in Unionville, Missouri after bombs explode on board, killing 45.
North America · Continental Airlines Flight 11Wikipedia: Continental Airlines Flight 11 - 1963
Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is clubbed over the head, causing his death five days later.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Grigoris Lambrakis - 1964
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson launches his Great Society program.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Lyndon B. Johnson - 1967
Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Straits of Tiran - 1967
L'Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
Europe · L'Innovation department store fireWikipedia: L'Innovation department store fire - 1968
The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 nautical miles (740 km) southwest of the Azores.
Europe · AzoresWikipedia: Submarine - 1969
Apollo 10's Lunar Module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the Moon's surface.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Apollo 10 - 1972
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka.
Asia · Sri LankaWikipedia: Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 - 1972
Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.
Britain & Ireland · DerryWikipedia: Derry - 1980
Location testing for Pac-Man, a Japanese arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular culture, began in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Asia · ShibuyaWikipedia: Pac-Man - 1987
First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
Oceania · Eden ParkWikipedia: 1987 Rugby World Cup - 1987
Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
Asia · MeerutWikipedia: Hashimpura massacre - 1990
North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Yemeni unification - 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1994
A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Latin America · HaitiWikipedia: Haiti - 1996
The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Aung San Suu Kyi - 1998
A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
North America · Clinton–Lewinsky scandalWikipedia: Clinton–Lewinsky scandal - 1998
In Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong, the Court of Appeal of Singapore overruled a High Court decision in the only time a statute in Singapore had been ruled unconstitutional.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Court of Appeal of Singapore - 2000
In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
Asia · JaffnaWikipedia: Sri Lanka - 2002
Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
North America · Birmingham, AlabamaWikipedia: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing - 2002
Police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a year, had been found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.
North America · Federal Bureau of PrisonsWikipedia: Rock Creek Park - 2010
Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737 until the crash of Lion Air Flight 610.
Asia · Air India Express Flight 812Wikipedia: Air India Express Flight 812 - 2010
Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
Europe · BernabéuWikipedia: 2010 UEFA Champions League final - 2011
An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
North America · Joplin tornadoWikipedia: Joplin tornado - 2012
SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 launches a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket in the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.
no place on the mapWikipedia: SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 - 2012
Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the third tallest man-made structure on Earth after Merdeka 118 (680.5 m) and Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
Asia · Tokyo SkytreeWikipedia: Tokyo Skytree - 2013
Fusilier Lee Rigby is murdered by two Islamic extremists in Woolwich, Southeast London.
Britain & Ireland · Murder of Lee RigbyWikipedia: Murder of Lee Rigby - 2014
An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
Asia · May 2014 Ürümqi attackWikipedia: May 2014 Ürümqi attack - 2014
General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d'état, following six months of political turmoil.
Asia · 2014 Thai coup d'étatWikipedia: 2014 Thai coup d'état - 2015
The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to utilise a public referendum to legalise gay marriage.
Britain & Ireland · Republic of IrelandWikipedia: 2015 Irish constitutional referendums - 2017
Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
Britain & Ireland · Manchester Arena bombingWikipedia: Manchester Arena bombing - 2017
United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.
Asia · Church of the Holy SepulchreWikipedia: Western Wall - 2020
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people.
Asia · Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303Wikipedia: Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 - 2021
Hypothermia kills 21 runners in the 100 km (60-mile) Gansu ultramarathon disaster in China.
Asia · Gansu ultramarathon disasterWikipedia: Gansu ultramarathon disaster - 2026
A gas explosion at a coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi, leaves at least 82 people dead.
Asia · 2026 Liushenyu coal mine explosionWikipedia: 2026 Liushenyu coal mine explosion
Who was born on 22 May
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 210 are shown.
- 1813
Richard Wagner, German composer (died 1883)
LeipzigWikipedia: Richard Wagner - 1859
Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (died 1930)
EdinburghWikipedia: Arthur Conan Doyle - 1987
Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
BelgradeWikipedia: Novak Djokovic - 1924
Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (died 2018)
6th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Charles Aznavour - 1907
Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (died 1989)
DorkingWikipedia: Laurence Olivier - 1844
Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (died 1926)
AlleghenyWikipedia: Mary Cassatt - 1946
George Best, Northern Irish footballer (died 2005)
BelfastWikipedia: George Best - 1970
Naomi Campbell, English model
LambethWikipedia: Naomi Campbell - 1942
Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber) (died 2023)
Evergreen ParkWikipedia: Ted Kaczynski - 1943
Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020)
BelfastWikipedia: Betty Williams - 1987
Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
SantiagoWikipedia: Arturo Vidal - 1954
Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1808
Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (died 1855)
former 7th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Gérard de Nerval - 1907
Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (died 1983)
EtterbeekWikipedia: Hergé - 1930
Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (died 1978)
WoodmereWikipedia: Harvey Milk - 1772
Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (died 1833)
RadhanagoreWikipedia: Raja Ram Mohan Roy - 1879
Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (died 1926)
PoltavaWikipedia: Symon Petliura - 1959
Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer
DavyhulmeWikipedia: Morrissey - 1974
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician
ChernivtsiWikipedia: Arseniy Yatsenyuk - 1927
George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2017)
BudapestWikipedia: George Andrew Olah - 1978
Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
MemphisWikipedia: Ginnifer Goodwin - 1912
Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004)
- 1979
Maggie Q, American actress
HonoluluWikipedia: Maggie Q - 1891
Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (died 1958)
- 1957
Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician
KetchikanWikipedia: Lisa Murkowski - 1885
Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (died 1924)
Fratta PolesineWikipedia: Giacomo Matteotti - 1981
Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (died 2015)
DamascusWikipedia: Bassel Khartabil - 1985
Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
St. GallenWikipedia: Tranquillo Barnetta - 1914
Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (died 1993)
BirminghamWikipedia: Sun Ra - 2001
Joshua Zirkzee, Dutch footballer
SchiedamWikipedia: Joshua Zirkzee - 1981
Bryan Danielson, American wrestler
AberdeenWikipedia: Bryan Danielson - 1999
Samuel Chukwueze, Nigerian footballer
UmuahiaWikipedia: Samuel Chukwueze - 1984
Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
GainesvilleWikipedia: Dustin Moskovitz - 1991
Suho, South Korean singer and actor
SeoulWikipedia: Suho - 1960
Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
- 1874
Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (died 1959)
Riebeek WestWikipedia: D. F. Malan - 1937
Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (died 2011)
La PlataWikipedia: Facundo Cabral - 1939
Paul Winfield, American actor (died 2004)
Los AngelesWikipedia: Paul Winfield - 1969
Michael Kelly, American actor
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: Michael Kelly - 1981
Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
ViennaWikipedia: Jürgen Melzer - 1953
Cha Bum-kun, South Korean footballer and manager
HwaseongWikipedia: Cha Bum-kun - 1974
Sean Gunn, American actor
St. LouisWikipedia: Sean Gunn - 1991
Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
LagosWikipedia: Joel Obi - 1925
Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (died 1991)
FribourgWikipedia: Jean Tinguely - 1938
Susan Strasberg, American actress (died 1999)
New York CityWikipedia: Susan Strasberg - 1979
Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress
- 1938
Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
New York CityWikipedia: Richard Benjamin - 1982
Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer
PyongyangWikipedia: Hong Yong-jo - 1984
Karoline Herfurth, German actress
- 1997
Lauri Markkanen, Finnish basketball player
- 1783
William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (died 1850)
WhittingtonWikipedia: William Sturgeon - 1920
Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (died 2004)
ViennaWikipedia: Thomas Gold - 1950
Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet
RuskingtonWikipedia: Bernie Taupin - 1974
Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer
KadunaWikipedia: Garba Lawal - 1978
Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model
BrightonWikipedia: Katie Price - 1733
Hubert Robert, French painter (died 1808)
- 1770
Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (died 1840)
Buckingham PalaceWikipedia: Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom - 1946
Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Russian-Ukrainian astronomer
KozmodemyanskWikipedia: Lyudmila Zhuravleva - 1984
Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
AbidjanWikipedia: Didier Ya Konan - 1986
Matt Jarvis, English footballer
MiddlesbroughWikipedia: Matt Jarvis
What is celebrated on 22 May
- Abolition Day (Martinique)
- Aromanian National Day (marginal, celebration on May 23 is more common)
- Christian feast day: Castus and Emilius
- Christian feast day: Fulk
- Christian feast day: Humilita
- Christian feast day: Blessed John Forest
- Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini
- Christian feast day: Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
- Christian feast day: Quiteria
- Christian feast day: Rita of Cascia
- Christian feast day: Romanus of Subiaco
- Christian feast day: May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Harvey Milk Day (California)
- International Day for Biological Diversity (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.