A birthday on the globe
23 July on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 23 July, the English Wikipedia lists 68 events and 250 births. 27 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 23 July through the years
The Earth on 23 July
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in July 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 23 July the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 20.1° north. In London, the day lasts about 15 hours 50 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.
Europe · University of Ljubljana
1919
Prince Regent Aleksander Karađorđević signs the decree establishing the University of Ljubljana.
On the map: University of Ljubljana.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Asia · 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
1921
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is established at the founding National Congress.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Wikipedia: 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
Latin America · Santiago
1881
The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.
On the map: Santiago.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Wikipedia: Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina
23 July
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 Spanish and Romanian and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Cádiz
1781
From Cádiz sets sail a Spanish squadron intended to recover the part of Menorca that had been in British hands for almost twenty years.
On the map: Cádiz.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Moscow
1975
In Moscow (Soviet Union), Akira Kurosawa's film Dersu Uzala wins the grand prize at the Moscow International Film Festival.
On the map: Moscow.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
The article on Wikipedia in Spanish: Festival Internacional de Cine de Moscú
From Wikipedia in Romanian · London
1986
In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.
On the map: London.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · 2020 Summer Olympics
2021
In Japan, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games open.
On the map: 2020 Summer Olympics.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
The article on Wikipedia in Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020
23 July
Born on 23 July#
The English Wikipedia lists 250 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 23 July
1989
Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
Place of birth: Hammersmith.
Born on 23 July
1967
Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (died 2014)
Place of birth: Fairport.
Born on 23 July
1888
Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (died 1959)
Place of birth: Chicago.
Born on 23 July
1961
Woody Harrelson, American actor and activist
Place of birth: Midland.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1965
Slash, English-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
Place of birth: Stoke-on-Trent.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1961
Martin Gore, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Place of birth: London.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1992
Danny Ings, English footballer
Place of birth: Winchester.
23 July
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: 23 July 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 23 July
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 32 events have no place on the map: the sentence links to no place with coordinates, only to places too wide to mark, or to several countries.
- 685
The election of Pope John V following the death of Pope Benedict II two months prior.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pope John V - 811
Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plunders the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum's treasury.
Europe · PliskaWikipedia: Byzantine Empire - 1319
A Knights Hospitaller fleet scores a crushing victory over an Aydinid fleet off Chios.
Europe · ChiosWikipedia: Battle of Chios - 1632
Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe, France.
Europe · DieppeWikipedia: New France - 1677
Scanian War: Denmark–Norway captures the harbor town of Marstrand from Sweden.
Europe · Battle of MarstrandWikipedia: Scanian War - 1711
The treaty of Pruth between the Ottoman and Russian Empire is signed.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Treaty of the Pruth - 1793
Kingdom of Prussia re-conquers Mainz from France.
Europe · MainzWikipedia: Kingdom of Prussia - 1813
Sir Thomas Maitland is appointed as the first Governor of Malta, transforming the island from a British protectorate to a de facto colony.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Thomas Maitland - 1821
While the Mora Rebellion continues, Greeks capture Monemvasia Castle. Turkish troops and citizens are transferred to Asia Minor's coasts.
Europe · MonemvasiaWikipedia: Greek War of Independence - 1829
In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.
no place on the mapWikipedia: William Austin Burt - 1840
The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Province of Canada - 1860
The trial of the Eastbourne manslaughter, which later became an important legal precedent in the United Kingdom for discussions of corporal punishment in schools, began in Lewes.
Britain & Ireland · LewesWikipedia: Precedent - 1862
American Civil War: Henry Halleck becomes general-in-chief of the Union Army.
no place on the mapWikipedia: American Civil War - 1862
Begin of the Hyde Park Riots.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Reform League - 1874
Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos is appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa, India.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos - 1881
The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.
Latin America · SantiagoWikipedia: Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina - 1891
During a visit of the French Navy to Kronstadt in Russia, the two nations reached a secret agreement on a joint response to any future war in Europe.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Kronstadt–Toulon naval visits - 1900
Pressed by expanding immigration, Canada closes its doors to paupers and criminals.
North America · CanadaWikipedia: Canada - 1903
The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ford Motor Company - 1906
The Amsden Building collapse in Framingham, Massachusetts, U.S., claims 12 lives.
North America · Amsden Building collapseWikipedia: Amsden Building collapse - 1908
The Second Constitution is accepted by the Ottomans.
Asia · Ottoman EmpireWikipedia: Second Constitutional Era - 1914
July Crisis: Austria-Hungary issues a series of demands in an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia accepts all but one of those demands and Austria declares war on July 28.
Europe · July CrisisWikipedia: July Crisis - 1919
Prince Regent Aleksander Karađorđević signs the decree establishing the University of Ljubljana.
Europe · University of LjubljanaWikipedia: Alexander I of Yugoslavia - 1921
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is established at the founding National Congress.
Asia · 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist PartyWikipedia: 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party - 1926
Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Fox Film - 1927
The first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company goes on the air in Bombay.
Asia · MumbaiWikipedia: All India Radio - 1927
Wilfred Rhodes of England and Yorkshire became the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wilfred Rhodes - 1936
In Catalonia, Spain, the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia is founded through the merger of Socialist and Communist parties.
Europe · CataloniaWikipedia: Catalonia - 1940
The United States' Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
no place on the mapWikipedia: United States Under Secretary of State - 1942
Bulgarian poet and communist activist Nikola Vaptsarov is executed by firing squad.
Europe · BulgariaWikipedia: Bulgaria - 1942
The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the Warsaw Ghetto the day before.
Europe · Treblinka extermination campWikipedia: The Holocaust - 1942
World War II: The German offensives Operation Edelweiss and Operation Braunschweig begin on the Eastern Front.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Battle of the Caucasus - 1943
The Rayleigh bath chair murder occurs in Rayleigh, Essex, England.
Britain & Ireland · Rayleigh, EssexWikipedia: Rayleigh bath chair murder - 1943
World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sink the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland.
no place on the mapWikipedia: HMS Eclipse - 1945
The post-war legal processes against Philippe Pétain, the former president of Vichy France begin.
Europe · Vichy FranceWikipedia: Vichy France - 1952
General Muhammad Naguib leads the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real power behind the coup) in overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt.
Africa · Kingdom of EgyptWikipedia: Egyptian revolution of 1952 - 1961
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is founded in Nicaragua.
Latin America · NicaraguaWikipedia: Sandinista National Liberation Front - 1962
Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Jackie Robinson - 1962
Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Telstar - 1962
The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed.
no place on the mapWikipedia: International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos - 1967
Detroit Riots: In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately kills 43 people, injures 342 and burns about 1,400 buildings.
North America · 1967 Detroit riotWikipedia: 1967 Detroit riot - 1968
Glenville shootout: In Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organization and the Cleveland Police Department occurs. During the shootout, a riot begins and lasts for five days.
North America · Glenville shootoutWikipedia: Glenville shootout - 1968
The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew and 38 passengers is taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The aircraft was en route from Rome, Italy to Lod, Israel.
Africa · Algiers Houari Boumediene AirportWikipedia: El Al Flight 426 - 1970
Qaboos bin Said al Said becomes Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Said bin Taimur initiating massive reforms, modernization programs and end to a decade long civil war.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Qaboos bin Said - 1972
The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Landsat 1 - 1974
The Greek military junta collapses, and former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis is invited to lead the new government, beginning Greece's metapolitefsi era.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Greek junta - 1980
Phạm Tuân becomes the first Vietnamese citizen and the first Asian in space when he flies aboard the Soyuz 37 mission as an Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut.
Asia · VietnamWikipedia: Phạm Tuân - 1982
Outside Santa Clarita, California, actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed when a helicopter crashes onto them while shooting a scene from Twilight Zone: The Movie.
North America · Twilight Zone accidentWikipedia: Twilight Zone accident - 1983
Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba.
North America · Gimli GliderWikipedia: Gimli Glider - 1983
Thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers are killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Four Four Bravo ambush - 1984
Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America, was forced to resign after the magazine Penthouse published nude photos of her without consent.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Vanessa Williams and Miss America - 1988
General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigns after pro-democracy protests.
Asia · MyanmarWikipedia: Ne Win - 1992
A Vatican commission, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Catholic Church - 1992
Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Abkhazia - 1993
China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119 crashes during takeoff from Yinchuan Xihuayuan Airport in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, killing 55 people.
Asia · YinchuanWikipedia: China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119 - 1995
Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it becomes visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Comet Hale–Bopp - 1997
Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Digital Equipment Corporation - 1999
ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan by Yuji Nishizawa.
Asia · All Nippon Airways Flight 61Wikipedia: All Nippon Airways Flight 61 - 1999
Forty-seven people were arrested in Tulia, Texas, for dealing cocaine; 35 of them were pardoned by the governor of Texas years later.
North America · 1999 Tulia drug arrestsWikipedia: 1999 Tulia drug arrests - 1999
Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle Columbia - 2001
Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in as the first female president of Indonesia following her predecessor's impeachment.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Megawati Sukarnoputri - 2005
Three bombs explode in the Naama Bay area of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, killing 88 people.
Africa · 2005 Sharm El Sheikh bombingsWikipedia: 2005 Sharm El Sheikh bombings - 2010
The English-Irish boy band One Direction were formed while auditioning for the 2010 series of the British singing competition The X Factor.
no place on the mapWikipedia: One Direction - 2011
A high-speed train rear-ends another on a viaduct on the Yongtaiwen railway line in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China, resulting in 40 deaths.
Asia · WenzhouWikipedia: Wenzhou train collision - 2012
The Solar storm of 2012 was an unusually large coronal mass ejection that was emitted by the Sun which barely missed the Earth by nine days. If it hit, it would have caused up to US$2.6 trillion in damages to electrical equipment worldwide.
no place on the mapWikipedia: July 2012 solar storm - 2014
TransAsia Airways Flight 222 crashes in Xixi village near Huxi, Penghu, during approach to Penghu Airport. Forty-eight of the 58 people on board are killed and five more people on the ground are injured.
Asia · TransAsia Airways Flight 222Wikipedia: TransAsia Airways Flight 222 - 2015
NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by the Kepler space telescope.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 2018
A wildfire in East Attica kills at least 102 people. It is the deadliest wildfire in the history of Greece.
Europe · 2018 Attica wildfiresWikipedia: 2018 Attica wildfires
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 Spanish and Romanian and were translated for this page.
- 1781
From Cádiz sets sail a Spanish squadron intended to recover the part of Menorca that had been in British hands for almost twenty years.
- 1975
In Moscow (Soviet Union), Akira Kurosawa's film Dersu Uzala wins the grand prize at the Moscow International Film Festival.
Europe · MoscowTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in SpanishWikipedia: Festival Internacional de Cine de Moscú - 1986
In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.
- 2021
In Japan, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games open.
Asia · 2020 Summer OlympicsTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in SpanishWikipedia: Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020
Who was born on 23 July
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 250 are shown.
- 1941
Sergio Mattarella, Italian lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th President of Italy
PalermoWikipedia: Sergio Mattarella - 1892
Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor (died 1975)
Ejersa GoroWikipedia: Haile Selassie - 1989
Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
HammersmithWikipedia: Daniel Radcliffe - 1967
Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (died 2014)
- 1888
Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (died 1959)
ChicagoWikipedia: Raymond Chandler - 1649
Pope Clement XI (died 1721)
- 1961
Woody Harrelson, American actor and activist
MidlandWikipedia: Woody Harrelson - 1953
Najib Razak, Malaysian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia
Kuala LipisWikipedia: Najib Razak - 1928
Vera Rubin, American astronomer and academic (died 2016)
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: Vera Rubin - 1976
Judit Polgár, Hungarian chess player
BudapestWikipedia: Judit Polgár - 1973
Monica Lewinsky, American activist and former White House intern
San FranciscoWikipedia: Monica Lewinsky - 1899
Gustav Heinemann, German lawyer and politician, 3rd President of West Germany (died 1976)
SchwelmWikipedia: Gustav Heinemann - 1965
Slash, English-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
Stoke-on-TrentWikipedia: Slash - 1906
Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)
SarajevoWikipedia: Vladimir Prelog - 1856
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian lawyer and journalist (died 1920)
RatnagiriWikipedia: Bal Gangadhar Tilak - 1884
Emil Jannings, Swiss-German actor (died 1950)
RorschachWikipedia: Emil Jannings - 1931
Viktor Korchnoi, Russian-Swiss chess grandmaster (died 2016)
Saint PetersburgWikipedia: Viktor Korchnoi - 1982
Paul Wesley, American actor, director, and producer
New BrunswickWikipedia: Paul Wesley - 1957
Theo van Gogh, Dutch actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2004)
The HagueWikipedia: Theo van Gogh - 1920
Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese fado singer (died 1999)
Freguesia da PenaWikipedia: Amália Rodrigues - 1941
Pierre Agostini, French experimental physicist (2023 Nobel Prize for Physics for attosecond pulses of light)
- 1945
Edie McClurg, American actress and comedian
Kansas CityWikipedia: Edie McClurg - 1973
Kathryn Hahn, American actress
WestchesterWikipedia: Kathryn Hahn - 1933
Richard Rogers, Italian-English architect, designed the Millennium Dome and Lloyd's building (died 2021)
FlorenceWikipedia: Richard Rogers - 1925
Quett Masire, Botswana politician, the former Vice-President of Botswana (died 2017)
- 1972
Marlon Wayans, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
New York CityWikipedia: Marlon Wayans - 1775
Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (died 1812)
- 1984
Walter Gargano, Uruguayan footballer
- 1401
Francesco I Sforza, Italian husband of Bianca Maria Visconti (died 1466)
San MiniatoWikipedia: Francesco I Sforza - 1971
Alison Krauss, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
DecaturWikipedia: Alison Krauss - 1777
Philipp Otto Runge, German painter and illustrator (died 1810)
- 1936
Anthony Kennedy, American lawyer and jurist
SacramentoWikipedia: Anthony Kennedy - 1970
Saulius Skvernelis, 13th Prime Minister of Lithuania
- 1987
Alessio Cerci, Italian footballer
VelletriWikipedia: Alessio Cerci - 1968
Shawn Levy, Canadian-American director and producer
MontrealWikipedia: Shawn Levy - 1851
Peder Severin Krøyer, Norwegian-Danish painter (died 1909)
StavangerWikipedia: Peder Severin Krøyer - 1864
Apolinario Mabini, Filipino lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Philippines (died 1903)
TanauanWikipedia: Apolinario Mabini - 1968
Gary Payton, American basketball player and actor
OaklandWikipedia: Gary Payton - 1970
Charisma Carpenter, American actress
Las VegasWikipedia: Charisma Carpenter - 1961
Martin Gore, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
LondonWikipedia: Martin Gore - 1974
Maurice Greene, American sprinter
Kansas CityWikipedia: Maurice Greene - 1979
Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Greek footballer
- 1992
Danny Ings, English footballer
WinchesterWikipedia: Danny Ings - 1503
Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (died 1547)
- 1796
Franz Berwald, Swedish surgeon and composer (died 1868)
StockholmWikipedia: Franz Berwald - 1922
Damiano Damiani, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2013)
Pasiano di PordenoneWikipedia: Damiano Damiani - 1981
Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player
- 1969
Raphael Warnock, American politician and minister
SavannahWikipedia: Raphael Warnock - 1979
Michelle Williams, American singer-songwriter and actress
RockfordWikipedia: Michelle Williams - 1886
Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish historian and diplomat (died 1978)
A CoruñaWikipedia: Salvador de Madariaga - 1938
Ronny Cox, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
CloudcroftWikipedia: Ronny Cox - 1339
Louis I, Duke of Anjou (died 1384)
VincennesWikipedia: Louis I of Anjou - 1883
Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, French-English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of the County of London (died 1963)
Bagnères-de-BigorreWikipedia: Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke - 1886
Walter H. Schottky, Swiss-German physicist and engineer (died 1976)
- 1906
Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian activist (died 1931)
- 1968
Stephanie Seymour, American model and actress
San DiegoWikipedia: Stephanie Seymour - 1978
Stefanie Sun, Singaporean singer-songwriter and pianist
SingaporeWikipedia: Stefanie Sun - 1982
Gerald Wallace, American basketball player
SylacaugaWikipedia: Gerald Wallace - 1984
Brandon Roy, American basketball player
SeattleWikipedia: Brandon Roy - 1913
Michael Foot, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Employment (died 2010)
PlymouthWikipedia: Michael Foot
What is celebrated on 23 July
- Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)
- Children's Day (Indonesia)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Basil Hopko
- Christian feast day: Bridget of Sweden
- Christian feast day: Heiromartyr Phocas (Eastern Orthodox)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Giovanna da Orvieto
- Christian feast day: John Cassian (Western Christianity)
- Christian feast day: Liborius of Le Mans
- Christian feast day: Margarita María
- Christian feast day: Martyrs of Daimiel
- Christian feast day: Rasyphus and Ravennus
- Christian feast day: July 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)
- Renaissance Day (Oman)
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.