A birthday on the globe
23 March on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 23 March, the English Wikipedia lists 60 events and 245 births. 32 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; 11 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 March through the years
The Earth on 23 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 23 March the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 1.2° north. In London, the day lasts about 12 hours 25 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 · Milan
1919
In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
On the map: Milan.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Romanian.
Asia · Qadian
1889
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.
On the map: Qadian.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Asia · Kowloon Walled City
1993
The demolition of Kowloon Walled City, a densely crowded slum in Hong Kong, began.
On the map: Kowloon Walled City.
Asia · Astana
2019
The Kazakh capital of Astana is renamed to Nur-Sultan.
On the map: Astana.
Oceania · Port Chalmers
1848
The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
On the map: Port Chalmers.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · Broadway
1857
Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
On the map: Broadway.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · University of California
1868
The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
On the map: University of California.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Oceans · Deorbit of Mir
2001
The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Deorbit of Mir”.
23 March
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 were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Seville
1923
In Seville, the cantata El Retablo de Maese Pedro, by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, premieres.
On the map: Seville.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
23 March
Born on 23 March#
The English Wikipedia lists 245 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 March
1910
Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter (died 1998)
Place of birth: Ōi.
Born on 23 March
1749
Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1827)
Place of birth: Beaumont-en-Auge.
Born on 23 March
1912
Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer, chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle (died 1977)
Place of birth: Wyrzysk.
Born on 23 March
1900
Erich Fromm, German psychologist and sociologist (died 1980)
Place of birth: Frankfurt.
Born on 23 March
1881
Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
Place of birth: Neuilly-sur-Seine.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1929
Roger Bannister, English middle-distance runner, neurologist and academic (died 2018)
Place of birth: London Borough of Harrow.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1996
Alexander Albon, Thai-British race car driver
Place of birth: Portland Hospital.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1968
Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter, producer and actor
Place of birth: Whitechapel.
23 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: 23 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 23 March
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 17 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.
- 625
The Muslim army under Muhammad suffers a defeat against the Quraysh in the battle of Uhud.
Asia · Battle of UhudWikipedia: Battle of Uhud - 1400
The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Trần dynasty - 1540
Waltham Abbey in England is surrendered to King Henry VIII, the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Britain & Ireland · Waltham Abbey ChurchWikipedia: Waltham Abbey Church - 1568
The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.
no place on the mapWikipedia: French Wars of Religion - 1775
American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me liberty or give me death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
North America · St. John's Episcopal ChurchWikipedia: American Revolutionary War - 1801
Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.
Europe · Saint Michael's CastleWikipedia: Tsar - 1806
After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery begin their arduous journey home.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Louisiana Purchase - 1821
Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.
Europe · KalamataWikipedia: Greek War of Independence - 1839
A massive earthquake destroys the former capital Inwa of the Konbaung dynasty, present-day Myanmar.
Asia · 1839 Ava earthquakeWikipedia: 1839 Ava earthquake - 1848
The Italian tricolour is adopted for the flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia by Charles Albert of Sardinia during the First Italian War of Independence.
no place on the mapWikipedia: First Italian War of Independence - 1848
The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
Oceania · Port ChalmersWikipedia: John Wickliffe - 1857
Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
North America · BroadwayWikipedia: Elisha Otis - 1862
American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond.
North America · First Battle of KernstownWikipedia: American Civil War - 1868
The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
North America · University of CaliforniaWikipedia: University of California - 1879
War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war, is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.
Latin America · Battle of TopáterWikipedia: Battle of Topáter - 1885
Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam.
Asia · VietnamWikipedia: Battle of Phu Lam Tao - 1888
In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time.
no place on the mapWikipedia: English Football League - 1889
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.
Asia · QadianWikipedia: Ahmadiyya - 1901
Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of American General Frederick Funston.
Asia · PalananWikipedia: Emilio Aguinaldo - 1905
Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
Europe · CreteWikipedia: Crete - 1908
American diplomat Durham Stevens, an employee of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was fatally shot in San Francisco by two Korean immigrants unhappy with his support of increased Japanese presence in Korea.
North America · San FranciscoWikipedia: Durham Stevens - 1909
Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Theodore Roosevelt - 1913
A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, while an ongoing flood in the Ohio River watershed was killing 650 people.
North America · 1913 Easter tornado outbreakWikipedia: 1913 Easter tornado outbreak - 1918
First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war.
Europe · Operation MichaelWikipedia: World War I - 1919
In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
Europe · MilanWikipedia: Milan - 1931
Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Bhagat Singh - 1933
The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Enabling Act of 1933 - 1935
Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Constitution of the Philippines - 1939
The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War.
Europe · Spišská Nová VesWikipedia: Kingdom of Hungary - 1940
The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Lahore Resolution - 1956
Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.
Asia · PakistanWikipedia: Pakistan - 1965
NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 1977
The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.
no place on the mapWikipedia: David Frost's interviews with Richard Nixon - 1978
The first UNIFIL troops arrive in Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
Asia · LebanonWikipedia: United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon - 1980
Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
Latin America · El SalvadorWikipedia: Óscar Romero - 1982
Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García, is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.
Latin America · GuatemalaWikipedia: Guatemala - 1983
Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Strategic Defense Initiative - 1988
Angolan and Cuban forces defeat South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
Africa · Battle of Cuito CuanavaleWikipedia: Battle of Cuito Cuanavale - 1989
Two researchers announced the discovery of cold fusion, a claim that was later discredited.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cold fusion - 1991
The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
Africa · Sierra LeoneWikipedia: Sierra Leone Civil War - 1993
The demolition of Kowloon Walled City, a densely crowded slum in Hong Kong, began.
Asia · Kowloon Walled CityWikipedia: Kowloon Walled City - 1994
A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground alongside destroying a Starlifter by accident. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
North America · Green Ramp disasterWikipedia: Green Ramp disaster - 1994
Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75.
Asia · Aeroflot Flight 593Wikipedia: Aeroflot Flight 593 - 1994
At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
Latin America · TijuanaWikipedia: Tijuana - 1996
Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
Asia · TaiwanWikipedia: 1996 Taiwanese presidential election - 1999
Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
Latin America · ParaguayWikipedia: Paraguay - 2001
The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
Oceans · Deorbit of MirWikipedia: Deorbit of Mir - 2003
Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.
Asia · Battle of NasiriyahWikipedia: Battle of Nasiriyah - 2005
A fire and explosion at an oil refinery in Texas City, the third-largest in the United States, killed 15 workers.
North America · Texas City refinery explosionWikipedia: Texas City refinery explosion - 2008
Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India.
Asia · Rajiv Gandhi International AirportWikipedia: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport - 2009
FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.
Asia · FedEx Express Flight 80Wikipedia: FedEx Express Flight 80 - 2010
The Affordable Care Act becomes law in the United States.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Affordable Care Act - 2014
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports cases of Ebola in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea, marking the beginning of the largest Ebola outbreak in history.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World Health Organization - 2018
President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Operation Car Wash - 2019
The Kazakh capital of Astana is renamed to Nur-Sultan.
Asia · AstanaWikipedia: Kazakhstan - 2019
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces capture the town of Baghuz in Eastern Syria, declaring military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq.
Asia · Battle of Baghuz FawqaniWikipedia: Battle of Baghuz Fawqani - 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson puts the United Kingdom into its first national lockdown in response to COVID-19.
Britain & Ireland · United KingdomWikipedia: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - 2021
A container ship runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal for six days.
Africa · 2021 Suez Canal obstructionWikipedia: 2021 Suez Canal obstruction - 2025
Israel Defense Forces kill 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre.
Asia · Rafah paramedic massacreWikipedia: Rafah paramedic massacre - 2026
An Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, Colombia, killing 69 people.
Latin America · 2026 Colombian Air Force Lockheed C-130 crashWikipedia: 2026 Colombian Air Force Lockheed C-130 crash
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 were translated for this page.
- 1923
In Seville, the cantata El Retablo de Maese Pedro, by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, premieres.
Who was born on 23 March
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 245 are shown.
- 1910
Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter (died 1998)
- 1749
Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1827)
Beaumont-en-AugeWikipedia: Pierre-Simon Laplace - 1912
Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer, chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle (died 1977)
WyrzyskWikipedia: Wernher von Braun - 1900
Erich Fromm, German psychologist and sociologist (died 1980)
FrankfurtWikipedia: Erich Fromm - 1881
Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
Neuilly-sur-SeineWikipedia: Roger Martin du Gard - 1882
Emmy Noether, Jewish German-American mathematician, physicist and academic (died 1935)
ErlangenWikipedia: Emmy Noether - 1956
José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese academic and politician, 115th Prime Minister of Portugal
- 1970
Gianni Infantino, Swiss-Italian football administrator, president of FIFA
- 1881
Hermann Staudinger, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965)
- 1942
Michael Haneke, Austrian director, producer and screenwriter
- 1952
Rex Tillerson, American businessman, engineer and diplomat; 69th United States Secretary of State
Wichita FallsWikipedia: Rex Tillerson - 1887
Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (died 1927)
MadridWikipedia: Juan Gris - 1907
Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992)
NeuchâtelWikipedia: Daniel Bovet - 1976
Michelle Monaghan, American actress
WinthropWikipedia: Michelle Monaghan - 1931
Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player and author (died 2016)
Saint PetersburgWikipedia: Viktor Korchnoi - 1978
Walter Samuel, Argentine footballer
FirmatWikipedia: Walter Samuel - 1992
Kyrie Irving, Australian-American basketball player
MelbourneWikipedia: Kyrie Irving - 1887
Josef Čapek, Czech painter and poet (died 1945)
HronovWikipedia: Josef Čapek - 1915
Vasily Zaytsev, Russian captain (died 1991)
YeleninkaWikipedia: Vasily Zaitsev - 1968
Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer and manager
Vélez-MálagaWikipedia: Fernando Hierro - 1430
Margaret of Anjou, Queen Consort of England and disputed Queen Consort of France (died 1482)
Pont-à-MoussonWikipedia: Margaret of Anjou - 1858
Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1941)
BremenWikipedia: Ludwig Quidde - 1983
Mo Farah, Somali-English runner
Gobalka GabileyWikipedia: Mo Farah - 1986
Kangana Ranaut, Indian actress
Mandi districtWikipedia: Kangana Ranaut - 1823
Schuyler Colfax, American journalist and politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (died 1885)
New York CityWikipedia: Schuyler Colfax - 1929
Roger Bannister, English middle-distance runner, neurologist and academic (died 2018)
London Borough of HarrowWikipedia: Roger Bannister - 1973
Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
RybnikWikipedia: Jerzy Dudek - 1933
Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist and academic (died 2024)
New York CityWikipedia: Philip Zimbardo - 1953
Chaka Khan, American singer-songwriter
ChicagoWikipedia: Chaka Khan - 1996
Alexander Albon, Thai-British race car driver
Portland HospitalWikipedia: Alex Albon - 1959
Catherine Keener, American actress
- 1968
Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter, producer and actor
WhitechapelWikipedia: Damon Albarn - 1918
Naoki Kazu, Japanese football player (died 1940s)
- 1955
Moses Malone, American basketball player (died 2015)
PetersburgWikipedia: Moses Malone - 1952
Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
WaukeganWikipedia: Kim Stanley Robinson - 1976
Keri Russell, American actress
Fountain ValleyWikipedia: Keri Russell - 1922
Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor (died 1990)
CremonaWikipedia: Ugo Tognazzi - 1963
Míchel, Spanish footballer and manager
MadridWikipedia: Míchel - 1973
Jason Kidd, American basketball player and coach
San FranciscoWikipedia: Jason Kidd - 1990
Princess Eugenie, English royal
Portland HospitalWikipedia: Princess Eugenie - 1876
Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, poet and activist (died 1924)
Çermik districtWikipedia: Ziya Gökalp - 1985
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, American tennis player
RochesterWikipedia: Bethanie Mattek-Sands - 1905
Lale Andersen, German chanson singer-songwriter (died 1972)
- 1945
Franco Battiato, Italian singer-songwriter and director (died 2021)
Giarre-RipostoWikipedia: Franco Battiato - 1964
Hope Davis, American actress
EnglewoodWikipedia: Hope Davis - 1614
Jahanara Begum, Mughal princess (died 1681)
- 1976
Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist
EdinburghWikipedia: Chris Hoy - 1769
William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (died 1839)
ChurchillWikipedia: William Smith - 1953
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian zoologist and businesswoman
BengaluruWikipedia: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw - 1983
Hakan Balta, Turkish footballer
BerlinWikipedia: Hakan Balta - 1995
Ozan Tufan, Turkish footballer
Orhaneli districtWikipedia: Ozan Tufan - 1869
Calouste Gulbenkian, Turkish-Armenian businessman and philanthropist (died 1955)
- 1957
Amanda Plummer, American actress
New York CityWikipedia: Amanda Plummer - 1976
Smriti Irani, Indian actress, producer and politician, Indian Minister of Human Resource Development
New DelhiWikipedia: Smriti Irani - 1990
Jaime Alguersuari, Spanish race car driver
BarcelonaWikipedia: Jaime Alguersuari - 1962
Steve Redgrave, English rower
- 1972
Jonas Björkman, Swedish-Monégasque tennis player and coach
- 1944
Michael Nyman, English composer of minimalist music and pianist
StratfordWikipedia: Michael Nyman - 1976
Ricardo Zonta, Brazilian race car driver
CuritibaWikipedia: Ricardo Zonta - 1992
Vanessa Morgan, Canadian actress
What is celebrated on 23 March
- Christian feast day: Gregory the Illuminator (Episcopal Church)
- Christian feast day: Gwinear
- Christian feast day: Joseph Oriol
- Christian feast day: Ottone Frangipane
- Christian feast day: Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès (Maronite Church)
- Christian feast day: Turibius of Mogrovejo
- Christian feast day: Victorian, Frumentius and Companions
- Christian feast day: March 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship (Hungary and Poland)
- Day of the Sea (Bolivia)
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Day (Azerbaijan)
- Pakistan Day (Pakistan)
- Promised Messiah Day (Ahmadiyya)
- World Meteorological Day
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.