A birthday on the globe
27 February on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 27 February, the English Wikipedia lists 60 events and 240 births. 37 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; four 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 27 February through the years
The Earth on 27 February
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in February 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 27 February the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 8.5° south. In London, the day lasts about 10 hours 45 minutes.
Beyond 81° south the Sun no longer sets; beyond 81° north 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 · Vienna
1921
The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
On the map: Vienna.
Europe · Leaning Tower of Pisa
1964
The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
On the map: Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian.
Europe · Arnhem
1971
Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions.
On the map: Arnhem.
Asia · University of Constantinople
425
The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
On the map: University of Constantinople.
North America · Washington, D.C.
1801
Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
On the map: Washington, D.C..
North America · Supreme Court of the United States
1922
A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
On the map: Supreme Court of the United States.
North America · Supreme Court of the United States
1939
United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. that the National Labor Relations Board has no authority to force an employer to rehire workers who engage in sit-down strikes.
On the map: Supreme Court of the United States.
27 February
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 Romanian and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Romanian · Uppsala University
1477
By a papal bull, Pope Sixtus IV approves the founding of a university in Uppsala, Sweden. It is the oldest existing university in Scandinavia.
On the map: Uppsala University.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
27 February
Born on 27 February#
The English Wikipedia lists 240 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 27 February
1902
John Steinbeck, American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)
Place of birth: Salinas.
Born on 27 February
1932
Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress and humanitarian (died 2011)
Place of birth: Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Born on 27 February
1807
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (died 1882)
Place of birth: Portland.
Born on 27 February
1930
Joanne Woodward, American actress
Place of birth: Thomasville.
Born on 27 February
1942
Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021)
Place of birth: Possum Trot.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1944
Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (died 2020)
Place of birth: Buslingthorpe.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1957
Timothy Spall, English actor
Place of birth: London.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1957
Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter
Place of birth: London Borough of Hackney.
27 February
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: 27 February 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 27 February
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 19 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.
- 380
Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Edict of Thessalonica - 425
The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
Asia · University of ConstantinopleWikipedia: University of Constantinople - 907
Abaoji, chieftain of the Yila tribe, is named khagan of the Khitans.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Abaoji - 1560
The Treaty of Berwick is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland, establishing the terms under which English armed forces were to be permitted in Scotland in order to expel occupying French troops.
Britain & Ireland · Berwick-upon-TweedWikipedia: Treaty of Berwick - 1594
Henry IV is crowned King of France.
Europe · FranceWikipedia: Henry IV of France - 1617
Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
Europe · StolbovoWikipedia: Treaty of Stolbovo - 1626
Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Yuan Chonghuan - 1776
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
North America · Battle of Moore's Creek BridgeWikipedia: Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge - 1782
American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
no place on the mapWikipedia: American Revolutionary War - 1801
Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
North America · Washington, D.C.Wikipedia: United States Congress - 1809
Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Action of 27 February 1809 - 1812
Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
Latin America · RosarioWikipedia: Argentine War of Independence - 1812
Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
Britain & Ireland · NottinghamshireWikipedia: Lord Byron - 1814
Peninsular War: In the south of France, Spanish, British and Portuguese soldiers under the command of the Marquess of Wellington defeated French soldiers in the Battle of Orthez, causing the French to retreat east.
Europe · Battle of OrthezWikipedia: Battle of Orthez - 1844
The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dominican Republic - 1859
United States representative Daniel Sickles, after learning of an affair between his wife and United States Attorney Philip Barton Key II, murders him in Washington, D.C.
no place on the mapWikipedia: United States House of Representatives - 1860
Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that plays an important role in his election to the Presidency.
North America · Cooper Union Foundation BuildingWikipedia: Cooper Union speech - 1864
American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
North America · Andersonville PrisonWikipedia: American Civil War - 1870
The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Flag of Japan - 1881
First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
Africa · Battle of Majuba HillWikipedia: Battle of Majuba Hill - 1898
King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
no place on the mapWikipedia: George I of Greece - 1900
Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded.
no place on the mapWikipedia: FC Bayern Munich - 1900
Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
Africa · Battle of PaardebergWikipedia: Second Boer War - 1900
The British Labour Party is founded.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Labour Party - 1902
Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.
Africa · PretoriaWikipedia: Second Boer War - 1916
Ocean liner SS Maloja strikes a mine near Dover and sinks with the loss of 155 lives.
Britain & Ireland · DoverWikipedia: SS Maloja - 1921
The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
Europe · ViennaWikipedia: International Working Union of Socialist Parties - 1922
A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
North America · Supreme Court of the United StatesWikipedia: Supreme Court of the United States - 1932
The Mäntsälä rebellion begins when members of the far-right Lapua Movement start shooting at the social democrats' event in Mäntsälä, Finland.
Europe · MäntsäläWikipedia: Mäntsälä rebellion - 1933
Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire; Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch Communist claims responsibility.
Europe · Reichstag fireWikipedia: Reichstag fire - 1939
United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. that the National Labor Relations Board has no authority to force an employer to rehire workers who engage in sit-down strikes.
North America · Supreme Court of the United StatesWikipedia: Supreme Court of the United States - 1940
Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Martin Kamen - 1942
World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
Asia · Battle of the Java SeaWikipedia: Battle of the Java Sea - 1942
World War II: Operation Biting launches its overnight raid on the German coastal radar station at Bruneval to retrieve a Würzburg installation.
Europe · Operation BitingWikipedia: Operation Biting - 1943
The Holocaust: In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest.
Europe · BerlinWikipedia: The Holocaust - 1943
The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
North America · Smith Mine disasterWikipedia: Smith Mine disaster - 1951
The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution - 1961
The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Spanish Syndical Organization - 1962
Vietnam War: Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.
Asia · 1962 South Vietnamese Independence Palace bombingWikipedia: Vietnam War - 1963
The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
Latin America · Dominican RepublicWikipedia: Dominican Republic - 1964
The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
Europe · Leaning Tower of PisaWikipedia: Government of Italy - 1971
Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions.
Europe · ArnhemWikipedia: Abortion clinic - 1972
The Sunday People revealed that James Humphreys, a notorious pornographer, had bribed a senior London police officer with a holiday to Cyprus and Beirut.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Sunday People - 1973
The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government.
North America · Wounded Knee OccupationWikipedia: Wounded Knee Occupation - 1976
The former Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Western Sahara - 1982
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, known for its performances of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas, gave its final performance.
no place on the mapWikipedia: D'Oyly Carte Opera Company - 1988
Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom.
Asia · SumgaitWikipedia: Sumgait pogrom - 1991
Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated".
Asia · KuwaitWikipedia: Gulf War - 1996
The multimedia franchise Pokémon was launched with the release of the video games Pocket Monsters Red and Green.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pokémon - 2001
Loganair Flight 670A crashes while attempting to make a water landing in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
Britain & Ireland · Firth of ForthWikipedia: Loganair Flight 670A - 2002
Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.
Asia · AyodhyaWikipedia: Godhra train burning - 2002
Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport causing minor injuries.
Britain & Ireland · London Stansted AirportWikipedia: Ryanair - 2004
A bombing of a SuperFerry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack kills more than 100 passengers.
Asia · MV SuperFerry 14Wikipedia: MV SuperFerry 14 - 2004
Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
Asia · Tokyo subway sarin attackWikipedia: Tokyo subway sarin attack - 2007
Chinese stock bubble of 2007: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest daily fall in ten years, following speculation about a crackdown on illegal share offerings and trading, and fears about accelerating inflation.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Chinese stock bubble of 2007 - 2008
Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari escapes from a detention center in Singapore, hiding in Johor, Malaysia until he was recaptured over a year later.
Asia · JohorWikipedia: Jemaah Islamiyah - 2010
An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale strikes central parts of Chile leaving over 500 victims, and thousands injured. The quake triggers a tsunami which strikes Hawaii shortly after.
Latin America · 2010 Chile earthquakeWikipedia: 2010 Chile earthquake - 2013
A shooting takes place at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland, in which five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured.
Europe · 2013 Menznau shootingWikipedia: 2013 Menznau shooting - 2015
Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated in Moscow while out walking with his girlfriend.
Europe · Assassination of Boris NemtsovWikipedia: Assassination of Boris Nemtsov - 2019
Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder downs Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's Mig-21 in an aerial dogfight and captures him after conducting airstrikes in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asia · 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikesWikipedia: 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes
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 Romanian and were translated for this page.
- 1477
By a papal bull, Pope Sixtus IV approves the founding of a university in Uppsala, Sweden. It is the oldest existing university in Scandinavia.
Europe · Uppsala UniversityTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in RomanianWikipedia: Universitatea Uppsala
Who was born on 27 February
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 240 are shown.
- 272
Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (died 337)
- 1902
John Steinbeck, American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)
SalinasWikipedia: John Steinbeck - 1932
Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress and humanitarian (died 2011)
Hampstead Garden SuburbWikipedia: Elizabeth Taylor - 1807
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (died 1882)
- 1930
Joanne Woodward, American actress
ThomasvilleWikipedia: Joanne Woodward - 1942
Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021)
Possum TrotWikipedia: Robert H. Grubbs - 1897
Marian Anderson, American singer (died 1993)
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: Marian Anderson - 1944
Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (died 2020)
BuslingthorpeWikipedia: Roger Scruton - 1913
Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (died 2005)
ValenceWikipedia: Paul Ricœur - 1980
Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and academic
Little RockWikipedia: Chelsea Clinton - 1983
Kate Mara, American actress
BedfordWikipedia: Kate Mara - 1912
Lawrence Durrell, British author, poet, and playwright (died 1990)
JalandharWikipedia: Lawrence Durrell - 1953
Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana
ChertseyWikipedia: Ian Khama - 1967
Jony Ive, English-American industrial designer, former chief design officer of Apple
LondonWikipedia: Jony Ive - 1929
Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (died 2013)
São PauloWikipedia: Djalma Santos - 1957
Timothy Spall, English actor
LondonWikipedia: Timothy Spall - 1881
Sveinn Björnsson, Danish-Icelandic lawyer and politician, 1st President of Iceland (died 1952)
CopenhagenWikipedia: Sveinn Björnsson - 1934
Ralph Nader, American lawyer, politician, and activist
WinstedWikipedia: Ralph Nader - 1981
Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
Los AngelesWikipedia: Josh Groban - 1910
Joan Bennett, American actress (died 1990)
Palisades ParkWikipedia: Joan Bennett - 1943
Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian footballer and manager
Rio de JaneiroWikipedia: Carlos Alberto Parreira - 1978
Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer and politician
SamtrediaWikipedia: Kakha Kaladze - 1993
Alphonse Areola, French footballer
- 1863
George Herbert Mead, American sociologist and philosopher (died 1930)
South HadleyWikipedia: George Herbert Mead - 1995
Sergej Milinković-Savić, Serbian footballer
- 1926
David H. Hubel, Canadian-American neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)
WindsorWikipedia: David H. Hubel - 1985
Thiago Neves, Brazilian footballer
CuritibaWikipedia: Thiago Neves - 1863
Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter (died 1923)
ValenciaWikipedia: Joaquín Sorolla - 1867
Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (died 1947)
SaugertiesWikipedia: Irving Fisher - 1962
Adam Baldwin, American actor
WinnetkaWikipedia: Adam Baldwin - 1985
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
- 1923
Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (died 1990)
Los AngelesWikipedia: Dexter Gordon - 1957
Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter
London Borough of HackneyWikipedia: Adrian Smith - 1847
Ellen Terry, English actress (died 1928)
CoventryWikipedia: Ellen Terry - 1913
Irwin Shaw, American author and screenwriter (died 1984)
South BronxWikipedia: Irwin Shaw - 1958
Maggie Hassan, American politician, 81st Governor of New Hampshire
- 1902
Lúcio Costa, French-Brazilian architect and engineer, designed Gustavo Capanema Palace (died 1998)
ToulonWikipedia: Lúcio Costa - 1995
Tomáš Souček, Czech footballer
Havlíčkův BrodWikipedia: Tomáš Souček - 1881
L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician, philosopher, and academic (died 1966)
OverschieWikipedia: L. E. J. Brouwer - 1941
Paddy Ashdown, British soldier and politician (died 2018)
New DelhiWikipedia: Paddy Ashdown - 1947
Alan Guth, American physicist and cosmologist
New BrunswickWikipedia: Alan Guth - 1992
Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
RomfordWikipedia: Jonjo Shelvey - 1992
Callum Wilson, English footballer
CoventryWikipedia: Callum Wilson - 1966
Baltasar Kormákur, Icelandic actor, director, and producer
ReykjavíkWikipedia: Baltasar Kormákur - 1622
Carel Fabritius, Dutch painter (died 1654)
MiddenbeemsterWikipedia: Carel Fabritius - 1905
Franchot Tone, American actor, singer, and producer (died 1968)
Niagara FallsWikipedia: Franchot Tone - 1917
John Connally, American lieutenant and politician, 39th Governor of Texas and 61st United States Secretary of Treasury (died 1993)
FloresvilleWikipedia: John Connally - 1961
James Worthy, American basketball player and sportscaster
GastoniaWikipedia: James Worthy - 1935
Mirella Freni, Italian soprano and actress (died 2020)
ModenaWikipedia: Mirella Freni - 1956
Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (died 1987)
- 1869
Alice Hamilton, American physician and academic (died 1970)
ManhattanWikipedia: Alice Hamilton - 1976
Sergei Semak, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
SychanskeWikipedia: Sergei Semak - 1990
Lindsey Morgan, American actress
GeorgiaWikipedia: Lindsey Morgan - 1767
Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, French lawyer and politician, 24th Prime Minister of France (died 1855)
Le NeubourgWikipedia: Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure - 1947
Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
- 1966
Donal Logue, Canadian actor and director
OttawaWikipedia: Donal Logue - 1965
Noah Emmerich, American actor
New York CityWikipedia: Noah Emmerich - 1848
Hubert Parry, English composer and historian (died 1918)
BournemouthWikipedia: Hubert Parry - 1864
Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (died 1935)
KokemäkiWikipedia: Eemil Nestor Setälä - 1891
David Sarnoff, American businessman, founded RCA (died 1971)
UzlianyWikipedia: David Sarnoff
What is celebrated on 27 February
- Christian feast day: Anne Line
- Christian feast day: Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
- Christian feast day: George Herbert (Anglicanism)
- Christian feast day: Gregory of Narek
- Christian feast day: Honorina
- Christian feast day: Leander
- Christian feast day: February 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Doctors' Day (Vietnam)
- Independence Day (Dominican Republic), celebrates the first independence of Dominican Republic from Haiti in 1844.
- Majuba Day (some Afrikaners in South Africa)
- Marathi Language Day (Maharashtra, India)
- World NGO 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.