A birthday on the globe
28 May on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 28 May, the English Wikipedia lists 55 events and 206 births. 28 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; eight more are dashed circles, where the sentence links only to a country or a sea. The taller the ray, the longer ago it happened. The people born that day come further down, as blue points.
A birthday, yours or someone else’s:
Turn it into a greetingScroll: the globe turns to each place
The day you were born, on the globe.
Three things from your day
Scroll: your day first, then 28 May through the years
The Earth on 28 May
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in May 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 28 May the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 21.5° north. In London, the day lasts about 16 hours 10 minutes.
Beyond 68° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 68° south it no longer rises.
The line between day and night is tilted on the globe exactly as on this day of the year. On the dark side you can see the lights of towns.
Britain & Ireland · Buckingham Palace
1937
The rise of Neville Chamberlain culminated with his accession as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, being summoned to Buckingham Palace to "kiss hands".
On the map: Buckingham Palace.
Britain & Ireland · Milton Keynes
2002
An independent commission appointed by the Football Association voted two-to-one to allow Wimbledon F.C. to relocate from London to Milton Keynes.
On the map: Milton Keynes.
Europe · Lisbon
1588
The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.)
On the map: Lisbon.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
Europe · Mantua
1608
Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi debuted his second opera L'Arianna, now one of his lost works, at a royal wedding in Mantua.
On the map: Mantua.
Europe · Red Square
1987
An 18-year-old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
On the map: Red Square.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese.
North America · San Francisco
1892
In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
On the map: San Francisco.
North America · Manhattan
2002
The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
On the map: Manhattan.
North America · Indianapolis Motor Speedway
2017
Former Formula One driver Takuma Sato wins his first Indianapolis 500, the first Japanese and Asian driver to do so. Double world champion Fernando Alonso retires from the race with an engine issue in his first entry of the event.
On the map: Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
28 May
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 Chinese and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Chinese · New York City
1930
The Chrysler Building in Manhattan, New York, is completed; it remains the tallest building in the world until the Empire State Building is completed in 1931.
On the map: New York City.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
28 May
Born on 28 May#
The English Wikipedia lists 206 births for this day. The blue points are the birthplaces of 59 of these people: those written about in the most Wikipedia editions, where Wikidata gives a place of birth.
Born on 28 May
1968
Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
Place of birth: Melbourne.
Born on 28 May
1908
Ian Fleming, English journalist and author, created James Bond (died 1964)
Place of birth: Mayfair.
Born on 28 May
1912
Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1990)
Place of birth: London.
Born on 28 May
1985
Carey Mulligan, English actress
Place of birth: City of Westminster.
Born on 28 May
1779
Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (died 1852)
Place of birth: Dublin.
Born in Britain and Ireland
2000
Phil Foden, English footballer
Place of birth: Stockport.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1990
Kyle Walker, English footballer
Place of birth: Sheffield.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1994
John Stones, English footballer
Place of birth: Barnsley.
28 May
Number one in the charts that week
At the cinema
An animal recorded that day
The record can be seen in GBIF, which brings together wildlife records from around the world.
All your birthdays
The weather that day
Data: Met Office Hadley Centre (HadCET); NOAA (GHCN-Daily, Mauna Loa).
Above the Earth
Sources: Jonathan McDowell, GCAT (launches); GFZ Potsdam (Kp index). Days are counted in Universal Time.
Football that day
International matches played that day:
Source: the “International football results” dataset kept by Mart Jürisoo (CC0).
Also that day
The earthquake’s page at the USGS
Source: the USGS catalogue. The day is counted in Universal Time (UTC).
In those days
Make a link for someone
Type the name, pick the day and the year of birth. The link opens straight on their day, with their name in the greeting.
The link carries the name, date and place typed here; anyone who gets it can see them.
Put another birthday beside it
Your mother’s, your child’s, a friend’s: the two days appear side by side.
Below: 28 May through the years.
The whole globe of the day
Drag the globe to turn it. Touch a ray or a point to read what happened there.
Everything Wikipedia lists for 28 May
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.
- 585 BC
A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated. It is also the earliest event of which the precise date is known.
Oceans · Eclipse of ThalesWikipedia: Eclipse of Thales - 621
Battle of Hulao: Li Shimin, the son of the Chinese emperor Gaozu, defeats the numerically superior forces of Dou Jiande near the Hulao Pass (Henan). This victory decides the outcome of the civil war that followed the Sui dynasty's collapse in favour of the Tang dynasty.
Asia · Battle of HulaoWikipedia: Battle of Hulao - 934
English king Æthelstan begins his invasion of Scotland.
no place on the mapWikipedia: List of English monarchs - 1242
Avignonet massacre: A group of Cathars, with the probable connivance of Count Raymond VII of Toulouse, murder the inquisitor William Arnaud and eleven of his companions.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Avignonet massacre - 1347
Marriage of Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos and Helena Kantakouzene.
no place on the mapWikipedia: List of Byzantine emperors - 1533
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Archbishop of Canterbury - 1588
The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.)
Europe · LisbonWikipedia: Spanish Armada - 1608
Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi debuted his second opera L'Arianna, now one of his lost works, at a royal wedding in Mantua.
Europe · MantuaWikipedia: Claudio Monteverdi - 1644
English Civil War: Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby.
Britain & Ireland · Storming of BoltonWikipedia: Storming of Bolton - 1754
French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
North America · Battle of Jumonville GlenWikipedia: Battle of Jumonville Glen - 1802
In Guadeloupe, 400 rebellious slaves, led by Louis Delgrès, blow themselves up rather than submit to Napoleon's troops.
Europe · GuadeloupeWikipedia: Guadeloupe - 1830
U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Native Americans in the United States - 1871
The Paris Commune falls after two months.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Paris Commune - 1892
In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
North America · San FranciscoWikipedia: San Francisco - 1901
Mozaffar ad-Din, Shah of Persia, granted exclusive rights to prospect for oil in the country to businessman William Knox D'Arcy.
Asia · Qajar IranWikipedia: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar - 1905
Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Asia · Battle of TsushimaWikipedia: Battle of Tsushima - 1907
The first Isle of Man TT race is held.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Isle of Man TT - 1918
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia declare their independence.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic - 1926
The 28 May 1926 coup d'état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic.
Europe · PortugalWikipedia: 28 May 1926 coup d'état - 1932
In the Netherlands, construction of the Afsluitdijk is completed and the Zuiderzee bay is converted to the freshwater IJsselmeer.
Europe · AfsluitdijkWikipedia: Afsluitdijk - 1934
Near Callander, Ontario, Canada, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne; they will be the first quintuplets to survive infancy.
North America · Callander, OntarioWikipedia: Callander, Ontario - 1936
Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Alan Turing - 1937
The rise of Neville Chamberlain culminated with his accession as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, being summoned to Buckingham Palace to "kiss hands".
Britain & Ireland · Buckingham PalaceWikipedia: Rise of Neville Chamberlain - 1937
Volkswagen, the German automobile manufacturer, is founded.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Volkswagen - 1940
World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.
Europe · Nazi GermanyWikipedia: World War II - 1940
World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first Allied infantry victory of the War.
Europe · Battles of NarvikWikipedia: Battles of Narvik - 1948
Daniel François Malan is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa. He later goes on to implement Apartheid.
no place on the mapWikipedia: D. F. Malan - 1958
Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cuban Revolution - 1961
Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Peter Benenson - 1962
The Soviet Kosmos 5 satellite is launched.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Kosmos 5 - 1964
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded, with Yasser Arafat elected as its first leader.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Palestine Liberation Organization - 1968
Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 crashes near Nala Sopara in India, killing 30.
Asia · Nala SoparaWikipedia: Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 - 1974
Northern Ireland's power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.
Britain & Ireland · Sunningdale AgreementWikipedia: Sunningdale Agreement - 1975
At Brampton Centennial Secondary School, student Michael Slobodian kills two people and injures 13 others before committing suicide.
North America · Brampton Centennial Secondary SchoolWikipedia: Brampton Centennial Secondary School shooting - 1975
Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
no place on the mapWikipedia: West Africa - 1977
The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, is engulfed by fire, killing 165 people inside.
North America · Beverly Hills Supper Club fireWikipedia: Beverly Hills Supper Club fire - 1979
Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Konstantinos Karamanlis - 1982
Falklands War: The British War Cabinet, which never considered using nuclear weapons in the conflict, ordered that the nuclear depth bombs on British ships return home.
Latin America · Falklands WarWikipedia: Falklands War - 1987
An 18-year-old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
Europe · Red SquareWikipedia: Mathias Rust - 1991
The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
Africa · Addis AbabaWikipedia: Ethiopian Civil War - 1995
The 7.0 Mw Neftegorsk earthquake shakes the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt.
Asia · 1995 Neftegorsk earthquakeWikipedia: 1995 Neftegorsk earthquake - 1996
U.S. President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
North America · Whitewater controversyWikipedia: Whitewater controversy - 1998
Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually.
Asia · Chagai-IWikipedia: Chagai-I - 1999
In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
Europe · MilanWikipedia: The Last Supper - 2002
An independent commission appointed by the Football Association voted two-to-one to allow Wimbledon F.C. to relocate from London to Milton Keynes.
Britain & Ireland · Milton KeynesWikipedia: Wimbledon F.C. - 2002
The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
North America · ManhattanWikipedia: World Trade Center site - 2003
Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Peter Hollingworth - 2004
The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq's interim government.
Asia · IraqWikipedia: Iraqi Governing Council - 2008
The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
Asia · NepalWikipedia: Nepal - 2010
In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers.
Asia · West BengalWikipedia: Jnaneswari Express train derailment - 2011
Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.
Europe · MaltaWikipedia: 2011 Maltese divorce referendum - 2012
The Arkankergen massacre in Kazakhstan's Alakol District kills 15 people.
Asia · Arkankergen massacreWikipedia: Arkankergen massacre - 2013
Start of the Gezi Park protests in Turkey.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gezi Park protests - 2016
Harambe, a gorilla, is shot to death after grabbing a three-year-old boy in his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, resulting in widespread criticism and sparking various internet memes.
North America · Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical GardenWikipedia: Harambe - 2017
Former Formula One driver Takuma Sato wins his first Indianapolis 500, the first Japanese and Asian driver to do so. Double world champion Fernando Alonso retires from the race with an engine issue in his first entry of the event.
North America · Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayWikipedia: 2017 Indianapolis 500
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 Chinese and were translated for this page.
- 1930
The Chrysler Building in Manhattan, New York, is completed; it remains the tallest building in the world until the Empire State Building is completed in 1931.
Who was born on 28 May
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 206 are shown.
- 1968
Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
MelbourneWikipedia: Kylie Minogue - 1908
Ian Fleming, English journalist and author, created James Bond (died 1964)
MayfairWikipedia: Ian Fleming - 1912
Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1990)
LondonWikipedia: Patrick White - 1971
Marco Rubio, American lawyer and politician
- 1759
William Pitt the Younger, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1806)
- 1884
Edvard Beneš, Czech academic and politician, 2nd and 4th President of Czechoslovakia (died 1948)
KožlanyWikipedia: Edvard Beneš - 1925
Bülent Ecevit, Turkish journalist, scholar, and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Turkey (died 2006)
IstanbulWikipedia: Bülent Ecevit - 1985
Carey Mulligan, English actress
City of WestminsterWikipedia: Carey Mulligan - 1944
Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician, 107th mayor of New York City
BrooklynWikipedia: Rudy Giuliani - 1779
Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (died 1852)
DublinWikipedia: Thomas Moore - 1807
Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American paleontologist and geologist (died 1873)
MôtierWikipedia: Louis Agassiz - 2000
Phil Foden, English footballer
StockportWikipedia: Phil Foden - 1990
Kyle Walker, English footballer
SheffieldWikipedia: Kyle Walker - 1994
John Stones, English footballer
BarnsleyWikipedia: John Stones - 1942
Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
Des MoinesWikipedia: Stanley B. Prusiner - 1888
Jim Thorpe, American decathlete, football player, and coach (died 1953)
PragueWikipedia: Jim Thorpe - 1853
Carl Larsson, Swedish painter and author (died 1919)
StorkyrkoförsamlingenWikipedia: Carl Larsson - 1923
György Ligeti, Hungarian-Austrian composer and educator (died 2006)
TârnăveniWikipedia: György Ligeti - 1931
Carroll Baker, American actress
JohnstownWikipedia: Carroll Baker - 1938
Jerry West, American basketball player, coach, and executive (died 2024)
ChelyanWikipedia: Jerry West - 1879
Milutin Milanković, Serbian mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (died 1958)
- 1999
Cameron Boyce, American actor (died 2019)
Los AngelesWikipedia: Cameron Boyce - 1371
John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (died 1419)
- 1947
Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and academic
DamiettaWikipedia: Zahi Hawass - 1738
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (died 1814)
- 1974
Hans-Jörg Butt, German footballer
OldenburgWikipedia: Hans-Jörg Butt - 1986
Seth Rollins, American wrestler
DavenportWikipedia: Seth Rollins - 1883
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (died 1966)
- 1939
Maeve Binchy, Irish novelist (died 2012)
DalkeyWikipedia: Maeve Binchy - 1985
Colbie Caillat, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1889
Richard Réti, Slovak-Czech chess player and author (died 1929)
PezinokWikipedia: Richard Réti - 1915
Joseph Greenberg, American linguist and academic (died 2001)
BrooklynWikipedia: Joseph Greenberg - 1945
John Fogerty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
BerkeleyWikipedia: John Fogerty - 1998
Kim Dahyun, South Korean rapper and singer
SeongnamWikipedia: Dahyun - 1925
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (died 2012)
- 1982
Alexa Davalos, French-American actress
16th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Alexa Davalos - 1944
Sondra Locke, American actress and director (died 2018)
ShelbyvilleWikipedia: Sondra Locke - 1978
Jake Johnson, American actor
EvanstonWikipedia: Jake Johnson - 1818
P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (died 1893)
St. Bernard ParishWikipedia: P. G. T. Beauregard - 1944
Gladys Knight, American singer-songwriter and actress
AtlantaWikipedia: Gladys Knight - 1916
Walker Percy, American novelist and essayist (died 1990)
BirminghamWikipedia: Walker Percy - 1994
Alec Benjamin, American singer and songwriter
PhoenixWikipedia: Alec Benjamin - 1878
Paul Pelliot, French sinologist and explorer (died 1945)
- 1933
Zelda Rubinstein, American actress and activist (died 2010)
PittsburghWikipedia: Zelda Rubinstein - 1923
N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (died 1996)
NemmikuruWikipedia: N. T. Rama Rao - 1676
Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (died 1754)
- 1912
Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (died 1981)
GraftonWikipedia: Ruby Payne-Scott - 1960
Mark Sanford, American military veteran (USAF) and politician, 115th Governor of South Carolina
Fort LauderdaleWikipedia: Mark Sanford - 1971
Isabelle Carré, French actress and singer
- 1888
Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Estonia (died 1942)
- 1910
T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1975)
LindenWikipedia: T-Bone Walker - 1981
Laura Bailey, American voice actress
BiloxiWikipedia: Laura Bailey - 1969
Justin Kirk, American actor
- 1764
Edward Livingston, American jurist and politician, 11th United States Secretary of State (died 1836)
ClermontWikipedia: Edward Livingston - 1872
Marian Smoluchowski, Polish physicist and mountaineer (died 1917)
VorderbrühlWikipedia: Marian Smoluchowski - 1930
Edward Seaga, American-Jamaican academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Jamaica (died 2019)
- 1966
Miljenko Jergović, Bosnian novelist and journalist
SarajevoWikipedia: Miljenko Jergović - 1969
Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (died 2016)
EtobicokeWikipedia: Rob Ford - 1945
Patch Adams, American physician and author, founded the Gesundheit! Institute
Washington, D.C.Wikipedia: Patch Adams - 1967
Glen Rice, American basketball player
FlintWikipedia: Glen Rice
What is celebrated on 28 May
- Armed Forces Day (Croatia)
- Christian feast day: Bernard of Menthon
- Christian feast day: Germain of Paris
- Christian feast day: John Calvin (Episcopal Church)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Lanfranc
- Christian feast day: Blessed Margaret Pole
- Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Bagnesi
- Christian feast day: Blessed Thomas Ford
- Christian feast day: Ubaldesca Taccini
- Christian feast day: William of Gellone
- Christian feast day: May 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Downfall of the Derg (Ethiopia)
- Flag Day (Philippines)
- Menstrual Hygiene 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.