A birthday on the globe
30 April on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 30 April, the English Wikipedia lists 60 events and 212 births. 40 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 30 April through the years
The Earth on 30 April
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in April 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 30 April the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 14.9° north. In London, the day lasts about 14 hours 50 minutes.
Beyond 75° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 75° 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 · Cavendish Laboratory
1897
J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
On the map: Cavendish Laboratory.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Britain & Ireland · Eurovision Song Contest 1994
1994
Riverdance was performed for the first time, as the interval act for the Eurovision Song Contest.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Eurovision Song Contest 1994”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Latin America · Bogotá
1948
In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
On the map: Bogotá.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese.
North America · Federal Hall
1789
On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.
On the map: Federal Hall.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
North America · Louisiana Territory
1803
Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
On the map: Louisiana Territory.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese.
North America · Grauman's Chinese Theatre
1927
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first two celebrities to make imprints of their hands and feet in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
On the map: Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
30 April
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 Romanian and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Chinese · Paris Peace Conference
1919
Paris Peace Conference: the Council of Five Great Powers decides to hand Germany's privileges in China's Shandong Province over to Japan.
On the map: Paris Peace Conference.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
From Wikipedia in Romanian · Dublin
1988
In Dublin, Ireland, Céline Dion wins the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi".
On the map: Dublin.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Romanian.
30 April
Born on 30 April#
The English Wikipedia lists 212 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 30 April
1777
Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist (died 1855)
Place of birth: Brunswick.
Born on 30 April
1982
Kirsten Dunst, American actress
Place of birth: Point Pleasant.
Born on 30 April
1985
Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model
Place of birth: Petah Tikva.
Born on 30 April
1956
Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter
Place of birth: Kongens Lyngby.
Born on 30 April
1916
Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (died 2001)
Place of birth: Petoskey.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1981
John O'Shea, Irish footballer
Place of birth: Waterford.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1981
Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor
Place of birth: Hammersmith.
Born in Britain and Ireland
2003
Emily Carey, British actress
Place of birth: London Borough of Barnet.
30 April
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: 30 April 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 30 April
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 16 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.
- 311
The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
Europe · Roman EmpireWikipedia: Diocletianic Persecution - 313
Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: An outnumbered army led by Roman emperor Licinius defeated his rival Maximinus II's forces at the Battle of Tzirallum.
Asia · Battle of TzirallumWikipedia: Battle of Tzirallum - 1006
SN 1006, the brightest supernova in recorded history, first appeared in the constellation Lupus.
no place on the mapWikipedia: SN 1006 - 1305
Roger de Flor, leader of the mercenary Catalan Company, is murdered, leading to widespread pillaging by the mercenaries in Thrace.
Europe · ThraceWikipedia: Catalan Company - 1315
Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Enguerrand de Marigny - 1492
Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. He is named admiral of the ocean sea, viceroy and governor of any territory he discovers.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Christopher Columbus - 1513
Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk - 1598
Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Henry IV of France - 1598
Juan de Oñate begins the conquest of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
North America · Santa Fe de Nuevo MéxicoWikipedia: Juan de Oñate - 1636
Eighty Years' War: Dutch Republic forces recapture a strategically important fort from Spain after a nine-month siege.
Europe · Siege of SchenkenschansWikipedia: Eighty Years' War - 1789
On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.
North America · Federal HallWikipedia: First inauguration of George Washington - 1803
Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
North America · Louisiana TerritoryWikipedia: Louisiana Purchase - 1812
The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
North America · LouisianaWikipedia: Territory of Orleans - 1838
Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Nicaragua - 1859
Charles Dickens publishes the first edition of his literary magazine, All the Year Round, containing the first installment of his best-selling classic, A Tale of Two Cities.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Charles Dickens - 1863
A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
Latin America · Battle of CamarónWikipedia: Battle of Camarón - 1864
American Civil War: Confederate forces led by General E. Kirby Smith attack federal troops retreating across the Saline at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas.
North America · Battle of Jenkins' FerryWikipedia: American Civil War - 1871
The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.
North America · Camp Grant massacreWikipedia: Camp Grant massacre - 1883
New York governor Grover Cleveland signed legislation that led to the creation of Niagara Falls State Park, the United States' first state park.
North America · Niagara Falls State ParkWikipedia: Grover Cleveland - 1885
Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.
North America · Niagara Falls State ParkWikipedia: Governor of New York - 1894
A crowd of workers, unemployed due to the Panic of 1893, concluded the first significant popular protest march on Washington D.C.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Panic of 1893 - 1897
J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
Britain & Ireland · Cavendish LaboratoryWikipedia: Cavendish Laboratory - 1900
Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
North America · Territory of HawaiiWikipedia: Hawaii - 1905
Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Albert Einstein - 1925
Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc, is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dodge - 1927
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first two celebrities to make imprints of their hands and feet in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
North America · Grauman's Chinese TheatreWikipedia: Douglas Fairbanks - 1927
The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
North America · Federal Prison Camp, AldersonWikipedia: Federal Prison Camp, Alderson - 1937
The Commonwealth of the Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1937 Philippine women's suffrage plebiscite - 1939
NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
North America · 1939 New York World's FairWikipedia: 1939 New York World's Fair - 1939
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair opens.
North America · 1939 New York World's FairWikipedia: 1939 New York World's Fair - 1943
World War II: The British submarine HMS Seraph surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans.
Europe · Operation MincemeatWikipedia: Operation Mincemeat - 1945
World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours.
Europe · Death of Adolf HitlerWikipedia: Death of Adolf Hitler - 1945
World War II: Soviet soldiers raise the first Soviet flag over the Reichstag. The Victory Banner will be raised the next day.
Europe · Reichstag buildingWikipedia: Reichstag building - 1945
World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9,000 American and British airmen.
Europe · Stalag Luft IWikipedia: Stalag Luft I - 1947
In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam.
North America · Hoover DamWikipedia: Nevada - 1948
In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
Latin America · BogotáWikipedia: Bogotá - 1956
Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.
North America · VirginiaWikipedia: Alben W. Barkley - 1957
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery enters into force.
Europe · Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of SlaveryWikipedia: Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery - 1961
K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Soviet submarine K-19 - 1963
The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
Britain & Ireland · BristolWikipedia: Bristol Bus Boycott - 1973
Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon fires White House Counsel John Dean; other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, resign.
North America · White HouseWikipedia: White House - 1975
Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh.
Asia · Fall of SaigonWikipedia: Fall of Saigon - 1979
Eruption of Mount Marapi: Mount Marapi, a complex volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erupts. Between 80 and 100 people are killed.
Asia · 1979 eruption of Mount MarapiWikipedia: 1979 eruption of Mount Marapi - 1980
Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Beatrix of the Netherlands - 1980
The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London.
Britain & Ireland · Iranian Embassy siegeWikipedia: Iranian Embassy siege - 1982
The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India.
Asia · Bijon SetuWikipedia: Bijon Setu massacre - 1989
The Monkseaton shootings occur in Tyne and Wear, England. One is killed and 16 are injured.
Britain & Ireland · Tyne and WearWikipedia: Monkseaton shootings - 1993
CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
no place on the mapWikipedia: CERN - 1994
Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.
Europe · Imola CircuitWikipedia: San Marino Grand Prix - 1994
Riverdance was performed for the first time, as the interval act for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Britain & Ireland · Eurovision Song Contest 1994Wikipedia: Eurovision Song Contest 1994 - 1999
Neo-Nazi David Copeland carries out the last of his three nail bombings in London at the Admiral Duncan gay pub, killing three people and injuring 79 others.
Britain & Ireland · Admiral DuncanWikipedia: 1999 London nail bombings - 2000
Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Canonization - 2004
U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
Asia · Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuseWikipedia: Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse - 2008
Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks.
Asia · YekaterinburgWikipedia: Yekaterinburg - 2009
Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Chrysler - 2009
Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.
Europe · 2009 attack on the Dutch royal familyWikipedia: 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family - 2012
An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 108 people. At least 150 more are missing and presumed dead.
Asia · Assam ferry sinkingWikipedia: Assam ferry sinking - 2013
Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands - 2014
A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others.
Asia · April 2014 Ürümqi attackWikipedia: April 2014 Ürümqi attack - 2021
Forty-five men and boys are killed in the Meron stampede in Israel.
Asia · 2021 Meron crowd crushWikipedia: 2021 Meron crowd crush
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 Romanian and were translated for this page.
- 1919
Paris Peace Conference: the Council of Five Great Powers decides to hand Germany's privileges in China's Shandong Province over to Japan.
- 1988
In Dublin, Ireland, Céline Dion wins the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi".
Who was born on 30 April
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 212 are shown.
- 1777
Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist (died 1855)
BrunswickWikipedia: Carl Friedrich Gauss - 1949
António Guterres, Portuguese academic and politician, 114th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations
- 1959
Stephen Harper, Canadian economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada
TorontoWikipedia: Stephen Harper - 1946
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Haga PalaceWikipedia: Carl XVI Gustaf - 1982
Kirsten Dunst, American actress
Point PleasantWikipedia: Kirsten Dunst - 1883
Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author (died 1923)
- 1985
Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model
Petah TikvaWikipedia: Gal Gadot - 1893
Joachim von Ribbentrop, German politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, executed Nuremberg war criminal (died 1946)
- 1956
Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter
Kongens LyngbyWikipedia: Lars von Trier - 1662
Mary II, Queen of England and Scotland (died 1694)
St James's PalaceWikipedia: Mary II - 1916
Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (died 2001)
PetoskeyWikipedia: Claude Shannon - 1992
Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer
MönchengladbachWikipedia: Marc-André ter Stegen - 1901
Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985)
- 1909
Juliana of the Netherlands (died 2004)
- 1988
Ana de Armas, Cuban actress
HavanaWikipedia: Ana de Armas - 1967
Philipp Kirkorov, Bulgarian-born Russian singer, composer and actor
- 1310
King Casimir III of Poland (died 1368)
- 1902
Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)
ArlingtonWikipedia: Theodore Schultz - 1986
Dianna Agron, American actress and singer
SavannahWikipedia: Dianna Agron - 1926
Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian (died 2021)
Des MoinesWikipedia: Cloris Leachman - 1991
Travis Scott, American rapper and producer
HoustonWikipedia: Travis Scott - 1981
John O'Shea, Irish footballer
WaterfordWikipedia: John O'Shea - 1954
Jane Campion, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter
WellingtonWikipedia: Jane Campion - 1975
Johnny Galecki, American actor
- 1870
Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (died 1948)
KomáromWikipedia: Franz Lehár - 1857
Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist (died 1940)
ZollikonWikipedia: Eugen Bleuler - 1952
Jacques Audiard, French director and screenwriter
14th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Jacques Audiard - 1943
Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (died 2011)
- 1938
Larry Niven, American author and screenwriter
Los AngelesWikipedia: Larry Niven - 1981
Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor
HammersmithWikipedia: Kunal Nayyar - 1839
Floriano Peixoto, Brazilian general and politician, 2nd President of Brazil (died 1895)
- 1944
Jill Clayburgh, American actress (died 2010)
New York CityWikipedia: Jill Clayburgh - 1964
Lorenzo Staelens, Belgian footballer and manager
KortrijkWikipedia: Lorenzo Staelens - 1930
Félix Guattari, French psychotherapist and philosopher (died 1992)
Villeneuve-les-SablonsWikipedia: Félix Guattari - 1961
Isiah Thomas, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
ChicagoWikipedia: Isiah Thomas - 1976
Victor Glover, American astronaut
PomonaWikipedia: Victor Glover - 1723
Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher (died 1806)
Fontenay-le-ComteWikipedia: Mathurin Jacques Brisson - 1940
Burt Young, American actor and painter (died 2023)
QueensWikipedia: Burt Young - 1651
Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint (died 1719)
- 1908
Eve Arden, American actress (died 1990)
Mill ValleyWikipedia: Eve Arden - 1870
Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1944)
- 1920
Tom Moore, British army officer and fundraiser (died 2021)
KeighleyWikipedia: Captain Tom Moore - 1976
Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter and pianist
New York CityWikipedia: Amanda Palmer - 1987
Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer
NagpurWikipedia: Rohit Sharma - 1883
Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and composer (died 1947)
PortogruaroWikipedia: Luigi Russolo - 1945
Michael J. Smith, American pilot, and astronaut (died 1986)
BeaufortWikipedia: Michael J. Smith - 1504
Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter (died 1570)
- 1803
Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (died 1879)
Pleśna, West Pomeranian VoivodeshipWikipedia: Albrecht von Roon - 1908
Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic professor of law and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (died 1970)
ReykjavíkWikipedia: Bjarni Benediktsson - 1990
Mac DeMarco, Canadian singer-songwriter
DuncanWikipedia: Mac DeMarco - 2003
Emily Carey, British actress
London Borough of BarnetWikipedia: Emily Carey - 1920
Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian and woman's history author (died 2013)
ViennaWikipedia: Gerda Lerner - 1979
Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer
Mexico CityWikipedia: Gerardo Torrado - 1980
Luis Scola, Argentinian basketball player
Buenos AiresWikipedia: Luis Scola - 1965
Adrian Pasdar, American actor
PittsfieldWikipedia: Adrian Pasdar - 1877
Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist (died 1967)
San FranciscoWikipedia: Alice B. Toklas - 1969
Justine Greening, English accountant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development
RotherhamWikipedia: Justine Greening - 1982
Drew Seeley, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
TorontoWikipedia: Drew Seeley - 1848
Eugène Simon, French naturalist (died 1924)
- 1877
Léon Flameng, French cyclist (died 1917)
17th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Léon Flameng
What is celebrated on 30 April
- Armed Forces Day (Georgia)
- Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion)
- Children's Day (Mexico)
- Christian feast day: Adjutor
- Christian feast day: Aimo
- Christian feast day: Amator, Peter and Louis
- Christian feast day: Donatus of Evorea
- Christian feast day: Eutropius of Saintes
- Christian feast day: Marie Guyart (Anglican Church of Canada and Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Maximus of Rome
- Christian feast day: Blessed Miles Gerard
- Christian feast day: Pomponius of Naples
- Christian feast day: Pope Pius V
- Christian feast day: Quirinus of Neuss
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.