A birthday on the globe
31 December on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 31 December, the English Wikipedia lists 68 events and 225 births. 35 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; seven 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 31 December through the years
The Earth on 31 December
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in December 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 31 December the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 23.1° south. In London, the day lasts about 7 hours 55 minutes.
Beyond 67° south the Sun no longer sets; beyond 67° 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.
Britain & Ireland · South London
1853
A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London, England.
On the map: South London.
Europe · Mannheim
1878
Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.
On the map: Mannheim.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Europe · Bucharest
1956
The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.
On the map: Bucharest.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Asia · Dissolution of the Soviet Union
1991
All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Dissolution of the Soviet Union”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Asia · Taipei 101
2004
The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
On the map: Taipei 101.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
Oceania · Phoenix Islands
1994
This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.
On the map: Phoenix Islands.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · Ottawa
1857
Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada.
On the map: Ottawa.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian and Chinese.
North America · Times Square Ball
1907
The first ever ball drop in Times Square.
On the map: Times Square Ball.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Romanian.
North America · Lower Manhattan
1909
The Manhattan Bridge, connecting Lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn and considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, opened to traffic.
On the map: Lower Manhattan.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
31 December
What the other Wikipedias remember#
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Ankara
1892
In Turkey, the railway built by a group that included Deutsche Bank reaches Ankara.
On the map: Ankara.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Big Ben
1923
In London (United Kingdom), the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast for the first time on the BBC, marking the time signal for setting clocks.
On the map: Big Ben.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Chinese · Musikverein
1939
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra gives the first Vienna New Year's Concert in the Golden Hall, conducted by Clemens Krauss.
On the map: Musikverein.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
31 December
Born on 31 December#
The English Wikipedia lists 225 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 31 December
1869
Henri Matisse, French painter and sculptor (died 1954)
Place of birth: Le Cateau-Cambrésis.
Born on 31 December
1491
Jacques Cartier, French navigator and explorer (died 1557)
Place of birth: Rothéneuf.
Born on 31 December
1941
Sir Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
Place of birth: Govan.
Born on 31 December
1378
Pope Callixtus III (died 1458)
Place of birth: Torreta de Canals.
Born on 31 December
1959
Val Kilmer, American actor (died 2025)
Place of birth: Los Angeles.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1960
Steve Bruce, English footballer and manager
Place of birth: Corbridge.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1982
Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer
Place of birth: Edinburgh.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1997
Cameron Carter-Vickers, English-American soccer player
Place of birth: Southend-on-Sea.
31 December
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: 31 December 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 31 December
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 26 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.
- 406
Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.
Europe · VandalsWikipedia: Crossing of the Rhine - 535
Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.
Europe · PalermoWikipedia: Byzantine Empire - 870
Battle of Englefield: The Vikings clash with ealdorman Æthelwulf of Berkshire. The invaders are driven back to Reading (East Anglia); many Danes are killed.
Britain & Ireland · Battle of EnglefieldWikipedia: Battle of Englefield - 1105
Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.
Europe · Ingelheim am RheinWikipedia: Holy Roman Emperor - 1225
The Lý dynasty of Vietnam ends after 216 years by the enthronement of the boy emperor Trần Thái Tông, husband of the last Lý monarch, Lý Chiêu Hoàng, starting the Trần dynasty.
Asia · Trần dynastyWikipedia: Lý dynasty - 1229
James I the Conqueror, King of Aragon, enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma de Mallorca, Spain), thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Mallorca.
Europe · Palma de MallorcaWikipedia: Conquest of Majorca - 1501
The First Battle of Cannanore commences, seeing the first use of the naval line of battle.
no place on the mapWikipedia: First Battle of Cannanore - 1600
The British East India Company is chartered.
no place on the mapWikipedia: East India Company - 1660
James, Duke of York is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
no place on the mapWikipedia: James II of England - 1670
The expedition of John Narborough leaves Corral Bay, having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish.
Latin America · Corral BayWikipedia: English expedition to Valdivia - 1687
The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
Europe · FranceWikipedia: Huguenots - 1757
Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issues her ukase incorporating Königsberg into Russia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Elizabeth of Russia - 1759
Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Arthur Guinness - 1775
American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec: British forces under General Guy Carleton repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery in a snowstorm.
North America · Battle of QuebecWikipedia: Battle of Quebec - 1790
Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Efimeris - 1796
The incorporation of Baltimore as a city.
North America · BaltimoreWikipedia: Baltimore - 1831
Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
North America · Gramercy ParkWikipedia: Gramercy Park - 1844
The Philippines skipped this date in order to align the country with the rest of Asia, as the trading interest switched to China, Dutch East Indies and neighboring territories after Mexico gained independence from Spain on 27 September 1821. In the islands, Monday, 30 December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday, 1 January 1845.
Asia · PhilippinesWikipedia: Philippines - 1853
A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London, England.
Britain & Ireland · South LondonWikipedia: Iguanodon - 1857
Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada.
North America · OttawaWikipedia: Ottawa - 1862
American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an enabling act that would admit West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Abraham Lincoln - 1862
American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg and the Union Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosecrans.
North America · Battle of Stones RiverWikipedia: American Civil War - 1878
Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.
Europe · MannheimWikipedia: Carl Benz - 1879
Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
North America · Menlo Park, New JerseyWikipedia: Thomas Edison - 1906
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar - 1907
The first ever ball drop in Times Square.
North America · Times Square BallWikipedia: Times Square Ball - 1909
The Manhattan Bridge, connecting Lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn and considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, opened to traffic.
North America · Lower ManhattanWikipedia: Manhattan Bridge - 1942
USS Essex, first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is commissioned.
no place on the mapWikipedia: USS Essex - 1942
World War II: The Royal Navy defeats the Kriegsmarine at the Battle of the Barents Sea. This leads to the resignation of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder a month later.
Oceans · Battle of the Barents SeaWikipedia: Battle of the Barents Sea - 1944
World War II: Operation Nordwind, the last major Wehrmacht offensive on the Western Front, begins.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Western Front - 1946
President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Proclamation 2714 - 1950
Korean War: North Korean troops attacked United Nations forces in the first of two battles at Wonju.
Asia · First and second battles of WonjuWikipedia: Korean War - 1951
Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cold War - 1955
General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
no place on the mapWikipedia: General Motors - 1956
The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.
Europe · BucharestWikipedia: TVR - 1961
RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.
no place on the mapWikipedia: RTÉ - 1963
The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland - 1965
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begin a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.
Africa · Central African RepublicWikipedia: Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état - 1968
MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.
Oceania · MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750Wikipedia: MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 - 1968
The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Tupolev Tu-144 - 1972
Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to victims of that year's Nicaragua earthquake.
Latin America · 1972 Puerto Rico DC-7 crashWikipedia: 1972 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash - 1981
A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
Africa · GhanaWikipedia: 1981 Ghanaian coup d'état - 1983
Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.
North America · New York City Police DepartmentWikipedia: Benjamin Ward - 1983
In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.
Africa · NigeriaWikipedia: 1983 Nigerian coup d'état - 1983
The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
no place on the mapWikipedia: AT&T Corporation - 1983
Two Australian biologists published an article titled "A Synopsis of the Class Reptilia in Australia", initiating the Wells and Wellington affair.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wells and Wellington affair - 1986
Three disgruntled employees set fire to the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing more than 90 people and injuring 140 others, making it the second-deadliest hotel fire in American history.
Latin America · Dupont Plaza Hotel arsonWikipedia: Dupont Plaza Hotel arson - 1991
All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
Asia · Dissolution of the Soviet UnionWikipedia: Dissolution of the Soviet Union - 1992
Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dissolution of Czechoslovakia - 1993
Brandon Teena, an American trans man, was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska; his death led to increased lobbying for hate crime laws in the United States.
North America · Humboldt, NebraskaWikipedia: Brandon Teena - 1994
The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny.
Europe · Battle of GroznyWikipedia: First Chechen War - 1994
This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.
Oceania · Phoenix IslandsWikipedia: Kiribati - 1995
The final comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Calvin and Hobbes - 1998
The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency.
no place on the mapWikipedia: European Exchange Rate Mechanism - 1999
Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.
Asia · Indian Airlines Flight 814Wikipedia: Indian Airlines Flight 814 - 1999
The U.S. government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
Latin America · PanamaWikipedia: Torrijos–Carter Treaties - 1999
The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.
no place on the mapWikipedia: President of Russia - 2001
Rwanda adopts a new national flag and anthem.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Flag of Rwanda - 2004
The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
Asia · Taipei 101Wikipedia: Taipei 101 - 2006
War in Somalia: Transitional Federal Government forces attacked the last stronghold of the Islamic Courts Union in the town of Jilib.
Africa · JilibWikipedia: War in Somalia - 2009
Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
no place on the mapWikipedia: December 2009 lunar eclipse - 2010
Tornadoes touch down in midwestern and southern United States, including Washington County, Arkansas; Greater St. Louis, Sunset Hills, Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, with a few tornadoes in the early hours. A total of 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages.
North America · Midwestern United StatesWikipedia: Southern United States - 2011
NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 2014
A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.
Asia · 2014 Shanghai stampedeWikipedia: 2014 Shanghai stampede - 2015
A fire breaks out at the Downtown Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates, located near the Burj Khalifa, two hours before the fireworks display is due to commence. Sixteen injuries were reported; one had a heart attack, another suffered a major injury, and fourteen others with minor injuries.
Asia · Downtown DubaiWikipedia: Downtown Dubai - 2018
Thirty-nine people are killed after a ten-story building collapses in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, Russia.
Europe · 2018 Magnitogorsk building collapseWikipedia: 2018 Magnitogorsk building collapse - 2019
The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan. This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asia · WuhanWikipedia: COVID-19 pandemic - 2020
The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.
no place on the mapWikipedia: COVID-19 vaccine
What the other Wikipedias remember
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Spanish and Chinese and were translated for this page.
- 1892
In Turkey, the railway built by a group that included Deutsche Bank reaches Ankara.
- 1923
In London (United Kingdom), the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast for the first time on the BBC, marking the time signal for setting clocks.
- 1939
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra gives the first Vienna New Year's Concert in the Golden Hall, conducted by Clemens Krauss.
Who was born on 31 December
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 225 are shown.
- 1869
Henri Matisse, French painter and sculptor (died 1954)
Le Cateau-CambrésisWikipedia: Henri Matisse - 1491
Jacques Cartier, French navigator and explorer (died 1557)
RothéneufWikipedia: Jacques Cartier - 1941
Sir Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1880
George Marshall, American general and politician, 50th United States Secretary of State (died 1959)
UniontownWikipedia: George C. Marshall - 1378
Pope Callixtus III (died 1458)
Torreta de CanalsWikipedia: Pope Callixtus III - 1959
Val Kilmer, American actor (died 2025)
Los AngelesWikipedia: Val Kilmer - 1514
Andreas Vesalius, Belgian anatomist, physician, and author (died 1564)
Mont aux Potences - GalgenbergWikipedia: Andreas Vesalius - 1908
Simon Wiesenthal, Ukrainian-Austrian Nazi hunter and author (died 2005)
BuchachWikipedia: Simon Wiesenthal - 1954
Alex Salmond, Scottish economist and politician (died 2024)
LinlithgowWikipedia: Alex Salmond - 1937
Avram Hershko, Hungarian-Israeli biochemist and physician
KarcagWikipedia: Avram Hershko - 1838
Émile Loubet, French lawyer and politician, 7th President of France (died 1929)
MarsanneWikipedia: Émile Loubet - 1987
Seydou Doumbia, Ivorian footballer
AbidjanWikipedia: Seydou Doumbia - 1830
Isma'il Pasha, Egyptian ruler (died 1895)
- 1720
Charles Edward Stuart, Scottish claimant to the throne of England (died 1788)
- 1668
Herman Boerhaave, Dutch botanist and physician (died 1738)
VoorhoutWikipedia: Herman Boerhaave - 1738
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of India (died 1805)
Grosvenor SquareWikipedia: Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis - 1741
Gottfried August Bürger, German poet and academic (died 1794)
MolmerswendeWikipedia: Gottfried August Bürger - 1855
Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet and scholar (died 1912)
San Mauro PascoliWikipedia: Giovanni Pascoli - 1959
Baron Waqa, Nauruan composer and politician, 14th President of Nauru
Boe DistrictWikipedia: Baron Waqa - 1805
Marie d'Agoult, German-French historian and author (died 1876)
FrankfurtWikipedia: Marie d'Agoult - 1815
George Meade, American general and engineer (died 1872)
- 1960
Steve Bruce, English footballer and manager
CorbridgeWikipedia: Steve Bruce - 1982
Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer
EdinburghWikipedia: Craig Gordon - 695
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, Umayyad general (died 715)
- 1878
Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan-Argentinian author, poet, and playwright (died 1937)
- 1947
Rita Lee, Brazilian musician and author (died 2023)
São PauloWikipedia: Rita Lee - 1968
Junot Diaz, Dominican-born American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
Santo DomingoWikipedia: Junot Díaz - 1972
Grégory Coupet, French footballer
Le Puy-en-VelayWikipedia: Grégory Coupet - 1842
Giovanni Boldini, Italian painter (died 1931)
FerraraWikipedia: Giovanni Boldini - 1930
Odetta, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (died 2008)
BirminghamWikipedia: Odetta - 1550
Henry I, Duke of Guise (died 1588)
JoinvilleWikipedia: Henri I, Duke of Guise - 1572
Emperor Go-Yōzei of Japan, (died 1617)
- 1864
Robert Grant Aitken, American astronomer and academic (died 1951)
- 1881
Max Pechstein, German painter and academic (died 1955)
ZwickauWikipedia: Max Pechstein - 1763
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (died 1806)
ValensoleWikipedia: Pierre-Charles Villeneuve - 1952
Vaughan Jones, New Zealand mathematician and academic (died 2020)
GisborneWikipedia: Vaughan Jones - 1878
Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman (died 1966)
WoodbridgeWikipedia: Elizabeth Arden - 1901
Karl-August Fagerholm, Finnish politician, 20th Prime Minister of Finland (died 1984)
- 1928
Veijo Meri, Finnish author and translator (died 2015)
VyborgWikipedia: Veijo Meri - 1995
Gabby Douglas, American gymnast
Newport NewsWikipedia: Gabby Douglas - 1945
Connie Willis, American author
DenverWikipedia: Connie Willis - 1954
Hermann Tilke, German racing driver, architect and engineer
Heggen (Finnentrop)Wikipedia: Hermann Tilke - 1944
Taylor Hackford, American director, producer, and screenwriter
Santa BarbaraWikipedia: Taylor Hackford - 2002
Joe Scally, American soccer player
Lake GroveWikipedia: Joe Scally - 1987
Nemanja Nikolić, Hungarian footballer
- 1885
Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (died 1970)
- 1997
Cameron Carter-Vickers, English-American soccer player
Southend-on-SeaWikipedia: Cameron Carter-Vickers - 1504
Beatrice of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy (died 1538)
- 1798
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian physician, philologist, and academic (died 1850)
Koeru Rural MunicipalityWikipedia: Friedrich Robert Faehlmann - 1980
Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player
OamaruWikipedia: Richie McCaw - 1953
Jane Badler, American actress
BrooklynWikipedia: Jane Badler - 1965
Tony Dorigo, Australian-English footballer and sportscaster
MelbourneWikipedia: Tony Dorigo - 1985
Jan Smit, Dutch singer and television host
VolendamWikipedia: Jan Smit - 1999
Calvin Bassey, Italian-Nigerian footballer
- 1974
Tony Kanaan, Brazilian race car driver
SalvadorWikipedia: Tony Kanaan - 1979
Ricky Whittle, British actor
OldhamWikipedia: Ricky Whittle - 1899
Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1940)
Santiago PapasquiaroWikipedia: Silvestre Revueltas - 1933
Edward Bunker, American author, screenwriter, and actor (died 2005)
HollywoodWikipedia: Edward Bunker - 1938
Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (died 2013)
- 1948
Sandy Jardine, Scottish footballer and manager (died 2014)
EdinburghWikipedia: Sandy Jardine
What is celebrated on 31 December
- Christian feast day: Pope Sylvester I (Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: December 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan)
- New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: First Night (United States)
- New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: Last Day of the Year or Bisperás ng Bagong Taón, special holiday between Rizal Day and New Year's Day (Philippines)
- New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: Novy God Eve (Russia)
- New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: Ōmisoka (Japan)
- New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: The first day of Hogmanay or "Auld Year's Night" (Scotland)
- The seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)
- The sixth and penultimate day of Kwanzaa (United States)
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.