A birthday on the globe
4 March on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 4 March, the English Wikipedia lists 86 events and 436 births. 37 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; 10 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 4 March through the years
The Earth on 4 March
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in March 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 4 March the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 6.2° south. In London, the day lasts about 11 hours 10 minutes.
Beyond 84° south the Sun no longer sets; beyond 84° 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.
Asia · Ilagan
1686
After being unofficially established as a settlement in 1678, the Dominican mission of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
On the map: Ilagan.
Asia · Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen
2017
Construction began on a 69-metre (226 ft) statue of the Buddha at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen in Bangkok.
On the map: Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Latin America · Masaya Volcano
2020
Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.
On the map: Masaya Volcano.
North America · United States Congress
1789
In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect.
On the map: United States Congress.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian and Chinese.
North America · Chicago
1837
The city of Chicago is incorporated.
On the map: Chicago.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
North America · Baltimore
1918
The United States Navy suffered its largest non-combat loss of life when the collier USS Cyclops set sail from Barbados to Baltimore and was never seen again, presumably disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle.
On the map: Baltimore.
4 March
What the other Wikipedias remember#
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Spanish and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · New Delhi
1951
In New Delhi (India), the first Asian Games begin.
On the map: New Delhi.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
The article on Wikipedia in Spanish: Juegos Asiáticos de 1951
4 March
Born on 4 March#
The English Wikipedia lists 436 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 4 March
1678
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (died 1741)
Place of birth: Venice.
Born on 4 March
1932
Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (died 2008)
Place of birth: Johannesburg.
Born on 4 March
1965
Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-American novelist
Place of birth: Kabul.
Born on 4 March
1954
Catherine O'Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian (died 2026)
Place of birth: Toronto.
Born on 4 March
1394
Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorer (died 1460)
Place of birth: Porto.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1951
Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
Place of birth: Glasgow.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1951
Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2025)
Place of birth: Middlesbrough.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1936
Jim Clark, Scottish racing driver (died 1968)
Place of birth: Kilmany.
4 March
Number one in the charts that week
At the cinema
An animal recorded that day
The record can be seen in GBIF, which brings together wildlife records from around the world.
All your birthdays
The weather that day
Data: Met Office Hadley Centre (HadCET); NOAA (GHCN-Daily, Mauna Loa).
Above the Earth
Sources: Jonathan McDowell, GCAT (launches); GFZ Potsdam (Kp index). Days are counted in Universal Time.
Football that day
International matches played that day:
Source: the “International football results” dataset kept by Mart Jürisoo (CC0).
Also that day
The earthquake’s page at the USGS
Source: the USGS catalogue. The day is counted in Universal Time (UTC).
In those days
Make a link for someone
Type the name, pick the day and the year of birth. The link opens straight on their day, with their name in the greeting.
The link carries the name, date and place typed here; anyone who gets it can see them.
Put another birthday beside it
Your mother’s, your child’s, a friend’s: the two days appear side by side.
Below: 4 March through the years.
The whole globe of the day
Drag the globe to turn it. Touch a ray or a point to read what happened there.
Everything Wikipedia lists for 4 March
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 39 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.
- 51
Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Nero - 306
Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Martyr - 581
Yang Jian declares himself Emperor Wen of Sui, ending the Northern Zhou and beginning the Sui dynasty.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Emperor Wen of Sui - 852
Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Knyaz - 938
Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Relic - 1152
Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Frederick Barbarossa - 1171
Alexios II Komnenos is crowned Byzantine co-emperor to his father Manuel I Komnenos.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Alexios II Komnenos - 1238
The Battle of the Sit River begins two centuries of Mongol horde domination of Rus.
Europe · Battle of the Sit RiverWikipedia: Battle of the Sit River - 1351
Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Uthong - 1386
Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Władysław II Jagiełło - 1461
Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wars of the Roses - 1493
Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.
Europe · LisbonWikipedia: Voyages of Christopher Columbus - 1519
Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Aztecs - 1628
The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Massachusetts Bay Colony - 1665
English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands, marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
Oceans · North SeaWikipedia: Second Anglo-Dutch War - 1675
John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.
no place on the mapWikipedia: John Flamsteed - 1681
Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
North America · PennsylvaniaWikipedia: William Penn - 1686
After being unofficially established as a settlement in 1678, the Dominican mission of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
Asia · IlaganWikipedia: Dominican Order - 1773
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart departs Italy after the last of his three tours there.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 1776
American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
North America · Fortification of Dorchester HeightsWikipedia: Fortification of Dorchester Heights - 1789
In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect.
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: United States Congress - 1790
France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Departments of France - 1791
Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.
North America · VermontWikipedia: Vermont - 1794
The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: United States Congress - 1797
John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.
North America · Congress HallWikipedia: Inauguration of John Adams - 1804
Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales.
Oceania · Castle Hill convict rebellionWikipedia: Castle Hill convict rebellion - 1813
Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Cyril VI of Constantinople - 1814
War of 1812: Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
North America · Battle of LongwoodsWikipedia: Battle of Longwoods - 1824
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the British Isles, was founded as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck by author and philanthropist William Hillary.
Britain & Ireland · British IslesWikipedia: Royal National Lifeboat Institution - 1837
The city of Chicago is incorporated.
North America · ChicagoWikipedia: Chicago - 1848
Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia.
Europe · ItalyWikipedia: Statuto Albertino - 1849
Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States of America and Millard Fillmore, 12th Vice President, did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.
North America · United States CapitolWikipedia: Inauguration of Zachary Taylor - 1861
The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Flags of the Confederate States of America - 1865
The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Flags of the Confederate States of America - 1865
U.S. politician Andrew Johnson makes his drunk vice-presidential inaugural address in Washington, D.C.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Andrew Johnson's drunken vice-presidential inaugural address - 1878
Pope Leo XIII reestablishes the Catholic Church in Scotland, recreating sees and naming bishops for the first time since 1603.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pope Leo XIII - 1882
Britain's first electric trams run in east London.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Trams in London - 1890
The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 8,094 feet (2,467 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Forth Bridge - 1899
Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
Oceania · Cooktown, QueenslandWikipedia: Cyclone Mahina - 1901
William McKinley is inaugurated President of the United States for the second time; Theodore Roosevelt is vice president.
North America · United States CapitolWikipedia: Second inauguration of William McKinley - 1908
The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.
North America · Collinwood school fireWikipedia: Collinwood school fire - 1909
U.S. President William Howard Taft uses what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.
no place on the mapWikipedia: William Howard Taft - 1913
First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.
Europe · Battle of BizaniWikipedia: Battle of Bizani - 1913
The United States Department of Labor is formed.
no place on the mapWikipedia: United States Department of Labor - 1917
Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
North America · MontanaWikipedia: Jeannette Rankin - 1918
A case of influenza is recorded at Camp Funston, Kansas, conventionally marking the beginning of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic.
North America · Camp FunstonWikipedia: Camp Funston - 1918
The United States Navy suffered its largest non-combat loss of life when the collier USS Cyclops set sail from Barbados to Baltimore and was never seen again, presumably disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle.
North America · BaltimoreWikipedia: United States Navy - 1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States.
North America · United States CapitolWikipedia: First inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1933
The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Austrian Parliament - 1933
The United States Senate confirms Frances Perkins as United States Secretary of Labor and she is sworn in the same day, making her the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
no place on the mapWikipedia: United States Senate - 1941
World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands, the first large-scale British Commando raid.
Europe · Operation ClaymoreWikipedia: Operation Claymore - 1943
The Holocaust: Almost all Jews in Bulgarian-occupied Western Thrace were deported to Treblinka extermination camp to be killed.
Europe · Treblinka extermination campWikipedia: The Holocaust - 1943
World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena.
Europe · Battle of FardykambosWikipedia: Battle of Fardykambos - 1943
World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.
Oceania · Battle of the Bismarck SeaWikipedia: Battle of the Bismarck Sea - 1944
Murder, Inc. leader Lepke Buchalter was executed, becoming the only American mob boss to receive the death penalty after being convicted of murder.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Murder, Inc. - 1944
World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.
Europe · BerlinWikipedia: Big Week - 1946
The sixth President of Finland, Gustaf Mannerheim, submits his resignation for health reasons.
no place on the mapWikipedia: President of Finland - 1955
An order to protect the endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) is legalized.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Saimaa ringed seal - 1957
The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
no place on the mapWikipedia: S&P 500 - 1960
The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.
Latin America · La Coubre explosionWikipedia: La Coubre explosion - 1962
A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.
Africa · Douala International AirportWikipedia: Caledonian Airways Flight 153 - 1966
A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
Asia · Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402Wikipedia: Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 - 1966
In an interview in the London Evening Standard, the Beatles' John Lennon declares that the band is "more popular than Jesus now".
no place on the mapWikipedia: The Standard - 1970
French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
no place on the mapWikipedia: French submarine Eurydice - 1976
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland, resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
Britain & Ireland · Northern IrelandWikipedia: Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention - 1977
The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
Europe · 1977 Vrancea earthquakeWikipedia: 1977 Vrancea earthquake - 1979
The space probe Voyager 1 discovered the rings of Jupiter, the third ring system to be discovered in the Solar System, after those of Saturn and Uranus.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Voyager 1 - 1980
Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.
Africa · ZimbabweWikipedia: 1980 Southern Rhodesian general election - 1985
The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
North America · Food and Drug AdministrationWikipedia: Food and Drug Administration - 1986
The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Soviet Union - 1987
U.S. president Ronald Reagan made a nationally televised address in which he accepted full responsibility for illegal actions in the Iran–Contra affair.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ronald Reagan - 1990
American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference tournament game.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Basketball - 1990
Lennox Sebe, President for life of the South African Bantustan of Ciskei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by Brigadier Oupa Gqozo.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1990 Ciskei coup d'état - 1994
Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-62.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle program - 1996
A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Weyauwega, Wisconsin, derailment - 1998
Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
North America · Supreme Court of the United StatesWikipedia: Supreme Court of the United States - 2000
Playstation 2 was released in Japan.
no place on the mapWikipedia: PlayStation 2 - 2001
BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.
Britain & Ireland · 2001 BBC bombingWikipedia: 2001 BBC bombing - 2002
Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
Asia · Battle of Takur GharWikipedia: War in Afghanistan - 2007
Fourteen-year-old English schoolgirl Charlotte Shaw drowned on Dartmoor, becoming the first person to die in connection with the annual Ten Tors challenge.
Britain & Ireland · DartmoorWikipedia: Death of Charlotte Shaw - 2009
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.
Africa · DarfurWikipedia: International Criminal Court - 2012
A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.
Africa · Brazzaville arms dump blastsWikipedia: Brazzaville arms dump blasts - 2015
At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Europe · 2015 Zasyadko mine disasterWikipedia: 2015 Zasyadko mine disaster - 2017
Construction began on a 69-metre (226 ft) statue of the Buddha at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen in Bangkok.
Asia · Wat Paknam BhasicharoenWikipedia: The Buddha - 2018
Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved.
Britain & Ireland · Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia SkripalWikipedia: Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal - 2020
Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.
Latin America · Masaya VolcanoWikipedia: Nik Wallenda
What the other Wikipedias remember
For these years the English list has nothing on this day. The events below come from the same day’s lists on Wikipedia in Spanish and were translated for this page.
- 1951
In New Delhi (India), the first Asian Games begin.
Who was born on 4 March
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 436 are shown.
- 1678
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (died 1741)
- 1932
Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (died 2008)
JohannesburgWikipedia: Miriam Makeba - 1965
Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-American novelist
- 1954
François Fillon, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
Le MansWikipedia: François Fillon - 1968
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek banker and politician, Prime Minister of Greece
General-Maternity District Hospital Helena VenizelouWikipedia: Kyriakos Mitsotakis - 1769
Muhammad Ali, Ottoman military leader and pasha (died 1849)
- 1954
Catherine O'Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian (died 2026)
TorontoWikipedia: Catherine O'Hara - 1938
Alpha Condé, Guinean politician, President of Guinea
- 1394
Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorer (died 1460)
- 1904
George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (died 1968)
- 1951
Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
GlasgowWikipedia: Kenny Dalglish - 1951
Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2025)
MiddlesbroughWikipedia: Chris Rea - 1949
Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian politician, 2nd President of Abkhazia (died 2011)
SokhumiWikipedia: Sergei Bagapsh - 1982
Landon Donovan, American soccer player and coach
OntarioWikipedia: Landon Donovan - 1916
Hans Eysenck, German-English psychologist and theorist (died 1997)
BerlinWikipedia: Hans Eysenck - 1932
Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist, photographer, and poet (died 2007)
- 1936
Jim Clark, Scottish racing driver (died 1968)
KilmanyWikipedia: Jim Clark - 1992
Bernd Leno, German footballer
Bietigheim-BissingenWikipedia: Bernd Leno - 1992
Erik Lamela, Argentine footballer
Buenos AiresWikipedia: Erik Lamela - 1950
Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas
HaskellWikipedia: Rick Perry - 1188
Blanche of Castile, French queen consort (died 1252)
PalenciaWikipedia: Blanche of Castile - 1898
Georges Dumézil, French philologist and academic (died 1986)
12th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Georges Dumézil - 1910
Tancredo Neves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (died 1985)
São João del ReiWikipedia: Tancredo Neves - 1974
Ariel Ortega, Argentinian footballer
Libertador General San MartínWikipedia: Ariel Ortega - 1935
Bent Larsen, Danish chess player and author (died 2010)
Tilsted ParishWikipedia: Bent Larsen - 1963
Jason Newsted, American musician and songwriter
Battle CreekWikipedia: Jason Newsted - 1904
Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (died 1973)
- 1943
Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter and actor (died 2012)
BolognaWikipedia: Lucio Dalla - 1948
James Ellroy, American writer
Los AngelesWikipedia: James Ellroy - 1923
Patrick Moore, English astronomer and television host (died 2012)
PinnerWikipedia: Patrick Moore - 1990
Draymond Green, American basketball player
SaginawWikipedia: Draymond Green - 1973
Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council
TorquayWikipedia: Penny Mordaunt - 1929
Bernard Haitink, Dutch violinist and conductor (died 2021)
AmsterdamWikipedia: Bernard Haitink - 1986
Park Min-young, South Korean actress
- 1928
Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (died 2010)
NottinghamWikipedia: Alan Sillitoe - 1952
Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1958
Patricia Heaton, American actress
Bay VillageWikipedia: Patricia Heaton - 1965
Paul W. S. Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter
WallsendWikipedia: Paul W. S. Anderson - 1968
Patsy Kensit, English model and actress
HounslowWikipedia: Patsy Kensit - 1875
Mihály Károlyi, Hungarian politician, President of Hungary (died 1955)
BudapestWikipedia: Mihály Károlyi - 1898
Hans Krebs, German general (died 1945)
HelmstedtWikipedia: Hans Krebs - 1913
John Garfield, American actor and singer (died 1952)
Lower East SideWikipedia: John Garfield - 1925
Paul Mauriat, French conductor and composer (died 2006)
MarseilleWikipedia: Paul Mauriat - 1972
Jos Verstappen, Dutch racing driver
MontfortWikipedia: Jos Verstappen - 1916
Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (died 2000)
BolognaWikipedia: Giorgio Bassani - 1934
Anne Haney, American actress (died 2001)
MemphisWikipedia: Anne Haney - 1974
Mladen Krstajić, Serbian footballer and manager
- 1907
Maria Branyas, American-Spanish supercentenarian (died 2024)
San FranciscoWikipedia: Maria Branyas - 1969
Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italian footballer and manager
- 1947
Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
- 1990
Andrea Bowen, American actress
ColumbusWikipedia: Andrea Bowen - 1996
Antonio Sanabria, Paraguayan footballer
San LorenzoWikipedia: Antonio Sanabria - 1980
Rohan Bopanna, Indian tennis player
BengaluruWikipedia: Rohan Bopanna - 1988
Laura Siegemund, German tennis player
FilderstadtWikipedia: Laura Siegemund - 1990
Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer
BarcelonaWikipedia: Fran Mérida - 1993
Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (died 2015)
LivingstonWikipedia: Bobbi Kristina Brown - 1980
Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
Los MochisWikipedia: Omar Bravo - 1863
R. I. Pocock, English zoologist and archaeologist (died 1947)
- 1881
Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist (died 1948)
West NewtonWikipedia: Richard C. Tolman - 1941
Adrian Lyne, English director, producer, and screenwriter
PeterboroughWikipedia: Adrian Lyne
What is celebrated on 4 March
- Christian feast day: Adrian of Nicomedia
- Christian feast day: Casimir
- Christian feast day: Felix of Rhuys
- Christian feast day: Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)
- Christian feast day: Peter of Pappacarbone
- Christian feast day: Blessed Placide Viel
- Christian feast day: Blessed Zoltán Meszlényi
- Christian feast day: March 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- St Casimir's Day (Poland and Lithuania)
- World Obesity Day
- World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development
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.