A birthday on the globe
7 April on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 7 April, the English Wikipedia lists 78 events and 266 births. 37 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; eight more are dashed circles, where the sentence links only to a country or a sea. The taller the ray, the longer ago it happened. The people born that day come further down, as blue points.
A birthday, yours or someone else’s:
Turn it into a greetingScroll: the globe turns to each place
The day you were born, on the globe.
Three things from your day
Scroll: your day first, then 7 April through the years
The Earth on 7 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 7 April the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 7.0° north. In London, the day lasts about 13 hours 20 minutes.
Beyond 83° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 83° 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 · Manchester
1824
The Mechanics' Institution is established in Manchester, England at the Bridgewater Arms hotel, as part of a national movement for the education of working men. The institute is the precursor to three Universities in the city: the University of Manchester, UMIST and the Metropolitan University of Manchester (MMU).
On the map: Manchester.
Europe · 1655 conclave
1655
After a conclave lasting eighty days, the College of Cardinals elected Fabio Chigi as Pope Alexander VII.
On the map: 1655 conclave.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Europe · Theater an der Wien
1805
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premieres his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
On the map: Theater an der Wien.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Europe · Algeciras Conference
1906
The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Algeciras Conference”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · Broadway theatre
1949
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, based on Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener, opened on Broadway.
On the map: Broadway theatre.
North America · Washington, D.C.
1965
Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate in Washington, D.C., against the termination of the Colville tribe.
On the map: Washington, D.C..
North America · Supreme Court of the United States
2022
Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed for the Supreme Court of the United States, becoming the first black female justice.
On the map: Supreme Court of the United States.
7 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 Spanish and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Cartagena
1813
In New Granada (present-day Colombia), Manuel Rodríguez Torices (president of the Free and Independent State of Cartagena) makes the coastal settlement of Barranquilla a "villa" and raises it to capital of the department of Tierradentro or Barlovento.
On the map: Cartagena.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
7 April
Born on 7 April#
The English Wikipedia lists 266 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 7 April
1954
Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial artist, actor, stuntman, director, producer, and screenwriter
Place of birth: Victoria Peak.
Born on 7 April
1770
William Wordsworth, English poet (died 1850)
Place of birth: Cockermouth.
Born on 7 April
1889
Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1957)
Place of birth: Vicuña.
Born on 7 April
1964
Russell Crowe, New Zealand-Australian actor
Place of birth: Strathmore Park.
Born on 7 April
1939
Francis Ford Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter
Place of birth: Detroit.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1991
Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter
Place of birth: Essex.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1939
David Frost, English journalist and game show host (died 2013)
Place of birth: Tenterden.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1978
Duncan James, English singer-songwriter and actor
Place of birth: Salisbury.
7 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: 7 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 7 April
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 33 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.
- 451
Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
Europe · MetzWikipedia: Attila - 529
First Corpus Juris Civilis, a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Corpus Juris Civilis - 1141
Empress Matilda becomes the first female ruler of England, adopting the title "Lady of the English".
no place on the mapWikipedia: Empress Matilda - 1348
Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV charters Prague University.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Charles University - 1449
Felix V abdicates his claim to the papacy, ending the reign of the final Antipope.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Amadeus VIII of Savoy - 1521
Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.
Asia · CebuWikipedia: Ferdinand Magellan - 1541
Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
Europe · LisbonWikipedia: Francis Xavier - 1655
After a conclave lasting eighty days, the College of Cardinals elected Fabio Chigi as Pope Alexander VII.
Europe · 1655 conclaveWikipedia: 1655 conclave - 1724
Premiere performance of Bach's St John Passion, BWV 245, at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig.
Europe · St. Nicholas Church, LeipzigWikipedia: St John Passion structure - 1767
End of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Burmese–Siamese War - 1788
Settlers establish Marietta, Ohio, the first permanent settlement created by U.S. citizens in the recently organized Northwest Territory.
North America · Marietta, OhioWikipedia: List of early settlers of Marietta, Ohio - 1790
Russo-Turkish war (1787–1792): Greek privateer Lambros Katsonis loses three of his ships in the Battle of Andros.
Europe · Battle of AndrosWikipedia: Battle of Andros - 1795
The French First Republic adopts the kilogram and gram as its primary unit of mass.
Europe · French First RepublicWikipedia: French First Republic - 1798
The Mississippi Territory is organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and the Spanish Empire. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mississippi Territory - 1805
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premieres his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
Europe · Theater an der WienWikipedia: Ludwig van Beethoven - 1805
Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Lewis and Clark Expedition - 1824
The Mechanics' Institution is established in Manchester, England at the Bridgewater Arms hotel, as part of a national movement for the education of working men. The institute is the precursor to three Universities in the city: the University of Manchester, UMIST and the Metropolitan University of Manchester (MMU).
Britain & Ireland · ManchesterWikipedia: University of Manchester - 1831
Pedro II becomes emperor of the Empire of Brazil.
Latin America · Empire of BrazilWikipedia: Pedro II of Brazil - 1862
American Civil War: The Union's Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee.
North America · Battle of ShilohWikipedia: American Civil War - 1868
Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation, is assassinated by a Fenian activist.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Thomas D'Arcy McGee - 1896
An Arctic expedition led by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen reached 86°13.6′N, almost three degrees beyond the previous Farthest North latitude.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Nansen's Fram expedition - 1906
Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
Europe · Mount VesuviusWikipedia: Mount Vesuvius - 1906
The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
Europe · Algeciras ConferenceWikipedia: Algeciras Conference - 1922
Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leases federal petroleum reserves to private oil companies on excessively generous terms.
North America · Teapot Dome scandalWikipedia: Teapot Dome scandal - 1926
Violet Gibson attempts to assassinate Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Violet Gibson - 1933
Nazi Germany issues the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service banning Jews and political dissidents from civil service posts.
Europe · Nazi GermanyWikipedia: Nazi Germany - 1933
Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.)
North America · United StatesWikipedia: Prohibition in the United States - 1939
Benito Mussolini declares an Italian protectorate over Albania and forces King Zog I into exile.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Kingdom of Albania in personal union with Italy - 1939
Italy invades Albania.
Europe · AlbaniaWikipedia: Italian invasion of Albania - 1940
Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Booker T. Washington - 1943
Ioannis Rallis becomes collaborationist Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis Occupation.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ioannis Rallis - 1943
The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Terebovlia, Germans order 1,100 Jews to undress and march through the city to the nearby village of Plebanivka, where they are shot and buried in ditches.
Europe · TerebovliaWikipedia: The Holocaust in Ukraine - 1943
The National Football League makes helmets mandatory.
no place on the mapWikipedia: National Football League - 1944
In the Fragheto massacre, soldiers belonging to the German 356th Infantry Division kill 30 Italian civilians and 15 partisans near Casteldelci in central-northern Italy.
Europe · Fragheto massacreWikipedia: Fragheto massacre - 1945
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato, one of the two largest ever constructed, is sunk by United States Navy aircraft during Operation Ten-Go.
Oceans · Operation Kikusui IWikipedia: Operation Kikusui I - 1946
The Soviet Union annexes East Prussia as the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Soviet Union - 1948
The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World Health Organization - 1949
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, based on Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener, opened on Broadway.
North America · Broadway theatreWikipedia: Rodgers and Hammerstein - 1954
United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Dwight D. Eisenhower - 1956
Francoist Spain agrees to surrender its protectorate in Morocco.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Francoist Spain - 1964
American Presbyterian minister Bruce W. Klunder was killed by a bulldozer while protesting the construction of a segregated school in Cleveland, Ohio.
North America · ClevelandWikipedia: Bruce W. Klunder - 1964
IBM announces the System/360.
no place on the mapWikipedia: IBM - 1965
Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate in Washington, D.C., against the termination of the Colville tribe.
North America · Washington, D.C.Wikipedia: National Congress of American Indians - 1968
Two-time Formula One British World Champion Jim Clark dies in an accident during a Formula Two race in Hockenheim.
Europe · HockenheimringWikipedia: Formula One - 1969
The Internet's symbolic birth date: Publication of RFC 1.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Internet - 1971
Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces his decision to quicken the pace of Vietnamization.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Vietnam War - 1972
Vietnam War: Communist forces overrun the South Vietnamese town of Loc Ninh.
Asia · Battle of Loc NinhWikipedia: Battle of Loc Ninh - 1976
Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party after being arrested for faking his own death.
no place on the mapWikipedia: John Stonehouse - 1977
German Federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Siegfried Buback - 1978
Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Neutron bomb - 1979
Uganda–Tanzania War: Tanzanian forces defeated Ugandan troops and their Libyan allies at the Battle of Entebbe, opening the way for an advance on the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
Africa · EntebbeWikipedia: Uganda–Tanzania War - 1980
During the Iran hostage crisis, the United States severs relations with Iran.
Asia · Iran hostage crisisWikipedia: Iran hostage crisis - 1982
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh is arrested.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Sadegh Ghotbzadeh - 1983
During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.
no place on the mapWikipedia: STS-6 - 1988
Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov orders the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan - 1989
Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway, killing 42 sailors.
Oceans · Barents SeaWikipedia: Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets - 1990
A fire breaks out on the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, killing 159 people.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ferry - 1990
John Poindexter is convicted for his role in the Iran–Contra affair. In 1991 the convictions are reversed on appeal.
no place on the mapWikipedia: John Poindexter - 1994
Auburn Calloway attempts to destroy Federal Express Flight 705 in order to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy.
North America · MemphisWikipedia: Federal Express Flight 705 - 1994
Rwandan genocide: Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda, and soldiers kill the civilian Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana.
Africa · KigaliWikipedia: Rwandan genocide - 1995
First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops begin a massacre of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.
Europe · Samashki massacreWikipedia: Samashki massacre - 1999
Turkish Airlines Flight 5904 crashes near Ceyhan in southern Turkey, killing six people.
Asia · Turkish Airlines Flight 5904Wikipedia: Turkish Airlines Flight 5904 - 2001
NASA launches the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 2003
Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide demands reparations of $21 billion from France for the Haitian independence debt.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Haitian independence debt - 2003
Iraq War: U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime falls two days later.
Asia · Battle of BaghdadWikipedia: Battle of Baghdad - 2005
First release of Git distributed version control system.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Git - 2009
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.
Latin America · PeruWikipedia: Peru - 2009
Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent.
Europe · April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election protestsWikipedia: April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election protests - 2011
A gunman opens fire at an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing twelve children and injuring 22 others before committing suicide.
Latin America · Rio de Janeiro school shootingWikipedia: Rio de Janeiro school shooting - 2011
The Israel Defense Forces use their Iron Dome missile system to successfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile intercept ever.
Asia · Gaza StripWikipedia: Gaza Strip - 2017
A man deliberately drives a hijacked truck into a crowd of people in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people and injuring fifteen others.
Europe · 2017 Stockholm truck attackWikipedia: 2017 Stockholm truck attack - 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump orders the 2017 Shayrat missile strike against Syria in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.
Asia · 2017 Shayrat missile strikeWikipedia: 2017 Shayrat missile strike - 2018
Former Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is arrested for corruption by determination of Judge Sérgio Moro, from the "Car-Wash Operation". Lula stayed imprisoned for 580 days, before being released by the Brazilian Supreme Court.
Latin America · Supreme Federal CourtWikipedia: Operation Car Wash - 2018
Syria launches the Douma chemical attack during the Eastern Ghouta offensive of the Syrian Civil War.
Asia · Douma chemical attackWikipedia: Douma chemical attack - 2020
COVID-19 pandemic: Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly resigns for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on USS Theodore Roosevelt and the dismissal of Brett Crozier.
no place on the mapWikipedia: COVID-19 pandemic on USS Theodore Roosevelt - 2020
COVID-19 pandemic: China ends its lockdown in Wuhan.
Asia · COVID-19 lockdown in ChinaWikipedia: COVID-19 lockdown in China - 2021
COVID-19 pandemic: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces that the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant has become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States.
North America · Centers for Disease Control and PreventionWikipedia: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - 2022
Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed for the Supreme Court of the United States, becoming the first black female justice.
North America · Supreme Court of the United StatesWikipedia: Supreme Court of the United States
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.
- 1813
In New Granada (present-day Colombia), Manuel Rodríguez Torices (president of the Free and Independent State of Cartagena) makes the coastal settlement of Barranquilla a "villa" and raises it to capital of the department of Tierradentro or Barlovento.
Who was born on 7 April
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 266 are shown.
- 1954
Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial artist, actor, stuntman, director, producer, and screenwriter
Victoria PeakWikipedia: Jackie Chan - 1770
William Wordsworth, English poet (died 1850)
CockermouthWikipedia: William Wordsworth - 1889
Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1957)
- 1964
Russell Crowe, New Zealand-Australian actor
Strathmore ParkWikipedia: Russell Crowe - 1944
Gerhard Schröder, German lawyer and politician, 7th Chancellor of Germany
Mossenberg-WöhrenWikipedia: Gerhard Schröder - 1939
Francis Ford Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1920
Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (died 2012)
VaranasiWikipedia: Ravi Shankar - 1915
Billie Holiday, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 1959)
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: Billie Holiday - 1506
Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint, co-founded the Society of Jesus (died 1552)
- 1983
Franck Ribéry, French footballer
Boulogne-sur-MerWikipedia: Franck Ribéry - 1652
Pope Clement XII (died 1740)
FlorenceWikipedia: Pope Clement XII - 1772
Charles Fourier, French philosopher (died 1837)
BesançonWikipedia: Charles Fourier - 1882
Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (died 1934)
Brandenburg an der HavelWikipedia: Kurt von Schleicher - 1928
James Garner, American actor, singer, and producer (died 2014)
NormanWikipedia: James Garner - 1786
William R. King, American lawyer and politician, 13th Vice President of the United States (died 1853)
Sampson CountyWikipedia: William R. King - 1987
Martín Cáceres, Uruguayan footballer
MontevideoWikipedia: Martín Cáceres - 1991
Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter
- 1985
Humza Yousaf, Scottish politician
GlasgowWikipedia: Humza Yousaf - 1893
Allen Dulles, American lawyer and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (died 1969)
WatertownWikipedia: Allen Dulles - 1938
Jerry Brown, American lawyer and politician, 34th and 39th Governor of California
San FranciscoWikipedia: Jerry Brown - 1946
Robert Metcalfe, American engineer and entrepreneur
BrooklynWikipedia: Robert Metcalfe - 1928
Alan J. Pakula, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1998)
The BronxWikipedia: Alan J. Pakula - 1967
Bodo Illgner, German footballer
KoblenzWikipedia: Bodo Illgner - 1986
Christian Fuchs, Austrian footballer
NeunkirchenWikipedia: Christian Fuchs - 1803
Flora Tristan, French author and activist (died 1844)
- 1991
Luka Milivojević, Serbian footballer
KragujevacWikipedia: Luka Milivojević - 1727
Michel Adanson, French botanist, entomologist, and mycologist (died 1806)
Aix-en-ProvenceWikipedia: Michel Adanson - 1989
Teddy Riner, French judoka
Pointe-à-PitreWikipedia: Teddy Riner - 1613
Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (died 1675)
LeidenWikipedia: Gerrit Dou - 1890
Victoria Ocampo, Argentine writer (died 1979)
Buenos AiresWikipedia: Victoria Ocampo - 1939
David Frost, English journalist and game show host (died 2013)
TenterdenWikipedia: David Frost - 1947
Florian Schneider, German singer and drummer (died 2020)
ÖhningenWikipedia: Florian Schneider - 1971
Guillaume Depardieu, French actor (died 2008)
14th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Guillaume Depardieu - 1931
Daniel Ellsberg, American activist and author (died 2023)
ChicagoWikipedia: Daniel Ellsberg - 1973
Marco Delvecchio, Italian footballer
- 1883
Gino Severini, Italian-French painter and author (died 1966)
CortonaWikipedia: Gino Severini - 1891
Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded the Lego Group (died 1958)
Filskov ParishWikipedia: Ole Kirk Christiansen - 1990
Sorana Cîrstea, Romanian tennis player
BucharestWikipedia: Sorana Cîrstea - 1897
Walter Winchell, American journalist and radio host (died 1972)
New York CityWikipedia: Walter Winchell - 1938
Freddie Hubbard, American trumpet player and composer (died 2008)
IndianapolisWikipedia: Freddie Hubbard - 1942
Jeetendra, Indian actor, TV and film producer
AmritsarWikipedia: Jeetendra - 1946
Colette Besson, French runner and educator (died 2005)
Saint-Georges-de-DidonneWikipedia: Colette Besson - 1978
Duncan James, English singer-songwriter and actor
SalisburyWikipedia: Duncan James - 1989
Franco Di Santo, Argentinian footballer
MendozaWikipedia: Franco Di Santo - 1780
William Ellery Channing, American preacher and theologian (died 1842)
- 1931
Donald Barthelme, American short story writer and novelist (died 1989)
PhiladelphiaWikipedia: Donald Barthelme - 1870
Gustav Landauer, German theorist and activist (died 1919)
KarlsruheWikipedia: Gustav Landauer - 1976
Kevin Alejandro, American actor and producer
San AntonioWikipedia: Kevin Alejandro - 1919
Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer (died 2012)
- 1946
Stan Winston, American special effects designer and makeup artist (died 2008)
RichmondWikipedia: Stan Winston - 1988
Ed Speleers, English actor and producer
ChichesterWikipedia: Ed Speleers - 1934
Ian Richardson, Scottish-English actor (died 2007)
EdinburghWikipedia: Ian Richardson - 1924
Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian-English author and screenwriter (died 2009)
ViennaWikipedia: J. M. Simmel - 1941
Gorden Kaye, English actor (died 2017)
HuddersfieldWikipedia: Gorden Kaye - 1951
Janis Ian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
FarmingdaleWikipedia: Janis Ian - 1975
Karin Dreijer Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
Nacka församlingWikipedia: Karin Dreijer - 1867
Holger Pedersen, Danish linguist and academic (died 1953)
GelballeWikipedia: Holger Pedersen - 1915
Henry Kuttner, American author (died 1958)
Los AngelesWikipedia: Henry Kuttner - 1972
Tim Peake, British astronaut
ChichesterWikipedia: Tim Peake - 1933
Wayne Rogers, American actor, investor, and producer (died 2015)
BirminghamWikipedia: Wayne Rogers
What is celebrated on 7 April
- Christian feast days: Aibert of Crespin
- Christian feast days: Blessed Alexander Rawlins
- Christian feast days: Blessed Edward Oldcorne and Blessed Ralph Ashley
- Christian feast days: Brynach
- Christian feast days: Hegesippus
- Christian feast days: Henry Walpole
- Christian feast days: Hermann Joseph
- Christian feast days: Jean-Baptiste de La Salle
- Christian feast days: Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta
- Christian feast days: Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow (Eastern Orthodox Church, Episcopal Church (USA))
- Christian feast days: April 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Flag Day (Slovenia)
- Women's Day (Mozambique)
- World Health Day (International observance)
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.