A birthday on the globe
7 July on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 7 July, the English Wikipedia lists 63 events and 193 births. 41 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; six 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 July through the years
The Earth on 7 July
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in July 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 7 July the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 22.6° north. In London, the day lasts about 16 hours 25 minutes.
Beyond 67° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 67° 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 · Bishop Rock
1952
The ocean liner SS United States passes Bishop Rock on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record to become the fastest passenger ship in the world.
On the map: Bishop Rock.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Britain & Ireland · Wimbledon Championships
1985
Boris Becker becomes the youngest male player ever to win Wimbledon at age 17.
On the map: Wimbledon Championships.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
Europe · Helsinki
1930
The Finnish far-right Lapua Movement organises the Peasant March demonstration in Helsinki to put pressure on the government to prohibit communist activities.
On the map: Helsinki.
Europe · Munich Olympic Stadium
1974
West Germany won the FIFA World Cup final against the Netherlands at the Munich Olympiastadion.
On the map: Munich Olympic Stadium.
Oceania · Wellington
1916
The New Zealand Labour Party was founded in Wellington.
On the map: Wellington.
North America · Bowery Theatre
1907
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. staged his first Follies on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.
On the map: Bowery Theatre.
North America · Supreme Court of the United States
1981
US President Ronald Reagan nominates Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
On the map: Supreme Court of the United States.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
North America · New York City
2017
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted with 122 countries voting in favour.
On the map: New York City.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
7 July
Born on 7 July#
The English Wikipedia lists 193 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 July
1860
Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1911)
Born on 7 July
1940
Ringo Starr, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
Place of birth: Dingle.
Born on 7 July
1907
Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (died 1988)
Place of birth: Butler.
Born on 7 July
1882
Yanka Kupala, Belarusian poet and writer (died 1941)
Place of birth: Viazynka.
Born on 7 July
1901
Vittorio De Sica, Italian actor and director (died 1974)
Place of birth: Sora.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1919
Jon Pertwee, English actor (died 1996)
Place of birth: Chelsea.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1944
Ian Wilmut, English-Scottish embryologist and academic (died 2023)
Place of birth: Hampton Lucy.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1928
Patricia Hitchcock, English actress (died 2021)
Place of birth: London.
7 July
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 July 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 July
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 16 events have no place on the map: the sentence links to no place with coordinates, only to places too wide to mark, or to several countries.
- 1124
The city of Tyre falls to the Venetian Crusade after a siege of 19 weeks.
Asia · Tyre, LebanonWikipedia: Venetian Crusade - 1456
A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her execution.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Rehabilitation trial of Joan of Arc - 1520
Spanish conquistadores defeat a larger Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba.
Latin America · Battle of OtumbaWikipedia: Battle of Otumba - 1534
Jacques Cartier makes his first contact with aboriginal peoples in what is now Canada.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Jacques Cartier - 1548
Scotland and France conclude the Treaty of Haddington in response to the war known as the "Rough Wooing". According to the treaty, the five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, is to marry the Dauphin of France.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Rough Wooing - 1575
The Raid of the Redeswire is the last major battle between England and Scotland.
Britain & Ireland · Raid of the RedeswireWikipedia: Raid of the Redeswire - 1585
The Treaty of Nemours abolishes tolerance to Protestants in France.
Europe · NemoursWikipedia: Treaty of Nemours - 1667
An English fleet completes the destruction of a French merchant fleet off Fort St Pierre, Martinique during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
Europe · Saint-Pierre, MartiniqueWikipedia: Second Anglo-Dutch War - 1770
After three days of battle around Chesma, the Russian fleet defeats the Ottoman Navy, inflicting one of the most severe naval defeats on the Ottoman Empire since Lepanto.
Asia · Battle of ChesmaWikipedia: Battle of Chesma - 1770
The Battle of Larga between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire takes place.
Europe · Battle of LargaWikipedia: Battle of Larga - 1777
American forces retreating from Fort Ticonderoga are defeated in the Battle of Hubbardton.
North America · Battle of HubbardtonWikipedia: Battle of Hubbardton - 1798
As a result of the XYZ Affair, the US Congress rescinds the Treaty of Alliance with France sparking the "Quasi-War".
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: Treaty of Alliance - 1800
War of the Second Coalition: The British Royal Navy force attacked the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk, capturing a French frigate.
Europe · Raid on DunkirkWikipedia: Raid on Dunkirk - 1807
The first Treaty of Tilsit between France and Russia is signed, ending hostilities between the two countries in the War of the Fourth Coalition.
Europe · Treaties of TilsitWikipedia: Treaties of Tilsit - 1834
In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began.
North America · New York CityWikipedia: 1834 New York anti-abolitionist riots - 1846
US troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the US conquest of California.
North America · Monterey, CaliforniaWikipedia: Conquest of California - 1863
The United States begins its first military draft; exemptions cost $300.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Conscription - 1865
Four conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln are hanged.
North America · Assassination of Abraham LincolnWikipedia: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln - 1892
The Katipunan is established, the discovery of which by Spanish authorities initiated the Philippine Revolution.
Asia · Captaincy General of the PhilippinesWikipedia: Philippine Revolution - 1898
US president William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution, annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.
North America · Territory of HawaiiWikipedia: Newlands Resolution - 1900
The luxury racing yacht Idler capsizes and sinks on Lake Erie during a storm, drowning six of its seven passengers (all members of the family of Cleveland businessman James C. Corrigan).
North America · Idler disasterWikipedia: Idler disaster - 1907
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. staged his first Follies on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.
North America · Bowery TheatreWikipedia: Bowery Theatre - 1911
The United States, UK, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 banning open-water seal hunting, the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.
no place on the mapWikipedia: North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 - 1915
Colombo Town Guard officer Henry Pedris is executed in British Ceylon for allegedly inciting persecution of Muslims.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Colombo Town Guard - 1915
World War I: The First Battle of the Isonzo between Italy and Austria-Hungary comes to an end.
Europe · First Battle of the IsonzoWikipedia: World War I - 1916
The New Zealand Labour Party was founded in Wellington.
Oceania · WellingtonWikipedia: New Zealand Labour Party - 1928
Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor's 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.
North America · Chillicothe, MissouriWikipedia: Sliced bread - 1930
Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam).
North America · Hoover DamWikipedia: Henry J. Kaiser - 1930
The Finnish far-right Lapua Movement organises the Peasant March demonstration in Helsinki to put pressure on the government to prohibit communist activities.
Europe · HelsinkiWikipedia: Peasant March - 1937
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (Lugou Bridge) provides the Imperial Japanese Army with a pretext for starting the Second Sino-Japanese War (China-Japan War).
Asia · Marco Polo Bridge incidentWikipedia: Marco Polo Bridge incident - 1937
The Peel Commission Report recommends the partition of Palestine, which was the first formal recommendation for partition in the history of Palestine.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Peel Commission - 1941
The US occupation of Iceland replaces the UK's occupation.
Europe · IcelandWikipedia: Allied occupation of Iceland - 1944
World War II: Largest Banzai charge of the Pacific War at the Battle of Saipan.
Oceania · Battle of SaipanWikipedia: World War II - 1946
Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood.
North America · Beverly Hills, CaliforniaWikipedia: Howard Hughes - 1946
Mother Francesca S. Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Frances Xavier Cabrini - 1952
The ocean liner SS United States passes Bishop Rock on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record to become the fastest passenger ship in the world.
Britain & Ireland · Bishop RockWikipedia: Ocean liner - 1953
Ernesto "Che" Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Che Guevara - 1958
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Alaska Statehood Act - 1959
Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Venus - 1962
Alitalia Flight 771 crashes in Junnar, Maharashtra, India, killing 94 people.
Asia · Alitalia Flight 771Wikipedia: Alitalia Flight 771 - 1963
Buddhist crisis: Police commanded by Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem, attacked a group of American journalists who were covering a protest.
Asia · South VietnamWikipedia: Double Seven Day scuffle - 1974
West Germany won the FIFA World Cup final against the Netherlands at the Munich Olympiastadion.
Europe · Munich Olympic StadiumWikipedia: 1974 FIFA World Cup final - 1978
The Solomon Islands becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
Oceania · Solomon IslandsWikipedia: Solomon Islands - 1980
During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre.
Asia · SafraWikipedia: Safra massacre - 1980
Institution of sharia law in Iran.
Asia · IranWikipedia: Sharia - 1981
US President Ronald Reagan nominates Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
North America · Supreme Court of the United StatesWikipedia: Supreme Court of the United States - 1983
Cold War: Samantha Smith, a United States schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Cold War - 1985
Boris Becker becomes the youngest male player ever to win Wimbledon at age 17.
Britain & Ireland · Wimbledon ChampionshipsWikipedia: Wimbledon Championships - 1991
Yugoslav Wars: The Brioni Agreement ends the ten-day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Europe · Brioni AgreementWikipedia: Brioni Agreement - 1992
The New York Court of Appeals rules that women have the same right as men to go topless in public.
no place on the mapWikipedia: New York Court of Appeals - 1997
The Turkish Armed Forces withdraw from northern Iraq after assisting the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Operation Hammer - 2003
NASA Opportunity rover, MER-B or Mars Exploration Rover–B, was launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket.
no place on the mapWikipedia: NASA - 2005
A series of four explosions occurs on London's transport system, killing 56 people, including four suicide bombers, and injuring over 700 others.
Britain & Ireland · 7 July 2005 London bombingsWikipedia: 7 July 2005 London bombings - 2006
A shootout happens in Spiritwood, Canada, killing two Royal Canadian Mounted Police and wounding a third officer.
North America · SpiritwoodWikipedia: Spiritwood Incident - 2007
The first Live Earth benefit concert was held in 11 locations around the world.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Live Earth - 2011
A man goes on a killing spree in Grand Rapids, Michigan, killing seven and wounding two before killing himself.
North America · Grand Rapids, MichiganWikipedia: 2011 Grand Rapids shootings - 2012
At least 172 people are killed in a flash flood in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia.
Europe · 2012 Krasnodar Krai floodsWikipedia: 2012 Krasnodar Krai floods - 2013
A De Havilland Otter air taxi crashes in Soldotna, Alaska, killing ten people.
North America · Soldotna AirportWikipedia: 2013 Rediske Air DHC-3 crash - 2016
Ex-US Army soldier Micah Xavier Johnson shoots fourteen policemen, killing five of them, in downtown Dallas, Texas at the end of a protest of recent police killings of Black men. He is subsequently killed by a robot-delivered bomb.
North America · 2016 shooting of Dallas police officersWikipedia: 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers - 2017
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted with 122 countries voting in favour.
North America · New York CityWikipedia: Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - 2019
The United States defeated the Netherlands 2–0 at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final in Lyon, France.
Europe · Parc Olympique LyonnaisWikipedia: 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final - 2021
Haitian crisis: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse is assassinated in his residence in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
Latin America · Assassination of Jovenel MoïseWikipedia: Assassination of Jovenel Moïse - 2022
Boris Johnson announces his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party following days of pressure from the Members of Parliament (MPs) during the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Boris Johnson
Who was born on 7 July
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 193 are shown.
- 1860
Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1911)
- 1940
Ringo Starr, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
DingleWikipedia: Ringo Starr - 1907
Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (died 1988)
- 1882
Yanka Kupala, Belarusian poet and writer (died 1941)
ViazynkaWikipedia: Yanka Kupala - 1901
Vittorio De Sica, Italian actor and director (died 1974)
- 1843
Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1926)
Corteno GolgiWikipedia: Camillo Golgi - 1949
Shelley Duvall, American actress, writer, and producer (died 2024)
Fort WorthWikipedia: Shelley Duvall - 1899
George Cukor, American director and producer (died 1983)
New York CityWikipedia: George Cukor - 1884
Lion Feuchtwanger, German author and playwright (died 1958)
- 1207
Elizabeth of Hungary (died 1231)
SárospatakWikipedia: Elizabeth of Hungary - 1947
Gyanendra, King of Nepal
KathmanduWikipedia: Gyanendra of Nepal - 1984
Alberto Aquilani, Italian footballer
- 1976
Bérénice Bejo, Argentinian-French actress
Buenos AiresWikipedia: Bérénice Bejo - 1752
Joseph Marie Jacquard, French merchant, invented the Jacquard loom (died 1834)
- 1980
Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
TorranceWikipedia: Michelle Kwan - 1981
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian cricketer
RanchiWikipedia: MS Dhoni - 1893
Miroslav Krleža, Croatian author, poet, and playwright (died 1981)
- 1848
Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian politician, 5th President of Brazil (died 1919)
GuaratinguetáWikipedia: Rodrigues Alves - 1891
Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Japanese general and poet (died 1945)
- 1540
John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (died 1571)
- 1911
Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-American composer (died 2007)
Cadegliano ViconagoWikipedia: Gian Carlo Menotti - 1930
Biljana Plavšić, 2nd President of Republika Srpska (died 2026)
- 1932
Joe Zawinul, Austrian jazz keyboardist and composer (died 2007)
ViennaWikipedia: Joe Zawinul - 1861
Nettie Stevens, American geneticist (died 1912)
CavendishWikipedia: Nettie Stevens - 1926
Nuon Chea, Cambodian politician (died 2019)
Voat KorWikipedia: Nuon Chea - 1939
Elena Obraztsova, Russian soprano and actress (died 2015)
Saint PetersburgWikipedia: Elena Obraztsova - 1981
Synyster Gates, American guitarist
Huntington BeachWikipedia: Synyster Gates - 1119
Emperor Sutoku of Japan (died 1164)
- 1919
Jon Pertwee, English actor (died 1996)
ChelseaWikipedia: Jon Pertwee - 1941
Michael Howard, Welsh lawyer and politician
GorseinonWikipedia: Michael Howard - 1968
Jorja Fox, American actress
New York CityWikipedia: Jorja Fox - 1999
Moussa Diaby, French footballer
12th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Moussa Diaby - 1972
Lisa Leslie, American basketball player and actress
GardenaWikipedia: Lisa Leslie - 1833
Félicien Rops, Belgian painter and illustrator (died 1898)
- 1933
David McCullough, American historian and author (died 2022)
PittsburghWikipedia: David McCullough - 1944
Ian Wilmut, English-Scottish embryologist and academic (died 2023)
Hampton LucyWikipedia: Ian Wilmut - 1970
Erik Zabel, German cyclist and coach
East BerlinWikipedia: Erik Zabel - 1528
Archduchess Anna of Austria (died 1590)
- 1937
Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong businessman and politician, 1st Chief Executive of Hong Kong (died 2026)
Shang-haiWikipedia: Tung Chee-hwa - 1972
Kirsten Vangsness, American actress and writer
PasadenaWikipedia: Kirsten Vangsness - 1976
Hamish Linklater, American actor and playwright
Great BarringtonWikipedia: Hamish Linklater - 1053
Emperor Shirakawa of Japan (died 1129)
- 1982
Jan Laštůvka, Czech footballer
HavířovWikipedia: Jan Laštůvka - 1991
Alesso, Swedish DJ, record producer and musician
StockholmWikipedia: Alesso - 1901
Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese cinematographer and producer (died 1970)
SukagawaWikipedia: Eiji Tsuburaya - 1990
Lee Addy, Ghanaian footballer
AccraWikipedia: Lee Addy - 1969
Joe Sakic, Canadian ice hockey player
BurnabyWikipedia: Joe Sakic - 1971
Christian Camargo, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
New York CityWikipedia: Christian Camargo - 1978
Chris Andersen, American basketball player
Long BeachWikipedia: Chris Andersen - 1945
Adele Goldberg, American computer scientist and academic
ClevelandWikipedia: Adele Goldberg - 1959
Billy Campbell, American actor
CharlottesvilleWikipedia: Billy Campbell - 1930
Theodore McCarrick, American former cardinal (died 2025)
New York CityWikipedia: Theodore McCarrick - 1966
Jim Gaffigan, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1975
Adam Nelson, American shot putter
AtlantaWikipedia: Adam Nelson - 1986
Ana Kasparian, American journalist and producer
NorthridgeWikipedia: Ana Kasparian - 1913
Pinetop Perkins, American singer and pianist (died 2011)
BelzoniWikipedia: Pinetop Perkins - 1928
Patricia Hitchcock, English actress (died 2021)
LondonWikipedia: Pat Hitchcock - 1931
David Eddings, American author and academic (died 2009)
SpokaneWikipedia: David Eddings - 1967
Tom Kristensen, Danish race car driver
- 1909
Gottfried von Cramm, German tennis player (died 1976)
NettlingenWikipedia: Gottfried von Cramm
What is celebrated on 7 July
- Christian feast day: Æthelburh of Faremoutiers
- Christian feast day: Felix of Nantes
- Christian feast day: Illidius
- Christian feast day: Job of Manyava (Ukrainian Orthodox Church)
- Christian feast day: Blessed María Romero Meneses
- Christian feast day: Pantaenus
- Christian feast day: Peter To Rot
- Christian feast day: Blesseds Józef and Wiktoria Ulma with seven children (Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: Willibald (Catholic Church)
- Christian feast day: July 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Solomon Islands from the United Kingdom in 1978.
- Ivan Kupala Day (Belarus, Poland, Russia, Ukraine)
- Saba Saba Day (Tanzania)
- Tanabata (Japan)
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.