A birthday on the globe
7 May on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 7 May, the English Wikipedia lists 60 events and 142 births. 41 of the events stand at their places as rays of light; three 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 May through the years
The Earth on 7 May
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in May 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 7 May the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 16.9° north. In London, the day lasts about 15 hours 10 minutes.
Beyond 73° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 73° 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 · Chatham Dockyard
1765
HMS Victory is launched at Chatham Dockyard, Kent. She is not commissioned until 1778.
On the map: Chatham Dockyard.
Britain & Ireland · London
1832
Greece's independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.
On the map: London.
Britain & Ireland · Dungannon
1954
A convoy of circus wagons carrying lions, horses, ponies and an ass lost control and overturned into some shop fronts in Dungannon, Northern Ireland.
On the map: Dungannon.
Europe · Palace of Versailles
1664
Inaugural celebrations begin at Louis XIV's new Palace of Versailles.
On the map: Palace of Versailles.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Romanian.
Europe · Vienna
1824
World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.
On the map: Vienna.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian and Chinese.
Europe · National Gallery
1994
Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
On the map: National Gallery.
North America · New Orleans
1718
The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
On the map: New Orleans.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
North America · New York City Police Department
1931
The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.
On the map: New York City Police Department.
North America · United States Congress
1992
Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.
On the map: United States Congress.
7 May
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 · Prague
1348
In Prague, Charles University is founded.
On the map: Prague.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · 1952 Winter Olympics
1951
The International Olympic Committee allows Russia to compete in the 1952 Winter Olympic Games in Oslo.
On the map: 1952 Winter Olympics.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
The article on Wikipedia in Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Oslo 1952
7 May
Born on 7 May#
The English Wikipedia lists 142 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 May
1861
Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1941)
Place of birth: Kolkata.
Born on 7 May
1840
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (died 1893)
Place of birth: Votkinsk.
Born on 7 May
1833
Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (died 1897)
Place of birth: Hamburg.
Born on 7 May
1711
David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (died 1776)
Place of birth: Edinburgh.
Born on 7 May
1867
Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1925)
Place of birth: Kobiele Wielkie.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1812
Robert Browning, English poet and playwright (died 1889)
Place of birth: London.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1940
Angela Carter, English novelist and short story writer (died 1992)
Place of birth: Eastbourne.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1965
Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer and manager
Place of birth: Belfast.
7 May
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 May 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 May
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.
- 351
The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
Asia · AntiochWikipedia: Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus - 558
In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.
Asia · ConstantinopleWikipedia: Hagia Sophia - 1104
The Seljuk emirs of Mosul and Mardin defeat the Crusader States of Antioch and Edessa.
Asia · Battle of HarranWikipedia: Battle of Harran - 1190
The Crusader army of emperor Frederick Barbarossa defeats an army of the Rum Seljuks in the battle of Philomelion.
Asia · Battle of PhilomelionWikipedia: Battle of Philomelion - 1274
In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens; it ratified a decree to regulate the election of the Pope.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Second Council of Lyon - 1342
In Avignon, France, Cardinal Pierre Roger is elected Pope and takes the name Clement VI.
Europe · AvignonWikipedia: 1342 conclave - 1487
The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista.
Europe · Siege of MálagaWikipedia: Siege of Málaga - 1544
The Burning of Edinburgh by an English army is the first action of the Rough Wooing.
Britain & Ireland · Burning of EdinburghWikipedia: Burning of Edinburgh - 1625
State funeral of James VI and I (1566–1625) is held at Westminster Abbey.
Britain & Ireland · Westminster AbbeyWikipedia: Death and funeral of James VI and I - 1664
Inaugural celebrations begin at Louis XIV's new Palace of Versailles.
Europe · Palace of VersaillesWikipedia: Louis XIV - 1685
Battle of Vrtijeljka between rebels and Ottoman forces.
Europe · Battle on VrtijeljkaWikipedia: Battle on Vrtijeljka - 1697
Stockholm's medieval castle Tre Kronor is destroyed by fire. It is replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.
Europe · StockholmWikipedia: Tre Kronor - 1718
The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
North America · New OrleansWikipedia: New Orleans - 1763
Pontiac's War begins with Pontiac's attempt to seize Fort Detroit from the British.
North America · Siege of Fort DetroitWikipedia: Pontiac's War - 1765
HMS Victory is launched at Chatham Dockyard, Kent. She is not commissioned until 1778.
Britain & Ireland · Chatham DockyardWikipedia: HMS Victory - 1775
The Ottoman Empire cedes Bukovina to the Habsburg monarchy.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ottoman Empire - 1794
French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.
Europe · French First RepublicWikipedia: French Revolution - 1798
French Revolutionary Wars: A French force attempting to dislodge a small British garrison on the Îles Saint-Marcouf is repulsed with heavy losses.
Europe · Battle of the Îles Saint-MarcoufWikipedia: Battle of the Îles Saint-Marcouf - 1824
World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.
Europe · ViennaWikipedia: Ludwig van Beethoven - 1832
Greece's independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.
Britain & Ireland · LondonWikipedia: London Conference of 1832 - 1840
The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
North America · Natchez, MississippiWikipedia: Great Natchez Tornado - 1864
American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
North America · Battle of the WildernessWikipedia: American Civil War - 1864
The world's oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide is launched by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: City of Adelaide - 1895
In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
Europe · Saint PetersburgWikipedia: Saint Petersburg - 1915
The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan's control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Beiyang government - 1915
World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,199 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.
Britain & Ireland · Sinking of RMS LusitaniaWikipedia: World War I - 1920
Polish–Soviet War: Kyiv offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kyiv only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.
Europe · Central and Eastern EuropeWikipedia: Polish–Soviet War - 1920
Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Treaty of Moscow - 1930
The 7.1 Mw Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Up to three-thousand people were killed.
Asia · 1930 Salmas earthquakeWikipedia: 1930 Salmas earthquake - 1931
The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.
North America · New York City Police DepartmentWikipedia: Francis Crowley - 1937
Employees at Fleischer Studios in New York City went on strike in the animation industry's first major labor strike.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1937 Fleischer Studios strike - 1937
Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Spanish Civil War - 1940
World War II: The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World War II - 1942
World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
Oceans · Battle of the Coral SeaWikipedia: Battle of the Coral Sea - 1945
World War II: Last German U-boat attack of the war, two freighters are sunk off the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
Britain & Ireland · Firth of ForthWikipedia: U-boat - 1946
Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Sony - 1948
The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.
Europe · Congress of EuropeWikipedia: Congress of Europe - 1952
The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Integrated circuit - 1954
A convoy of circus wagons carrying lions, horses, ponies and an ass lost control and overturned into some shop fronts in Dungannon, Northern Ireland.
Britain & Ireland · DungannonWikipedia: Dungannon - 1954
Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Viet Minh victory (the battle began on March 13).
Asia · Battle of Dien Bien PhuWikipedia: First Indochina War - 1960
Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.
Asia · 1960 U-2 incidentWikipedia: 1960 U-2 incident - 1964
Pacific Airlines Flight 773 is hijacked by Francisco Gonzales and crashes in Contra Costa County, California, killing 44.
North America · Pacific Air Lines Flight 773Wikipedia: Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 - 1986
Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Patrick Morrow - 1991
A fire and explosion occurs at a fireworks factory at Sungai Buloh, Malaysia, killing 26.
Asia · Bright Sparklers fireworks disasterWikipedia: Bright Sparklers fireworks disaster - 1992
Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.
North America · United States CongressWikipedia: United States Congress - 1992
Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle program - 1992
Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first "fast-food murder" in Canada.
North America · Sydney RiverWikipedia: Sydney River McDonald's murders - 1994
Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
Europe · National GalleryWikipedia: The Scream - 1998
Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mercedes-Benz - 1999
In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.
Africa · Guinea-BissauWikipedia: Guinea-Bissau - 1999
Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.
Europe · United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in BelgradeWikipedia: Kosovo War - 1999
Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
Europe · RomaniaWikipedia: East–West Schism - 2000
Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Vladimir Putin - 2002
A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
Asia · China Northern Airlines Flight 6136Wikipedia: China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 - 2002
An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.
Africa · EgyptAir Flight 843Wikipedia: EgyptAir Flight 843 - 2004
American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamist militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Killing of Nick Berg - 2009
Police in Napier, New Zealand, began a 40-hour siege of the home of a former New Zealand Army member who had shot at officers during the routine execution of a search warrant.
Oceania · Napier shootingsWikipedia: Napier shootings - 2010
A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome was published, demonstrating that most living humans have Neanderthal ancestors.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Neanderthal - 2023
Tanur boat disaster: At least 22 people are killed when a boat carrying tourists capsizes in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala, India.
Asia · 2023 Tanur boat disasterWikipedia: 2023 Tanur boat disaster - 2025
The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conduct surgical strikes code-named Operation SINDOOR on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam Attack that killed 26 people.
Asia · 2025 Pahalgam attackWikipedia: 2025 India–Pakistan conflict
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.
- 1348
In Prague, Charles University is founded.
- 1951
The International Olympic Committee allows Russia to compete in the 1952 Winter Olympic Games in Oslo.
Europe · 1952 Winter OlympicsTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in SpanishWikipedia: Juegos Olímpicos de Oslo 1952
Who was born on 7 May
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 142 are shown.
- 1861
Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1941)
- 1840
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (died 1893)
- 1833
Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (died 1897)
HamburgWikipedia: Johannes Brahms - 1711
David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (died 1776)
EdinburghWikipedia: David Hume - 1892
Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (died 1980)
KumrovecWikipedia: Josip Broz Tito - 1867
Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1925)
Kobiele WielkieWikipedia: Władysław Reymont - 1919
Eva Perón, Argentinian actress, 25th First Lady of Argentina (died 1952)
JunínWikipedia: Eva Perón - 1812
Robert Browning, English poet and playwright (died 1889)
- 1901
Gary Cooper, American actor (died 1961)
HelenaWikipedia: Gary Cooper - 1748
Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and philosopher (died 1793)
MontaubanWikipedia: Olympe de Gouges - 1956
Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch jurist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
BiezelingeWikipedia: Jan Peter Balkenende - 1998
MrBeast, American YouTuber
WichitaWikipedia: MrBeast - 1923
Anne Baxter, American actress (died 1985)
Michigan CityWikipedia: Anne Baxter - 1999
Cody Gakpo, Dutch footballer
EindhovenWikipedia: Cody Gakpo - 1998
Dani Olmo, Spanish footballer
TerrassaWikipedia: Dani Olmo - 1939
Sidney Altman, Canadian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022)
MontrealWikipedia: Sidney Altman - 1971
Thomas Piketty, French economist
- 1997
Youri Tielemans, Belgian footballer
Sint-Pieters-LeeuwWikipedia: Youri Tielemans - 1605
Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (died 1681)
VeldemanovoWikipedia: Patriarch Nikon of Moscow - 1939
Ruud Lubbers, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2018)
RotterdamWikipedia: Ruud Lubbers - 1847
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1929)
- 1927
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (died 2013)
- 1940
Angela Carter, English novelist and short story writer (died 1992)
EastbourneWikipedia: Angela Carter - 1985
J Balvin, Colombian singer-songwriter and producer
MedellínWikipedia: J Balvin - 1763
Józef Poniatowski, Polish general (died 1813)
- 1968
Traci Lords, American actress and singer
SteubenvilleWikipedia: Traci Lords - 1997
Daria Kasatkina, Russian tennis player
TolyattiWikipedia: Daria Kasatkina - 1943
Peter Carey, Australian novelist and short story writer
Bacchus MarshWikipedia: Peter Carey - 1892
Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (died 1982)
- 1978
Shawn Marion, American basketball player
WaukeganWikipedia: Shawn Marion - 1976
Ayelet Shaked, former Israeli Minister of Justice
Tel AvivWikipedia: Ayelet Shaked - 1984
Kevin Owens, Canadian wrestler
Saint-Jean-sur-RichelieuWikipedia: Kevin Owens - 1992
Alexander Ludwig, Canadian actor and musician
VancouverWikipedia: Alexander Ludwig - 1995
Seko Fofana, Ivorian international footballer
- 1909
Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (died 1991)
BridgeportWikipedia: Edwin H. Land - 1911
Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993)
YamagataWikipedia: Ishirō Honda - 1993
Ajla Tomljanovic, Australian tennis player
- 1553
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (died 1618)
- 1933
Johnny Unitas, American football player and sportscaster (died 2002)
PittsburghWikipedia: Johnny Unitas - 1965
Owen Hart, Canadian wrestler (died 1999)
CalgaryWikipedia: Owen Hart - 1530
Louis, Prince of Condé (died 1569)
- 1931
Gene Wolfe, American author (died 2019)
BrooklynWikipedia: Gene Wolfe - 1939
Ruggero Deodato, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2022)
PotenzaWikipedia: Ruggero Deodato - 1960
Almudena Grandes, Spanish author (died 2021)
- 1974
Breckin Meyer, American actor, writer, and producer
MinneapolisWikipedia: Breckin Meyer - 1965
Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer and manager
BelfastWikipedia: Norman Whiteside - 1701
Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (died 1759)
WahrenbrückWikipedia: Carl Heinrich Graun - 1875
Bill Hoyt, American pole vaulter (died 1951)
GlastonburyWikipedia: William Hoyt - 1896
Kathleen McKane Godfree, English tennis and badminton player (died 1992)
BayswaterWikipedia: Kathleen McKane Godfree - 1903
Nikolay Zabolotsky, Russian-Soviet poet and translator (died 1958)
- 1990
Sydney Leroux, Canadian-American footballer
SurreyWikipedia: Sydney Leroux - 1882
Willem Elsschot, Belgian author and poet (died 1960)
AntwerpWikipedia: Willem Elsschot - 1767
Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (died 1820)
- 1946
Michael Rosen, English author and poet
HarrowWikipedia: Michael Rosen - 1996
Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, South Korean League of Legends pro gamer
SeoulWikipedia: Faker - 1917
David Tomlinson, English actor (died 2000)
Henley-on-ThamesWikipedia: David Tomlinson - 1931
Teresa Brewer, American singer (died 2007)
ToledoWikipedia: Teresa Brewer - 1956
Anne Dudley, English pianist and composer
ChathamWikipedia: Anne Dudley - 1969
Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter
StockholmWikipedia: Eagle-Eye Cherry - 1986
Matt Helders, English drummer
SheffieldWikipedia: Matt Helders
What is celebrated on 7 May
- Christian feast day: Agathius of Byzantium
- Christian feast day: Agostino Roscelli
- Christian feast day: Anthony of Kiev
- Christian feast day: Pope Benedict II
- Christian feast day: Flavia Domitilla
- Christian feast day: Gisela of Hungary
- Christian feast day: Harriet Starr Cannon (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Christian feast day: John of Beverley
- Christian feast day: Rose Venerini
- Christian feast day: May 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Defender of the Fatherland Day (Kazakhstan)
- Dien Bien Phu Victory Day (Vietnam)
- Radio Day, commemorating the work of Alexander Popov (Russia, Bulgaria)
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.