A birthday on the globe
8 August on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 8 August, the English Wikipedia lists 67 events and 266 births. 45 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 8 August through the years
The Earth on 8 August
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in August 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 8 August the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 16.1° north. In London, the day lasts about 15 hours.
Beyond 74° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 74° 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 · Holyrood Abbey
1503
King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England, at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.
On the map: Holyrood Abbey.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish and Romanian.
Europe · Meerssen
870
Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald partition the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions.
On the map: Meerssen.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Europe · Uraniborg
1576
The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on the island of Hven.
On the map: Uraniborg.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Europe · Mont Blanc
1786
Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
On the map: Mont Blanc.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
Asia · Alamut Castle
1164
Hassan II of Alamut proclaims the qiyāma, according to which Ismaili practice would change from traditional Islamic practice.
On the map: Alamut Castle.
Asia · Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919
1919
The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 is signed. It establishes peaceful relations between Afghanistan and the UK, and confirms the Durand line as the mutual border. In return, the UK is no longer obligated to subsidize the Afghan government.
On the map: the coordinates Wikidata gives for the article “Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919”.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
Asia · Beijing
2008
The 29th modern summer Olympic Games take place in Beijing, China until August 24.
On the map: Beijing.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish, Romanian and Chinese.
North America · Cumberland Sound
1585
John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage.
On the map: Cumberland Sound.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · Wren Building
1695
The foundation for what is now known as the Wren Building, the oldest surviving college building in the United States, was laid in a ceremony at Middle Plantation, Virginia.
On the map: Wren Building.
North America · Northwest Passage
1794
Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
On the map: Northwest Passage.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
8 August
Born on 8 August#
The English Wikipedia lists 266 births for this day. The blue points are the birthplaces of 59 of these people: those written about in the most Wikipedia editions, where Wikidata gives a place of birth.
Born on 8 August
1966
Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia
Place of birth: Huntsville.
Born on 8 August
1981
Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
Place of birth: Basel.
Born on 8 August
1902
Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984)
Place of birth: Bristol.
Born on 8 August
1937
Dustin Hoffman, American actor and director
Place of birth: Los Angeles.
Born on 8 August
1901
Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
Place of birth: Canton.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1931
Roger Penrose, English physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
Place of birth: Colchester.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1953
Nigel Mansell, English racing driver
Place of birth: Upton upon Severn.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1694
Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher and academic (died 1746)
Place of birth: Saintfield.
8 August
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: 8 August 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 8 August
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 19 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.
- 685 BC
Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as the new Duke of Qi – but is defeated at Qianshi by Jiu's brother and rival claimant, the newly inaugurated Duke Huan of Qi.
Asia · Battle of QianshiWikipedia: Spring and Autumn period - 870
Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald partition the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions.
Europe · MeerssenWikipedia: Treaty of Meerssen - 1164
Hassan II of Alamut proclaims the qiyāma, according to which Ismaili practice would change from traditional Islamic practice.
Asia · Alamut CastleWikipedia: Qiyama - 1220
Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
Europe · Battle of LihulaWikipedia: Battle of Lihula - 1264
Mudéjar revolt: Muslim rebel forces take the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera after defeating the Castilian garrison.
Europe · Alcázar of Jerez de la FronteraWikipedia: Mudéjar revolt of 1264–1266 - 1503
King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England, at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Britain & Ireland · Holyrood AbbeyWikipedia: Holyrood Abbey - 1509
Krishnadeva Raya is crowned Emperor of Vijayanagara at Chittoor.
Asia · ChittoorWikipedia: Krishnadevaraya - 1576
The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on the island of Hven.
Europe · UraniborgWikipedia: Uraniborg - 1585
John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in search of the Northwest Passage.
North America · Cumberland SoundWikipedia: John Davis - 1588
Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England.
Britain & Ireland · EnglandWikipedia: Anglo-Spanish War - 1647
The Irish Confederate Wars and Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Dungan's Hill: English Parliamentary forces defeat Irish forces.
Britain & Ireland · Battle of Dungan's HillWikipedia: Irish Confederate Wars - 1648
Mehmed IV (1648–1687) succeeds Ibrahim I (1640–1648) as Ottoman sultan.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Mehmed IV - 1695
The foundation for what is now known as the Wren Building, the oldest surviving college building in the United States, was laid in a ceremony at Middle Plantation, Virginia.
North America · Wren BuildingWikipedia: Wren Building - 1709
Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrates the lifting power of hot air in an audience before the king of Portugal in Lisbon, Portugal.
Europe · LisbonWikipedia: Bartolomeu de Gusmão - 1786
Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
Europe · Mont BlancWikipedia: Mont Blanc - 1794
Joseph Whidbey leads an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.
North America · Northwest PassageWikipedia: Joseph Whidbey - 1831
Four hundred Shawnee people agree to relinquish their lands in Ohio in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River in the Treaty of Wapakoneta.
North America · OhioWikipedia: Treaty of Wapakoneta - 1844
The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Quorum of the Twelve - 1863
American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).
North America · Battle of GettysburgWikipedia: American Civil War - 1863
Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves in Greeneville, Tennessee, despite them being exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, now commemorated as Emancipation Day in the state.
North America · Greeneville, TennesseeWikipedia: Emancipation Proclamation - 1870
The Republic of Ploiești, a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Republic of Ploiești - 1876
Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Thomas Edison - 1897
Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinates Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.
Europe · Assassination of Antonio Cánovas del CastilloWikipedia: Assassination of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo - 1903
Black Saturday occurs, killing 12 in a stadium collapse in Philadelphia.
North America · Black SaturdayWikipedia: Black Saturday - 1908
Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers' first public flight, at a racecourse at Le Mans, France.
Europe · Le MansWikipedia: Wright brothers - 1914
The Endurance departed Plymouth, England, on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Oceans · EnduranceWikipedia: Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition - 1918
World War I: The Battle of Amiens begins a string of almost continuous Allied victories with a push through the German front lines (Hundred Days Offensive).
Europe · Hundred Days OffensiveWikipedia: World War I - 1919
The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 is signed. It establishes peaceful relations between Afghanistan and the UK, and confirms the Durand line as the mutual border. In return, the UK is no longer obligated to subsidize the Afghan government.
Asia · Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919Wikipedia: Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 - 1929
The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight.
no place on the mapWikipedia: LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin - 1940
The "Aufbau Ost" directive for the mobilization of German forces for the invasion of the Soviet Union is signed by Wilhelm Keitel.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Operation Barbarossa - 1942
Quit India Movement is launched in India against the British rule in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for swaraj or complete independence.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Quit India Movement - 1945
The London Charter is signed by France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, establishing the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials.
Europe · Nuremberg trialsWikipedia: Nuremberg trials - 1945
World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World War II - 1946
First flight of the nuclear capable Convair B-36, heaviest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft at the time.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Convair B-36 Peacemaker - 1956
Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium. 262 coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, are killed in one of the largest mining accidents in Belgian history.
Europe · Marcinelle mining disasterWikipedia: Marcinelle mining disaster - 1963
Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes.
Britain & Ireland · Great Train RobberyWikipedia: Great Train Robbery - 1963
The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the current ruling party of Zimbabwe, is formed by a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Zimbabwe African National Union - 1967
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
no place on the mapWikipedia: ASEAN - 1969
At a zebra crossing in London, photographer Iain Macmillan takes the iconic photo that becomes the cover image of the Beatles' album Abbey Road.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Zebra crossing - 1973
Kim Dae-jung, a South Korean politician and later president of South Korea, is kidnapped.
Asia · Kidnapping of Kim Dae-jungWikipedia: Kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung - 1974
President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announces his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.
North America · White HouseWikipedia: Richard Nixon's resignation speech - 1988
The 8888 Uprising begins in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Led by students, hundreds of thousands join in nationwide protests against the one-party regime. On September 18, the demonstrations end in a military crackdown, killing thousands.
Asia · YangonWikipedia: 8888 Uprising - 1988
The first night baseball game in the history of Chicago's Wrigley Field (game was rained out in the fourth inning).
no place on the mapWikipedia: History of Wrigley Field - 1988
Tropical Storm Beryl formed over southeastern Louisiana, making it one of the few tropical cyclones to form over land.
North America · LouisianaWikipedia: Tropical Storm Beryl - 1989
Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission: Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle program - 1990
Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gulf War - 1991
Hudson Volcano in Chile began to erupt, depositing volcanic ash over 150,000 square kilometres (58,000 sq mi).
Latin America · Hudson VolcanoWikipedia: Hudson Volcano - 1991
The Warsaw radio mast, then the tallest construction ever built, collapses.
Europe · Warsaw radio mastWikipedia: Warsaw radio mast - 1993
The 7.8 Mw Guam earthquake shakes the island with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing around $250 million in damage and injuring up to 71 people.
Oceania · 1993 Guam earthquakeWikipedia: 1993 Guam earthquake - 1998
The Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, is raided by Taliban, leading to the deaths of ten Iranian diplomats and a journalist.
Asia · 1998 killing of Iranian diplomats in AfghanistanWikipedia: 1998 killing of Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan - 2000
Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor and 30 years after its discovery by undersea explorer E. Lee Spence.
no place on the mapWikipedia: H. L. Hunley - 2001
Albanian rebels ambush a convoy of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia near Tetovo, killing 10 soldiers.
Europe · Karpalak ambushWikipedia: Karpalak ambush - 2004
A tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumps approximately 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat full of passengers.
North America · Dave Matthews Band bus incidentWikipedia: Dave Matthews Band bus incident - 2007
An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.
North America · 2007 Brooklyn tornadoWikipedia: 2007 Brooklyn tornado - 2007
Space Shuttle program: STS-118 Mission: Endeavour takes off on a mission to the International Space Station.
no place on the mapWikipedia: STS-118 - 2008
A EuroCity express train en route from Kraków, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic strikes a part of a motorway bridge that had fallen onto the railroad track near Studénka railway station in the Czech Republic and derails, killing eight people and injuring 64 others.
Europe · KrakówWikipedia: 2008 Studénka train wreck - 2008
The 29th modern summer Olympic Games take place in Beijing, China until August 24.
Asia · BeijingWikipedia: 2008 Summer Olympics - 2009
A Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil and Piper PA-32R collide over the Hudson River, killing nine people.
North America · 2009 Hudson River mid-air collisionWikipedia: 2009 Hudson River mid-air collision - 2010
China Floods: A mudslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu, China, kills more than 1,400 people.
Asia · 2010 China floodsWikipedia: 2010 China floods - 2013
A suicide bombing at a funeral in the Pakistani city of Quetta kills at least 31 people.
Asia · QuettaWikipedia: August 2013 Quetta bombing - 2014
The World Health Organization declared the Western African Ebola epidemic, which began in December 2013, to be a public health emergency of international concern.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Western African Ebola epidemic - 2015
Eight people are killed in a shooting in Harris County, Texas.
North America · 2015 Harris County shootingWikipedia: 2015 Harris County shooting - 2016
Terrorists attack a government hospital in Quetta, Pakistan with a suicide blast and shooting, killing between 70 and 94 people, and injuring around 130 others.
Asia · August 2016 Quetta attacksWikipedia: August 2016 Quetta attacks - 2019
An explosion at the State Central Navy Testing Range in Nyonoksa, Russia, kills five people.
Europe · Nyonoksa radiation accidentWikipedia: Nyonoksa radiation accident - 2022
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executes a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida.
North America · FBI search of Mar-a-LagoWikipedia: FBI search of Mar-a-Lago - 2023
Hawaii wildfires: Seventeen thousand acres of land are burned and at least 101 people are killed, with two others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
North America · 2023 Hawaii wildfiresWikipedia: 2023 Hawaii wildfires - 2024
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus takes oath as Chief Adviser to form an interim government in Bangladesh.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Muhammad Yunus
Who was born on 8 August
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 266 are shown.
- 1966
Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia
HuntsvilleWikipedia: Jimmy Wales - 1981
Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- 1902
Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984)
BristolWikipedia: Paul Dirac - 1951
Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian engineer, academic, and politician, 5th President of Egypt (died 2019)
El-AdwahWikipedia: Mohamed Morsi - 1937
Dustin Hoffman, American actor and director
Los AngelesWikipedia: Dustin Hoffman - 1964
Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy
Volturara AppulaWikipedia: Giuseppe Conte - 1879
Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general and politician (died 1919)
AnenecuilcoWikipedia: Emiliano Zapata - 1901
Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
- 1931
Roger Penrose, English physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
ColchesterWikipedia: Roger Penrose - 1170
Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominicans (died 1221)
CaleruegaWikipedia: Dominic de Guzmán - 1925
Alija Izetbegović, Bosnian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (died 2003)
- 1951
Louis van Gaal, Dutch footballer and manager
AmsterdamWikipedia: Louis van Gaal - 1952
Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author
- 1998
Shawn Mendes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
PickeringWikipedia: Shawn Mendes - 1948
Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian engineer and astronaut
- 1953
Lloyd Austin, American general, 1st black Secretary of Defense
MobileWikipedia: Lloyd Austin - 1953
Nigel Mansell, English racing driver
Upton upon SevernWikipedia: Nigel Mansell - 1881
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (died 1954)
- 1940
Dennis Tito, American engineer and businessman, founded Wilshire Associates
QueensWikipedia: Dennis Tito - 1978
Louis Saha, French footballer
13th arrondissement of ParisWikipedia: Louis Saha - 1921
Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (died 2013)
InglewoodWikipedia: Esther Williams - 1991
Joël Matip, Cameroonian footballer
BochumWikipedia: Joël Matip - 2005
Alysa Liu, American figure skater
ClovisWikipedia: Alysa Liu - 1694
Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher and academic (died 1746)
SaintfieldWikipedia: Francis Hutcheson - 1919
Dino De Laurentiis, Italian actor and producer (died 2010)
Torre AnnunziataWikipedia: Dino De Laurentiis - 1961
The Edge, British-Irish musician, singer and songwriter
LondonWikipedia: The Edge - 1985
Anita Włodarczyk, Polish track and field athlete
- 1988
Princess Beatrice, British royal
Portland HospitalWikipedia: Princess Beatrice - 1969
Faye Wong, Chinese singer-songwriter and actress
BeijingWikipedia: Faye Wong - 1990
Vladimír Darida, Czech footballer
- 1861
William Bateson, English biologist (originator of term "genetics") (died 1926)
- 1884
Sara Teasdale, American poet and educator (died 1933)
St. LouisWikipedia: Sara Teasdale - 1981
Harel Skaat, Israeli singer-songwriter
Kfar SabaWikipedia: Harel Skaat - 1987
Katie Leung, Scottish actress
DundeeWikipedia: Katie Leung - 1646
Godfrey Kneller, German-English painter (died 1723)
- 1880
Earle Page, Australian lawyer, academic, and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1961)
GraftonWikipedia: Earle Page - 1910
Sylvia Sidney, American actress (died 1999)
The BronxWikipedia: Sylvia Sidney - 1974
Manjul Bhargava, Canadian-American mathematician and academic
HamiltonWikipedia: Manjul Bhargava - 1875
Artur Bernardes, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 12th President of Brazil (died 1955)
- 1992
Josip Drmić, Swiss footballer
LachenWikipedia: Josip Drmić - 1956
Cecilia Roth, Argentinian actress
Buenos AiresWikipedia: Cecilia Roth - 1949
Keith Carradine, American actor
San MateoWikipedia: Keith Carradine - 1986
Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukrainian tennis player
Kryvyi RihWikipedia: Kateryna Volodko - 1907
Benny Carter, American saxophonist, trumpet player, and composer (died 2003)
New York CityWikipedia: Benny Carter - 1944
John C. Holmes, American film actor (died 1988)
AshvilleWikipedia: John Holmes - 1857
Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (died 1944)
Batignolles-MonceauWikipedia: Cécile Chaminade - 1882
Ladislas Starevich, Russian-French animator, screenwriter, and cinematographer (died 1965)
- 1988
Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player
Sant'Angelo LodigianoWikipedia: Danilo Gallinari - 1991
Nélson Oliveira, Portuguese footballer
BarcelosWikipedia: Nélson Oliveira - 1951
Mamoru Oshii, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1955
Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer and manager
- 1951
Martin Brest, American director, producer, and screenwriter
The BronxWikipedia: Martin Brest - 1961
Ron Klain, American lawyer and politician, White House Chief of Staff
IndianapolisWikipedia: Ron Klain - 2000
Félix Auger-Aliassime, Canadian tennis player
MontrealWikipedia: Félix Auger-Aliassime - 1938
Connie Stevens, American actress and businesswoman
BrooklynWikipedia: Connie Stevens - 1963
Jon Turteltaub, American director and producer
New York CityWikipedia: Jon Turteltaub - 1980
Michael Urie, American actor, director, and producer
DallasWikipedia: Michael Urie - 1079
Emperor Horikawa of Japan (died 1107)
- 1790
Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet, critic, and politician (died 1838)
- 1929
Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian general and politician, 68th President of Bolivia (died 2018)
What is celebrated on 8 August
- Ceasefire Day (end of Iran–Iraq War) (Iraqi Kurdistan)
- Christian Feast Day: Altmann of Passau
- Christian Feast Day: Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro
- Christian Feast Day: Cyriacus and companions
- Christian Feast Day: Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order.
- Christian Feast Day: Four Crowned Martyrs
- Christian Feast Day: Blessed Maria Anna Rosa Caiani
- Christian Feast Day: Mary MacKillop
- Christian Feast Day: Severus of Vienne
- Christian Feast Day: August 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Father's Day or Bā bā Day (爸爸節), Bā Bā is Mandarin for "father" and "8-8", or August 8. (Mongolia, Taiwan)
- Happiness Happens Day
- International Cat Day
- Namesday of the Queen (Sweden)
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.