A birthday on the globe
8 September on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born
For 8 September, the English Wikipedia lists 90 events and 326 births. 47 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 September through the years
The Earth on 8 September
The picture on the globe was assembled by NASA from satellite photographs taken in September 2004: the snow, the ice and the green are those of the month.
On 8 September the Sun passes straight overhead at noon along the parallel of 5.7° north. In London, the day lasts about 13 hours 10 minutes.
Beyond 84° north the Sun no longer sets; beyond 84° 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.
Europe · David
1504
Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
On the map: David.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Romanian and Chinese.
Europe · Millennium of Russia
1862
Millennium of Russia monument is unveiled in Novgorod.
On the map: Millennium of Russia.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Chinese.
Europe · Stade de France
2023
The 2023 Rugby World Cup, the tenth men's Rugby World Cup is held in France. The opening ceremony, directed and written by Jean Dujardin, Olivier Ferracci and Nora Matthey, took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, before the opening match between France and New Zealand, which saw the host nation winning 27 to 13.
On the map: Stade de France.
Asia · Wat Phra Dhammakaya
1995
Construction began on the Dhammakaya Cetiya, a giant stupa at the Wat Phra Dhammakaya, a Buddhist temple in Pathum Thani, Thailand.
On the map: Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
North America · St. Augustine, Florida
1565
St. Augustine, Florida is founded by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.
On the map: St. Augustine, Florida.
Also on the day’s list of Wikipedia in Spanish.
North America · Huntsville, Alabama
1960
In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1).
On the map: Huntsville, Alabama.
North America · Kennedy Center
1971
In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
On the map: Kennedy Center.
8 September
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 Chinese and were translated for this page.
From Wikipedia in Spanish · Seville
1703
At the Alameda de Hércules in Seville (Spain), the Capuchin priest Fray Isidoro de Sevilla presents the Marian devotion of the Divina Pastora de las Almas (Divine Shepherdess of Souls).
On the map: Seville.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Spanish.
From Wikipedia in Chinese · War Memorial Opera House
1951
In San Francisco, 48 countries sign the San Francisco peace treaty with Japan on the same day.
On the map: War Memorial Opera House.
Translated from the list on Wikipedia in Chinese.
8 September
Born on 8 September#
The English Wikipedia lists 326 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 8 September
1841
Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer and academic (died 1904)
Place of birth: Nelahozeves.
Born on 8 September
1830
Frédéric Mistral, French poet and lexicographer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914)
Place of birth: Maillane.
Born on 8 September
1925
Peter Sellers, English actor and comedian (died 1980)
Place of birth: Southsea.
Born on 8 September
1474
Ludovico Ariosto, Italian playwright and poet (died 1533)
Place of birth: Reggio Emilia.
Born on 8 September
1979
Pink, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
Place of birth: Doylestown.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1971
Martin Freeman, English actor
Place of birth: Aldershot.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1918
Derek Barton, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)
Place of birth: Gravesend.
Born in Britain and Ireland
1969
Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and manager (died 2011)
Place of birth: Mancot.
8 September
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 September 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 September
The list is the English Wikipedia’s, in its own wording, as it stood in October 2026. 40 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.
- 14
The funeral of Augustus takes place. His body is cremated and placed in his mausoleum.
Europe · Mausoleum of AugustusWikipedia: Augustus - 70
After the capture of Herod's Palace the previous day, a Roman army under Titus secures and plunders the city of Jerusalem.
Asia · Herod's PalaceWikipedia: Siege of Jerusalem - 617
Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty.
Asia · Battle of HuoyiWikipedia: Battle of Huoyi - 1100
Election of Antipope Theodoric.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Antipope Theodoric - 1198
Philip of Swabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, is crowned King of Germany (King of the Romans).
no place on the mapWikipedia: Philip of Swabia - 1253
Pope Innocent IV canonises Stanislaus of Szczepanów, who was killed by King Bolesław II.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pope Innocent IV - 1264
The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Bolesław the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Statute of Kalisz - 1276
Election of Pope John XXI following the sudden death of pope Hadrian V in the previous month. This was the third papal election that year as both predecessors of Pope John XXI died in the same year.
Europe · September 1276 papal electionWikipedia: September 1276 papal election - 1331
Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Stefan Dušan - 1334
The Battle of Adramyttion begins in which a Christian naval league defeats a Turkish fleet in several encounters.
Asia · Edremit GulfWikipedia: Battle of Adramyttion - 1380
Battle of Kulikovo: Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance.
Europe · Battle of KulikovoWikipedia: Battle of Kulikovo - 1504
Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
Europe · DavidWikipedia: David - 1514
Battle of Orsha: In one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army.
Europe · Battle of OrshaWikipedia: Battle of Orsha - 1522
Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation: Victoria arrives at Seville, completing the first circumnavigation.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Magellan expedition - 1565
St. Augustine, Florida is founded by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.
North America · St. Augustine, FloridaWikipedia: St. Augustine, Florida - 1566
Ottoman–Habsburg wars: Ottoman forces led by Suleiman the Magnificent captured the fortress of Szigetvár in Hungary, but were forced to end their campaign to take Vienna.
Europe · Siege of SzigetvárWikipedia: Ottoman–Habsburg wars - 1655
Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under the command of Charles X Gustav of Sweden during The Deluge, making it the first time the city is captured by a foreign army.
Europe · WarsawWikipedia: Deluge - 1726
J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35, a solo cantata for alto voice.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Johann Sebastian Bach - 1727
A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children.
Britain & Ireland · Burwell, CambridgeshireWikipedia: Burwell, Cambridgeshire - 1755
French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George.
North America · Battle of Lake GeorgeWikipedia: Battle of Lake George - 1756
French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Kittanning Expedition - 1760
French and Indian War: French surrender Montreal to the British, completing the latter's conquest of New France.
North America · Montreal campaignWikipedia: Montreal campaign - 1761
Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
no place on the mapWikipedia: George III - 1775
The unsuccessful Rising of the Priests in Malta.
Europe · Rising of the PriestsWikipedia: Rising of the Priests - 1781
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory.
North America · Battle of Eutaw SpringsWikipedia: Battle of Eutaw Springs - 1793
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote.
Europe · Battle of HondschooteWikipedia: Battle of Hondschoote - 1796
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano: French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa.
Europe · Battle of BassanoWikipedia: Battle of Bassano - 1808
The Treaty of Paris is signed ending the French military occupation of Prussia.
Europe · ParisWikipedia: Treaty of Paris - 1810
The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Tonquin - 1813
At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town.
Europe · San SebastiánWikipedia: Peninsular War - 1819
1819 Balloon riot occurred at Vauxhall Garden in Philadelphia, PA and resulted in the destruction of the amusement park.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1819 Balloon riot - 1831
November uprising: The Battle of Warsaw effectively ends the Polish insurrection.
Europe · Battle of WarsawWikipedia: Battle of Warsaw - 1831
William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
no place on the mapWikipedia: William IV - 1855
Crimean War: The French assault the tower of Malakoff, leading to the capture of Sevastopol.
Europe · Battle of MalakoffWikipedia: Crimean War - 1860
The steamship PS Lady Elgin sinks on Lake Michigan, with the loss of around 300 lives.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Steamship - 1862
Millennium of Russia monument is unveiled in Novgorod.
Europe · Millennium of RussiaWikipedia: Millennium of Russia - 1863
American Civil War: In the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.
North America · Second Battle of Sabine PassWikipedia: American Civil War - 1883
The Northern Pacific Railway (reporting mark NP) was completed in a ceremony at Gold Creek, Montana. Former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in an event attended by rail and political luminaries.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Northern Pacific Railway - 1888
In England, the first six Football League matches are played.
no place on the mapWikipedia: English Football League - 1888
In London, the body of Jack the Ripper's second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Annie Chapman - 1888
Isaac Peral's submarine is first tested.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Spanish submarine Peral - 1888
The Great Herding (Spanish: El Gran Arreo) begins with thousands of sheep being herded from the Argentine outpost of Fortín Conesa to Santa Cruz near the Strait of Magellan.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Patagonian sheep farming boom - 1892
The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Pledge of Allegiance - 1898
Seven hundred Greek civilians, 17 British guards and the British Consul of Crete are killed by a Turkish mob.
Europe · Candia massacreWikipedia: Candia massacre - 1900
Galveston hurricane: A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
North America · 1900 Galveston hurricaneWikipedia: 1900 Galveston hurricane - 1905
The 7.2 Mw Calabria earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 557 and 2,500 people.
Europe · 1905 Calabria earthquakeWikipedia: 1905 Calabria earthquake - 1907
Gertrude Stein meets her life partner and muse, Alice B. Toklas in Paris.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Gertrude Stein - 1914
World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war.
no place on the mapWikipedia: World War I - 1916
In a bid to prove that women were capable of serving as military dispatch riders, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren arrive in Los Angeles, completing a 60-day, 5,500 mile cross-country trip on motorcycles.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Van Buren sisters - 1921
Margaret Gorman, a 16-year-old, wins the Atlantic City Pageant's Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the first Miss America.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Margaret Gorman - 1923
Honda Point disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost, and twenty-three sailors killed.
North America · Honda Point disasterWikipedia: Honda Point disaster - 1925
Rif War: Spanish forces including troops from the Foreign Legion under Colonel Francisco Franco landing at Al Hoceima, Morocco.
Africa · Al HoceimaWikipedia: Rif War - 1926
Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
Europe · Weimar RepublicWikipedia: Weimar Republic - 1933
Ghazi bin Faisal became King of Iraq.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Ghazi of Iraq - 1934
Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 137 people.
no place on the mapWikipedia: SS Morro Castle - 1935
US Senator from Louisiana Huey Long is fatally shot in the Louisiana State Capitol building.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Huey Long - 1936
Opposed to António de Oliveira Salazar's support of the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, the crews of the Portuguese Navy ships NRP Afonso de Albuquerque and NRP Dão mutinied while anchored in the harbour of Lisbon.
Europe · LisbonWikipedia: 1936 Portuguese naval revolt - 1941
World War II: German forces begin the Siege of Leningrad.
Europe · Siege of LeningradWikipedia: World War II - 1943
World War II: The Armistice of Cassibile is proclaimed by radio. OB Süd immediately implements plans to disarm the Italian forces.
Europe · Armistice of CassibileWikipedia: Armistice of Cassibile - 1944
World War II: London is hit by a V-2 rocket for the first time.
no place on the mapWikipedia: V-2 rocket - 1945
The division of Korea begins when United States troops arrive to partition the southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Division of Korea - 1946
A referendum abolishes the monarchy in Bulgaria.
no place on the mapWikipedia: 1946 Bulgarian republic referendum - 1948
The flag of North Korea is adopted with the passing of the country's first constitution by the Supreme People's Assembly.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Flag of North Korea - 1952
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation makes its first televised broadcast on the second escape of the Boyd Gang.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - 1954
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Southeast Asia Treaty Organization - 1960
In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1).
North America · Huntsville, AlabamaWikipedia: Huntsville, Alabama - 1962
Last run of the famous Pines Express over the Somerset and Dorset Railway line (UK) fittingly using the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, BR Standard Class 9F 92220 Evening Star.
no place on the mapWikipedia: BR Standard Class 9F 92220 Evening Star - 1966
Queen Elizabeth II opened the Severn Bridge, suggesting that it marked the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Severn Bridge - 1966
The landmark American science fiction television series Star Trek premieres with its first-aired episode, "The Man Trap".
no place on the mapWikipedia: Star Trek: The Original Series - 1970
Trans International Airlines Flight 863 crashes during takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, killing all 11 aboard.
North America · Trans International Airlines Flight 863Wikipedia: Trans International Airlines Flight 863 - 1971
In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
North America · Kennedy CenterWikipedia: Kennedy Center - 1973
World Airways Flight 802 crashes into Mount Dutton in King Cove, Alaska, killing six people.
North America · World Airways Flight 802Wikipedia: World Airways Flight 802 - 1974
Watergate scandal: US President Gerald Ford signs the pardon of Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
North America · National Archives BuildingWikipedia: Pardon of Richard Nixon - 1975
Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I Am A Homosexual". He is given a general discharge, later upgraded to honorable.
no place on the mapWikipedia: LGBTQ people and military service - 1978
Black Friday, a massacre by soldiers against protesters in Tehran, results in 88 deaths, it marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Iran.
Asia · TehranWikipedia: Black Friday - 1986
Nicholas Daniloff, a correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, is indicted on charges of espionage by the Soviet Union.
Asia · Soviet UnionWikipedia: Nicholas Daniloff - 1988
Yellowstone National Park is closed for the first time in U.S. history due to ongoing fires.
North America · Yellowstone fires of 1988Wikipedia: Yellowstone fires of 1988 - 1989
Partnair Flight 394 dives into the North Sea, killing 55 people. The investigation showed that the tail of the plane vibrated loose in flight due to sub-standard connecting bolts that had been fraudulently sold as aircraft-grade.
Europe · Partnair Flight 394Wikipedia: Partnair Flight 394 - 1991
At the Tailhook Association symposium in Las Vegas, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators were alleged to have sexually assaulted 90 persons.
North America · Las VegasWikipedia: United States Navy - 1994
USAir Flight 427, on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, suddenly crashes in clear weather killing all 132 aboard, resulting in the most extensive aviation investigation in world history and altering manufacturing practices in the industry.
North America · USAir Flight 427Wikipedia: USAir Flight 427 - 1995
Construction began on the Dhammakaya Cetiya, a giant stupa at the Wat Phra Dhammakaya, a Buddhist temple in Pathum Thani, Thailand.
Asia · Wat Phra DhammakayaWikipedia: History of Wat Phra Dhammakaya - 2000
NASA launches Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-106 to resupply the International Space Station.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Space Shuttle Atlantis - 2004
NASA's uncrewed spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its parachute fails to open.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Genesis - 2005
Two Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft from EMERCOM land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.
Europe · Ministry of Emergency SituationsWikipedia: Ilyushin Il-76 - 2016
NASA launches OSIRIS-REx, its first asteroid sample return mission. The probe visited 101955 Bennu and returned with samples in September 2023.
no place on the mapWikipedia: OSIRIS-REx - 2017
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announce the beginning of the Deir ez-Zor campaign, with the stated aim of eliminating the Islamic State (IS) from all areas north and east of the Euphrates.
no place on the mapWikipedia: Deir ez-Zor campaign - 2022
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years. Her son Charles, Prince of Wales, ascends the throne upon her death as Charles III.
Britain & Ireland · Balmoral CastleWikipedia: Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II - 2023
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Morocco, killing nearly 3,000 people and damaging historic sites in Marrakesh.
Africa · 2023 Al Haouz earthquakeWikipedia: 2023 Al Haouz earthquake - 2023
The 2023 Rugby World Cup, the tenth men's Rugby World Cup is held in France. The opening ceremony, directed and written by Jean Dujardin, Olivier Ferracci and Nora Matthey, took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, before the opening match between France and New Zealand, which saw the host nation winning 27 to 13.
Europe · Stade de FranceWikipedia: 2023 Rugby World Cup - 2025
Balçova police station shooting: Four people, including the perpetrator are killed an attack on a police station in Turkey.
Asia · TurkeyWikipedia: Turkey–Islamic State 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 Chinese and were translated for this page.
- 1703
At the Alameda de Hércules in Seville (Spain), the Capuchin priest Fray Isidoro de Sevilla presents the Marian devotion of the Divina Pastora de las Almas (Divine Shepherdess of Souls).
- 1951
In San Francisco, 48 countries sign the San Francisco peace treaty with Japan on the same day.
North America · War Memorial Opera HouseTranslated from the list on Wikipedia in ChineseWikipedia: 旧金山和约
Who was born on 8 September
In order of how many Wikipedia editions have an article about each. The first 60 of 326 are shown.
- 1841
Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer and academic (died 1904)
NelahozevesWikipedia: Antonín Dvořák - 1941
Bernie Sanders, American politician
BrooklynWikipedia: Bernie Sanders - 1830
Frédéric Mistral, French poet and lexicographer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914)
MaillaneWikipedia: Frédéric Mistral - 1157
Richard I of England (died 1199)
Beaumont PalaceWikipedia: Richard I of England - 1925
Peter Sellers, English actor and comedian (died 1980)
SouthseaWikipedia: Peter Sellers - 1474
Ludovico Ariosto, Italian playwright and poet (died 1533)
Reggio EmiliaWikipedia: Ludovico Ariosto - 1979
Pink, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
DoylestownWikipedia: Pink - 1989
Avicii, Swedish electronic musician (died 2018)
StockholmWikipedia: Avicii - 1946
Aziz Sancar, Turkish-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Savur districtWikipedia: Aziz Sancar - 1987
Wiz Khalifa, American rapper and actor
- 1994
Bruno Fernandes, Portuguese footballer
- 1971
Martin Freeman, English actor
AldershotWikipedia: Martin Freeman - 1779
Mustafa IV, Ottoman sultan (died 1808)
ConstantinopleWikipedia: Mustafa IV - 1933
Asha Bhosle, Indian playback singer, businesswoman, actress and television personality (died 2026)
SangliWikipedia: Asha Bhosle - 1588
Marin Mersenne, French mathematician, philosopher, and theologian (died 1648)
- 1767
August Wilhelm Schlegel, German poet and critic (died 1845)
- 1986
João Moutinho, Portuguese footballer
PortimãoWikipedia: João Moutinho - 1918
Derek Barton, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)
GravesendWikipedia: Derek Barton - 1923
Rasul Gamzatov, Russian poet (died 2003)
- 1932
Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 1963)
WinchesterWikipedia: Patsy Cline - 1873
Alfred Jarry, French author and playwright (died 1907)
- 1989
Gylfi Sigurðsson, Icelandic footballer
ReykjavíkWikipedia: Gylfi Sigurðsson - 1950
James Mattis, 26th United States Secretary of Defense under the Trump administration (2017-2019)
PullmanWikipedia: Jim Mattis - 1804
Eduard Mörike, German pastor, poet, and academic (died 1875)
LudwigsburgWikipedia: Eduard Mörike - 1783
N. F. S. Grundtvig, Danish pastor, philosopher, and author (died 1872)
- 1971
David Arquette, American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and wrestler
BentonvilleWikipedia: David Arquette - 1831
Wilhelm Raabe, German author and painter (died 1910)
EschershausenWikipedia: Wilhelm Raabe - 1857
Georg Michaelis, German academic and politician, 6th Chancellor of Germany (died 1936)
ChojnówWikipedia: Georg Michaelis - 1983
Diego Benaglio, Swiss footballer
- 1901
Hendrik Verwoerd, Dutch-South African journalist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of South Africa (died 1966)
AmsterdamWikipedia: Hendrik Verwoerd - 1986
Carlos Bacca, Colombian footballer
BarranquillaWikipedia: Carlos Bacca - 1209
Sancho II of Portugal (died 1248)
- 1852
Gojong of Korea, 26th Emperor of the Joseon Kingdom and first emperor of Korea (died 1919)
UnhyeongungWikipedia: Gojong of Korea - 2002
Gaten Matarazzo, American actor and singer
New LondonWikipedia: Gaten Matarazzo - 685
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (died 762)
- 1633
Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (died 1654)
- 1962
Thomas Kretschmann, German actor
- 1969
Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and manager (died 2011)
MancotWikipedia: Gary Speed - 1947
Halldór Ásgrímsson, Icelandic accountant and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Iceland (died 2015)
VopnafjörðurWikipedia: Halldór Ásgrímsson - 1886
Siegfried Sassoon, English soldier, poet and author (died 1967)
MatfieldWikipedia: Siegfried Sassoon - 1984
Vitaly Petrov, Russian racing driver
VyborgWikipedia: Vitaly Petrov - 1910
Jean-Louis Barrault, French actor and director (died 1994)
Le VésinetWikipedia: Jean-Louis Barrault - 801
Ansgar, German archbishop and saint (died 865)
AmiensWikipedia: Ansgar - 1954
Michael Shermer, American historian, author, and academic, founded The Skeptics Society
GlendaleWikipedia: Michael Shermer - 1972
Markus Babbel, German footballer and manager
MunichWikipedia: Markus Babbel - 828
Ali al-Hadi, Hijazi (Western Arabian), 10th of the Twelve Imams (died 868)
MedinaWikipedia: Ali al-Hadi - 1621
Louis, Grand Condé, French general (died 1686)
- 1887
Sivananda Saraswati, Hindu monk, spiritual leader, physician, proponent of Vedanta, etc. (died 1963)
PattamadaiWikipedia: Sivananda Saraswati - 1380
Bernardino of Siena, Italian priest, missionary, and saint (died 1444)
Massa MarittimaWikipedia: Bernardino of Siena - 1413
Catherine of Bologna, Italian nun and saint (died 1463)
- 1981
Morten Gamst Pedersen, Norwegian footballer
- 1774
Anne Catherine Emmerich, German nun and mystic (died 1824)
- 1922
Sid Caesar, American comic actor and writer (died 2014)
YonkersWikipedia: Sid Caesar - 1271
Charles Martel of Anjou (died 1295)
- 1993
Magdalena Eriksson, Swedish professional footballer
Skarpnäcks församlingWikipedia: Magdalena Eriksson - 1934
Peter Maxwell Davies, English composer and conductor (died 2016)
- 1945
Vinko Puljić, Croatian cardinal
PriječaniWikipedia: Vinko Puljić - 1593
Toyotomi Hideyori, Japanese nobleman (died 1615)
Osaka CastleWikipedia: Toyotomi Hideyori - 1914
Patriarch Demetrios I of Constantinople (died 1991)
ConstantinopleWikipedia: Demetrios I of Constantinople - 1749
Yolande de Polastron, French educator (died 1793)
What is celebrated on 8 September
- Christian Feast Day: Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia (Roman Catholic Church)
- Christian Feast Day: Corbinian
- Christian Feast Day: Disibod
- Christian Feast Day: Blessed Frédéric Ozanam
- Christian Feast Day: Isaac of Armenia
- Christian Feast Day: Nativity of Mary (Roman Catholic Church), (Anglo-Catholicism) Monti Fest (Mangalorean Catholic)
- Christian Feast Day: Our Lady of Charity
- Christian Feast Day: Our Lady of Covadonga (national holiday in Asturias)
- Christian Feast Day: Our Lady of Good Health of Vailankanni
- Christian Feast Day: Pope Sergius I
- Christian Feast Day: September 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Christian Feast Day: Feast Day of Our Lady of Meritxell (national holiday in Andorra)
- Accession Day (United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms) (during the reign of Charles III)
- Independence Day (North Macedonia)
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.