π On This Day
366 days
What happened on this day? A kid-friendly story for every day of the year: discoveries, inventions, famous birthdays, landmarks opening and nature days, each with a question and a place to visit on a free 3D globe.
January
- 1π Haiti's Independence Day
- 2π¬ Luna 1 escapes Earth
- 3π Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, is born
- 4π Louis Braille, inventor of braille, is born
- 5π¨ Harbin Ice Festival opens
- 6π Poet Kahlil Gibran is born
- 7π Storyteller Zora Neale Hurston is born
- 8π Stephen Hawking is born
- 9π First balloon flight in the Americas
- 10π The world's first underground railway opens
- 11π¬ Insulin is first given to a patient
- 12π Charles Perrault, teller of Cinderella, is born
- 13π¬ Opera is broadcast on radio
- 14π Albert Schweitzer is born
- 15π¨ The British Museum opens
- 16πΏ Explorers reach the South Magnetic Pole
- 17π Benjamin Franklin is born
- 18π A. A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, is born
- 19π Painter Paul CΓ©zanne is born
- 20π Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin is born
- 21π Nautilus, first nuclear submarine, launches
- 22π The jumbo jet 747 carries its first passengers
- 23π The first woman earns a medical degree in the US
- 24πΏ Gold is found in California
- 25π The first Winter Olympics begin
- 26π India's Republic Day
- 27π Mozart is born
- 28π¨ Pride and Prejudice is published
- 29π¬ Karl Benz files the patent for the car
- 30π¨ The Beatles play on a rooftop
- 31π Franz Schubert is born
February
- 1π¨ The first part of the Oxford English Dictionary
- 2πΏ World Wetlands Day
- 3π Felix Mendelssohn is born
- 4π Rosa Parks is born
- 5π John Boyd Dunlop, tyre inventor, is born
- 6π Waitangi Day in New Zealand
- 7π Charles Dickens is born
- 8π Jules Verne is born
- 9π PyeongChang Winter Olympics open
- 10π¬ A computer beats the chess champion
- 11π Nelson Mandela walks free
- 12π Charles Darwin is born
- 13π¬ LumiΓ¨re brothers patent the CinΓ©matographe
- 14π¬ The "Pale Blue Dot" photo of Earth
- 15π Galileo Galilei is born
- 16π Tutankhamun's burial chamber is opened
- 17π¨ Madama Butterfly premieres
- 18π¬ Pluto is discovered
- 19π Nicolaus Copernicus is born
- 20π¬ John Glenn orbits the Earth
- 21π International Mother Language Day
- 22π Cat Day in Japan
- 23π Brunei's National Day
- 24π Wilhelm Grimm of the Brothers Grimm is born
- 25π Painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir is born
- 26π Victor Hugo is born
- 27πΏ International Polar Bear Day
- 28π¬ The DNA double helix is worked out
- 29π Rossini, a leap-day baby, is born
March
- 1π Korea's March First Movement Day
- 2π Concorde makes its first flight
- 3π Hinamatsuri, Girls' Day in Japan
- 4π "Mama Africa" Miriam Makeba is born
- 5π Mapmaker Gerardus Mercator is born
- 6π Ghana's Independence Day
- 7π Maurice Ravel, composer of BolΓ©ro, is born
- 8π International Women's Day
- 9π Yuri Gagarin, first person in space, is born
- 10π¬ The first telephone call
- 11π Tango composer Astor Piazzolla is born
- 12π Gandhi's Salt March begins
- 13π¬ Uranus is discovered
- 14π Einstein's birthday β and Pi Day
- 15π The first Test cricket match
- 16π¬ The first liquid-fuel rocket flies
- 17π St Patrick's Day in Ireland
- 18π¬ The first spacewalk
- 19π Sydney Harbour Bridge opens
- 20π¬ Volta announces the first battery
- 21π Benito JuΓ‘rez is born
- 22πΏ World Water Day
- 23π Mathematician Emmy Noether is born
- 24π Escape artist Harry Houdini is born
- 25π¬ Titan, Saturn's moon, is discovered
- 26π¬ Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
- 27π¨ Japan's cherry trees are planted in Washington
- 28π Comenius, father of picture textbooks, is born
- 29π The Terracotta Army is discovered
- 30π Vincent van Gogh is born
- 31π The Eiffel Tower is completed
April
- 1π Wangari Maathai, the tree mother
- 2π Hans Christian Andersen is born
- 3π Jane Goodall, friend of chimps
- 4π Poet Maya Angelou is born
- 5π Easter Island gets its name
- 6π The first modern Olympics open
- 7π World Health Day
- 8π Hanamatsuri, Japan's flower festival
- 9π Brunel, builder of giant ships
- 10π The safety pin is patented
- 11π Percy Julian, chemist of soybeans
- 12π¬ Gagarin, first person in space
- 13π Songkran, Thai New Year
- 14π Pohela Boishakh, Bengali New Year
- 15π Leonardo da Vinci is born
- 16π Charlie Chaplin is born
- 17π¨ Brussels Expo 58 and the Atomium
- 18π World Heritage Day: No. 1 is GalΓ‘pagos
- 19π¬ India's first satellite, Aryabhata
- 20π UN Chinese Language Day
- 21π Rome's birthday, Natale di Roma
- 22π Earth Day
- 23π World Book Day: books and roses
- 24π¬ Hubble Space Telescope launches
- 25π¬ The DNA double helix is published
- 26π I. M. Pei, architect of the Louvre Pyramid
- 27π Freedom Day in South Africa
- 28π The raft Kon-Tiki sets sail
- 29π International Dance Day
- 30π Children's Day in Mexico
May
- 1π The Empire State Building opens
- 2π The first jet airliner flight with passengers
- 3π A plane lands at the North Pole
- 4π Greenery Day in Japan
- 5π Children's Day in Korea
- 6π The Penny Black, first stamp
- 7π Poet Rabindranath Tagore is born
- 8π World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
- 9π Howard Carter, finder of Tutankhamun
- 10π The golden spike joins America's railroad
- 11π Salvador DalΓ, painter of melting clocks
- 12π Florence Nightingale is born
- 13πΏ Great Comet of 1861 is discovered
- 14π¬ Jenner gives the first vaccination
- 15π King Sejong's birthday, Teachers' Day
- 16π¬ The first laser shines
- 17π Norway's Constitution Day parades
- 18π Omar Khayyam, poet and mathematician
- 19πΏ The world's first national park service
- 20π World Bee Day
- 21π Amelia Earhart flies the Atlantic alone
- 22π Tokyo Skytree opens
- 23π Carl Linnaeus, namer of living things
- 24π The Brooklyn Bridge opens
- 25π Africa Day
- 26π Astronaut Sally Ride is born
- 27π The Golden Gate Bridge opens
- 28πΏ The Afsluitdijk turns a sea into a lake
- 29π First climb to the top of Everest
- 30π FabergΓ©, maker of jeweled eggs
- 31π Big Ben's Great Clock starts
June
- 1π International Children's Day
- 2π¬ Marconi applies for a radio patent
- 3π World Bicycle Day
- 4π¬ The Montgolfier brothers' balloon
- 5π World Environment Day
- 6π Russian poet Alexander Pushkin
- 7π First climb of Denali
- 8π World Oceans Day
- 9π George Stephenson, father of railways
- 10π Time Day in Japan
- 11π Jacques Cousteau, ocean explorer
- 12π Anne Frank, the girl who wrote a diary
- 13π James Clerk Maxwell, who explained light
- 14π World Blood Donor Day
- 15π Magna Carta is sealed
- 16π¬ Tereshkova, first woman in space
- 17π The Statue of Liberty arrives by ship
- 18π The Kasato Maru reaches Brazil
- 19π Blaise Pascal, inventor of a calculator
- 20π Steamship Savannah crosses the Atlantic
- 21π International Day of Yoga
- 22πΏ Mount Fuji becomes World Heritage
- 23π Alan Turing, father of computer science
- 24π Inti Raymi, the Inca Sun Festival
- 25π Antoni GaudΓ is born
- 26π The first barcode scan: a pack of gum
- 27π Helen Keller is born
- 28π Maria Goeppert Mayer, Nobel physicist
- 29π Saint-ExupΓ©ry, author of The Little Prince
- 30πΏ Tunguska and Asteroid Day
July
- 1π Canada Day: Canada's birthday
- 2π The first zeppelin takes off
- 3π Mallard's steam speed record
- 4π Independence Day in the USA
- 5π¬ Dolly the sheep is born
- 6π Painter Frida Kahlo is born
- 7π¨ Tanabata, the star festival
- 8π Fable writer La Fontaine is born
- 9π Argentina's Independence Day
- 10π Inventor Nikola Tesla is born
- 11π China's Maritime Day
- 12π Poet Pablo Neruda is born
- 13π The first World Cup kicks off
- 14π Bastille Day in France
- 15π Rembrandt, painter of light, is born
- 16π Explorer Roald Amundsen is born
- 17π Disneyland opens
- 18π Nelson Mandela International Day
- 19π The SS Great Britain is launched
- 20π¬ Apollo 11 lands on the Moon
- 21πΏ Earth's coldest temperature
- 22π First solo flight around the world
- 23π Astronomer Vera Rubin is born
- 24π Machu Picchu meets the world
- 25π First flight across the Channel
- 26π Liberia's Independence Day
- 27π A telegraph cable crosses the Atlantic
- 28π Beatrix Potter, creator of Peter Rabbit
- 29πΏ International Tiger Day
- 30π Writer Emily BrontΓ« is born
- 31πΏ World Ranger Day
August
- 1π Swiss National Day
- 2π Bartholdi, sculptor of Lady Liberty
- 3π First ship through the Panama Canal
- 4π ContΓ©, inventor of the pencil lead
- 5π Astronaut Neil Armstrong is born
- 6π Gertrude Ederle swims the Channel
- 7π The Kon-Tiki raft crosses the Pacific
- 8π Beijing Olympics open
- 9π Singapore's National Day
- 10πΏ World Lion Day
- 11π Storyteller Enid Blyton is born
- 12πΏ World Elephant Day
- 13π TV pioneer John Logie Baird is born
- 14π Pakistan's Independence Day
- 15π Korea's Liberation Day
- 16π¨ Kyoto's Daimonji bonfires
- 17π Indonesia's Independence Day
- 18π¬ A clue to helium is seen in the Sun
- 19π¨ World Photography Day
- 20π¬ Voyager 2 is launched
- 21π The day the Mona Lisa vanished
- 22π A traveller reaches rock-cut Petra
- 23π Dick Bruna, creator of Miffy, is born
- 24π¬ Pluto becomes a dwarf planet
- 25πΏ The US National Park Service is born
- 26π Chemist Antoine Lavoisier is born
- 27π Storyteller Kenji Miyazawa is born
- 28π Writer Goethe is born
- 29π India's National Sports Day
- 30π Ernest Rutherford is born
- 31π Malaysia's Merdeka Day
September
- 1π Emma Nutt, the first woman operator
- 2π Vietnam's National Day
- 3π San Marino's founding day
- 4π Edison's power station lights up
- 5π Teachers' Day in India
- 6π First voyage around the world ends
- 7π Brazil's Independence Day
- 8π¨ International Literacy Day
- 9π Writer Leo Tolstoy is born
- 10π Abebe Bikila wins barefoot
- 11π Enkutatash, Ethiopian New Year
- 12π A boy and his dog find Lascaux
- 13π Storyteller Roald Dahl is born
- 14π Explorer Alexander von Humboldt is born
- 15π Agatha Christie, queen of mysteries
- 16π Mexico's Independence Day
- 17π The Seoul Olympics open
- 18π Chile's Fiestas Patrias
- 19π New Zealand women win the vote
- 20π¨ The first Cannes Film Festival
- 21π International Day of Peace
- 22π Junko Tabei, first woman on Everest
- 23π¬ Neptune is found by maths
- 24π Heritage Day in South Africa
- 25π Writer Lu Xun is born
- 26π¨ European Day of Languages
- 27π The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens
- 28π Confucius's birthday, Teachers' Day
- 29π¬ CERN is founded
- 30π Botswana Day
October
- 1π Nigeria's Independence Day
- 2π Mahatma Gandhi, champion of non-violence, is born
- 3π Gaecheonjeol, Korea's National Foundation Day
- 4π¬ Sputnik 1, the first satellite, launches
- 5π World Teachers' Day
- 6π Raft explorer Thor Heyerdahl is born
- 7π¬ First look at the far side of the Moon
- 8πΏ World Octopus Day
- 9π Hangeul Day
- 10π Fiji Day
- 11π International Day of the Girl
- 12π Tenor Luciano Pavarotti is born
- 13π¨ Paddington Bear's first book comes out
- 14π¬ A plane flies faster than sound
- 15π¬ China's first astronaut flies to space
- 16π World Food Day
- 17π¨ The first Open golf championship
- 18π Alaska Day
- 19π Star scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar is born
- 20π Sydney Opera House opens
- 21π Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize, is born
- 22π Peking opera star Mei Lanfang is born
- 23π Football king PelΓ© is born
- 24π United Nations Day
- 25π Painter Pablo Picasso is born
- 26π¨ Uluru is handed back to its people
- 27π New York's subway opens
- 28π The Statue of Liberty is unveiled
- 29π¬ The internet's first message: "LO"
- 30π Football star Diego Maradona is born
- 31π Carving ends on Mount Rushmore
November
- 1π¨ The Sistine Chapel ceiling is revealed
- 2π Mexico's Day of the Dead
- 3π¨ Godzilla stomps into cinemas
- 4π Steps to Tutankhamun's tomb are found
- 5π¬ India's Mars mission Mangalyaan launches
- 6π Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, is born
- 7π Scientist Marie Curie is born
- 8π¬ RΓΆntgen discovers X-rays
- 9π The Berlin Wall opens
- 10π¨ Sesame Street first airs
- 11π Armistice Day: the guns fall silent
- 12π Sun Yat-sen is born
- 13π Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, is born
- 14π Claude Monet, painter of light, is born
- 15π Shichi-Go-San in Japan
- 16π UNESCO is founded
- 17π The Suez Canal opens
- 18π Louis Daguerre, a father of photography, is born
- 19π World Toilet Day
- 20π World Children's Day
- 21π¬ First people fly in a hot-air balloon
- 22π The clipper ship Cutty Sark is launched
- 23π¬ Fibonacci Day (1, 1, 2, 3)
- 24π¬ Lucy, 3.2 million years old, is found
- 25π Karl Benz, car pioneer, is born
- 26π Charles Schulz, creator of Snoopy, is born
- 27π Anders Celsius of the temperature scale is born
- 28π New Zealand women vote for the first time
- 29π Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, is born
- 30π Mark Twain, author of Tom Sawyer, is born
December
- 1π Rosa Parks keeps her bus seat
- 2π UAE National Day
- 3π¬ The world's first heart transplant
- 4πΏ International Cheetah Day
- 5π Walt Disney, father of Mickey Mouse, is born
- 6π Finland's Independence Day
- 7π¬ The 'Blue Marble' photo of Earth
- 8π Mural painter Diego Rivera is born
- 9π Computer pioneer Grace Hopper is born
- 10π Human Rights Day
- 11πΏ International Mountain Day
- 12π¬ The first radio signal crosses the Atlantic
- 13π St Lucia's Day in Sweden
- 14π Amundsen reaches the South Pole
- 15π Gustave Eiffel, builder of the Eiffel Tower, is born
- 16π Novelist Jane Austen is born
- 17π¬ The Wright brothers' first flight
- 18π¨ The Nutcracker ballet premieres
- 19π¨ A Christmas Carol is published
- 20π¬ Nuclear power lights its first bulbs
- 21π¨ The first crossword puzzle
- 22π Dongji: the winter solstice and red bean porridge
- 23π¬ The transistor is first demonstrated
- 24π¨ 'Silent Night' is sung for the first time
- 25π Christmas Day
- 26π Charles Babbage, father of the computer, is born
- 27π Louis Pasteur, germ fighter, is born
- 28π¨ The LumiΓ¨re brothers' first film show
- 29π Cellist Pau Casals is born
- 30π Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book, is born
- 31π New Year's Eve bell at Bosingak