BIRTHDAY ATLAS

Birthday facts

Born on December 8.

Everyone born on December 8 is a Sagittarius — ruled by Jupiter, packed, gone, unreachable. The stone is turquoise, the flower narcissus, and the day is shared with Jim Morrison and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Sagittarius, the Archer — an engraving
Sun sign
Sagittarius ♐︎
the Archer · ruled by Jupiter · packed, gone, unreachable
Turquoise, the birthstone for December — an engraving
Birthstone
Turquoise
December
Narcissus, the birth flower for December — an engraving
Birth flower
Narcissus
& holly

Your book

Born on December 8? Add the year.

Then it is a pop-up book: the sky the day you arrived, the No. 1 that week, the president, what a stamp cost, your life in weeks, and who was exactly your age when they did the thing they are known for — and at the end, a birthday poster of the day, engraved, to take home. One field. The date lives after the # in the link, which no server sees — nothing about you leaves your browser.

Making it for someone else? Send it as a pop-up birthday card.

The old books say

Sagittarius, November 22 to December 21.

The Archer, half horse and aiming somewhere over the horizon; ruled by Jupiter, the planet of more. A fire sign, and the books credit it with optimism, honesty to a fault and a need to be elsewhere — the traveller, the student, the one with the ticket already booked. Its people are supposed to say the true thing before checking whether anyone wanted it said. The tradition forgives them, mostly.

Astrology, reported rather than endorsed — the astronomy is the part of the book that is real.

Good company

Also born on December 8.

The names most looked up among everyone who shares the day — leaning on the ones who last.

1943
Jim Morrison
American poet and singer-songwriter
1542
Mary, Queen of Scots
daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise
1966
Sinéad O'Connor
Irish singer-songwriter
1953
Norman Finkelstein
American author and activist
1982
Nicki Minaj
Trinidadian-American rapper and actress
1961
Ann Coulter
American author and political commentator
1886
Diego Rivera
Mexican painter
1951
Bill Bryson
American essayist and travel

On this day

What December 8 has seen.

It is Rōhatsu in Japan.

1660Margaret Hughes appeared professionally on the English stage; she is thought to have been the first woman to do so.
1880At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the fulfilment of the decision to restore the government and volksraad of the South African Republic.
2010The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS flew by Venus at a distance of 80,800 km (50,200 mi), completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar-sail technology.
2024The Syrian civil war ended when Bashar al-Assad's party, the Syrian Ba'ath Party, surrendered to the Syrian opposition.

The calendar

When December 8 falls.

A Tuesday in 2026, a Wednesday in 2027, a Friday in 2028, a Saturday in 2029, and a Sunday in 2030.