BIRTHDAY ATLAS

Birthday facts

Born on December 9.

Everyone born on December 9 is a Sagittarius — ruled by Jupiter, packed, gone, unreachable. The stone is turquoise, the flower narcissus, and the day is shared with John Milton and John Malkovich.

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 9? 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 9.

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

1608
John Milton
English poet and philosopher
1953
John Malkovich
American actor and producer
1905
Dalton Trumbo
American author and screenwriter
1906
Grace Hopper
American admiral and computer scientist
1946
Sonia Gandhi
Italian-Indian politician
1916
Kirk Douglas
American actor and singer
1868
Fritz Haber
Polish-German chemist
1934
Judi Dench
English actress

On this day

What December 9 has seen.

It is International Anti-Corruption Day.

1775American Revolutionary War: After their loss in the Battle of Great Bridge, British authorities were forced to evacuate from the Colony of Virginia.
1940Second World War: British and Commonwealth forces began Operation Compass, the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert campaign.
1965A large, brilliant fireball was seen by thousands in midwestern North America before landing in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania.
1979A World Health Organization commission of scientists certified the global eradication of smallpox (virus pictured), making it the only human infectious disease to date to have been completely eradicated.
1990In Serbia's first multi-party election, Slobodan Milošević won the presidential election and the Socialist Party of Serbia won the majority of seats in the National Assembly.

The calendar

When December 9 falls.

A Wednesday in 2026, a Thursday in 2027, a Saturday in 2028, a Sunday in 2029, and a Monday in 2030.