You'll love this clever new way to revisit the day you entered the world
You might not remember the “Wayback Machine,” a time-travel device featured in the ’60s cartoon The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. Today’s internet is, of course, its equivalent, allowing users to instantly retrieve forgotten factoids from any era.
Now, one smart soul has gone a step further, designing a site to spit back certain information personalized to a small set of people. Curious about this web page? We’ve got the skinny! Read on to learn more about the site, including how it actually works, plus cool ways this modern-day tool can be used to your advantage.
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What’s the website?
The website is Bdayrecap.com, a portal that reveals what was occurring in the world on any user’s birthday by generating the top headlines, along with the births and deaths of noteworthy people. You can even click and read the actual news stories that were happening that day, as they originally appeared!
As for the driving force behind the Bdayrecap idea? Its founder says on the site’s blog that it was sheer curiosity: “I was wondering if anything interesting in the news was going on when I was born.” The result is a birthday wormhole for stories you couldn’t possibly know about because you were busy being born.
How does it work?
It couldn’t be easier. You simply enter the month, day and year you were born and then click “Show Headlines.” The site then gives you a user-friendly list of clickable links and fun facts about the day you entered this world.
The site uses data exclusively from the New York Times API, or Application Programming Interface, which is a mechanism that enables different kinds of software to share data. According to the site’s creator, the Times API is the best when compared with that of other papers.
How far back does the data go?
If you’re wondering how far back the data goes, you’ll be pleased to learn that the comprehensive nature of the Times info stretches to the 1950s. The founder of Bdayrecap.com also considered using the Guardian, a British newspaper, but its API only has access back to the 1990s.
One caveat: While the Times articles span many decades, this web tool works best if your birthday is after the 1950s or so, according to its founder.
How else might you use the website?
Now that you’re aware of this rather nifty birthday news site, it’s easy to imagine other applications for it. For example, if you’re planning a party, you may want to check the day’s mojo, so to speak, especially if the affair is an inherently joyful one such as a baby shower or engagement party.
Weddings are another important date to consider, as you no doubt wouldn’t choose to tie the knot on a day when something awful happened way back in history, like a natural disaster, plane crash or other terrible event. This tool allows you to find the perfect day for any occasion, or just poke around and learn about different days in history. So get searching, and have fun!
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Source:
- Bdayrecap.com: “What was going on when I was born”
