United States. Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Illinois junior senator Barack Obama and Delaware senior senator Joe Biden, defeated the Republican ticket of Arizona senior senator John McCain and Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
This landmark election resulted in the inauguration of the first African American president in United States history, marking a major milestone in the country’s politics.
1950. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is a supranational international treaty designed to protect human rights and political freedoms throughout Europe.
1979. The Iran hostage crisis began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981.
1980. Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 1980.
Your day in numbers
Star sign
♏︎ Scorpio
Water sign, ruled by Pluto
Birthstone
Topaz
The birthstone for November
UK Number 1 single
Before the charts
The UK singles chart began on 14 November 1952
World population
About 2.1 billion
People on Earth in 1933
The cost of living in Britain, 1933
Average house
£578
Typical UK home
Pint of beer
7d
In a UK pub
Loaf of bread
8d
Large white loaf
Average salary
£165
UK full-time, per year
Approximate UK averages at the time, in the money of the day.
How your birthday newspaper is made
Enter your date of birth and we will print a one-off newspaper front page for the day you were born. The headline is a real historical event from our archive, chosen from your exact birth date where we have one, then from the same week, then from the same date in an earlier year. The page also shows famous people born on your birthday, your star sign and birthstone, the UK number one single, the world population and the cost of living in Britain at the time.
The layout, typefaces and colours follow the newspaper style of your birth decade: dense broadsheets before 1940, classic bold headlines in the 1940s and 1950s, tabloid energy in the 1960s and 1970s, colour accents in the 1980s and 1990s, and clean full-colour pages from 2000 onwards.
Headlines and summaries come from our archive of historical events, built from Wikidata and reviewed by our editorial team. When a famous person linked to the story has a profile on our site, their Wikimedia Commons portrait appears with the photographer's credit; otherwise you see an original woodcut or halftone illustration.
Add your town or country of birth to name the masthead, for example The Manchester Birthday Chronicle. Your birthplace is stored only on your device.
Every front page has its own link, so you can send it to friends and family, and you can download it as a high-resolution image to print or frame.
Questions people ask
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a newspaper front page from the day I was born?
Enter your day, month and year of birth above and press the button. Your personalised front page appears instantly, with its own link you can share and a download button for a print-quality image.
Are the headlines real?
Yes. Every headline is a real historical event from our archive. If nothing in our archive happened on your exact birth date, we use an event from the same week, or the most recent event on the same date in an earlier year, and the label above the headline says which.
Why does my front page look different from a friend's?
The design changes with the decade you were born in, from ornate pre-war broadsheets to modern full-colour layouts, so each page looks like a newspaper from its own era.
Is the birthday newspaper free?
Yes. Creating, sharing and downloading your personalised birthday front page costs nothing.