Who Shares My Birthday.

Birthday newspaper

Your Front Page: 17 November 1978

A personalised newspaper front page from the day you were born, printed in the style of your birth year.

Enter your date of birth

Your personalised birthday front page

Printed in the style of your birth year, a keepsake to frame, print or share.

Optional. Your birthplace names the masthead; it stays on this device.

The World Birthday Chronicle

Friday, 17th November 1978Tabloid era

36 years ago today · 1942

Tunisia campaign

French protectorate of Tunisia. The Tunisian campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943.

This successful Allied effort eliminated the Axis presence in the region, providing a vital base for the eventual invasion of mainland Europe.

Famous birthdays: born on this date

Rachel McAdams

Born 1978. Canadian actress known for Mean Girls and The Notebook

Nonso Anozie

Born 1978. Nonso Anozie (born 17 November 1978) is an English actor. On television, he is known for his roles as Xaro Xhoan Daxos i

Martin Scorsese

Born 1942. American director of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas who won an Oscar for The Departed

From the archives: also on this date

Battle of Rostov

1941. The Battle of Rostov took place on the Eastern Front of World War II around Rostov-on-Don and was fought between Army Group South of Nazi Germany and the Southern Front of the Soviet Union.

Yellow vests movement

2018. The yellow vests protests or yellow-jacket protests were a series of populist, grassroots weekly protests in France that began on 17 November 2018 and ended on 28 June 2020.

Velvet Revolution

1989. The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989.

Your day in numbers

Star sign

Scorpio

Water sign, ruled by Pluto

Birthstone

Topaz

The birthstone for November

UK Number 1 single

“Rat Trap”

by The Boomtown Rats

World population

About 4.3 billion

People on Earth in 1978

The cost of living in Britain, 1978

Average house

£18,600

Typical UK home

Pint of beer

31p

In a UK pub

Loaf of bread

30p

Large white loaf

Average salary

£4,800

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.

Further reading

Reviewed by the Who Shares My Birthday editorial team.

Last reviewed: October 2026