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EPOCHDAILY

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How to play

Identify today's historical figure in 8 guesses. Each guess shows how your pick compares with the mystery person on eight clues: Born, Died, Lifespan, Region, Origin, Field, Occupation and Era.

The eight clues

  • BornThe year they were born
  • DiedThe year they died
  • LifespanHow many years they lived
  • RegionTheir part of the world
  • OriginThe state they were born into
  • FieldTheir area of achievement
  • OccupationTheir main role
  • EraWhen they made their mark

Colours and symbols

RegionWestern Europe

Green ✓: exact match.

FieldLiterature

Amber ≈: close, or a partial match.

EraAncient

Grey ✕: no match.

Years and arrows

Born1879

1879 ↓ means today's figure was born earlier than 1879. ↑ means later.

Died1934

Amber with an arrow means close: born or died within 10 years, or a lifespan within 5 years. The arrow still shows the direction.

Years before the Common Era are shown as BCE (356 BCE). There is no year 0. Lifespans are approximate.

Field and occupation

  • Field is green when it's the same, and amber when the two fields are closely related:Science & Mathematics ↔ Invention & Engineering · Science & Mathematics ↔ Philosophy · Philosophy ↔ Religion · Philosophy ↔ Literature · Literature ↔ Visual Arts · Literature ↔ Music · Visual Arts ↔ Music · Politics & Governance ↔ Military · Politics & Governance ↔ Social Reform · Politics & Governance ↔ Business & Economics · Religion ↔ Social Reform · Business & Economics ↔ Invention & Engineering · Exploration ↔ Business & Economics · Film & Performance ↔ Music · Film & Performance ↔ Literature · Film & Performance ↔ Sports
  • Occupation shows your guess's main occupation. It's green if the main occupation matches, and amber if the two people share any role (for example, a Painter who was also a Sculptor).

Region, origin and era

  • These are exact matches only: green or grey.
  • Region is where the person came from, using broad world regions. The UK counts as Northern Europe, France and Germany as Western Europe, and Turkey as the Middle East.
  • Origin is the state they were born into, by its historical name. Napoleon is from the Kingdom of France, Einstein from the German Empire and Gandhi from British India.
  • Era is when they made their principal mark, not when they were born. The boundaries are approximate:
Ancient
before 500 CE
Medieval
500–1400
Renaissance
1400–1600
Early Modern
1600–1789
Industrial / 19th Century
1789–1900
Modern / 20th Century
1900–1945
Contemporary
1945–present

Good to know

  • Tap any square on the board for a plain-language explanation.
  • Everyone gets the same figure each day. A new one arrives at midnight UTC.
  • Win or lose, you'll learn who they were and why they mattered.

About Epoch Daily

Epoch Daily is a daily history game. Every day there is one mystery figure, the same for everyone, and you have eight guesses to work out who it is.

Each guess is compared with the mystery person on when they were born and died, how long they lived, where they came from, what they did and the era they shaped. Every wrong guess narrows the field, and win or lose, the reveal tells you who they were and why they mattered.

The archive of figures is hand-curated and grows over time. Dates follow the most commonly cited values. Where sources disagree, we pick one and use it consistently.

New to the game? Read how to play.