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, Birthplace, 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
• BirthplaceThe state they were born into
• FieldTheir area of achievement
• OccupationTheir main role
• EraWhen they made their mark

Colours and symbols

Years and arrows

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). An amber tile like Philosopher +4 means the match may be one of their four other roles: tap it to see them (Hard mode doesn't list them).

Region, birthplace 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.
• Birthplace 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

Hard mode

Switch on Hard mode before your first guess for an extra challenge: every guess must be someone who could still be the answer, given all the clues so far. A guess that contradicts a clue still uses up one of your guesses but reveals no clues, so check before you guess. Your shared score gets an asterisk, like 5/8*. Stuck? You can turn it off mid-game, but that game then counts as a normal result, without the asterisk.

Good to know

• Tap any square on the board for a plain-language explanation.
• Stuck after five guesses? Reveal one hint per game (it adds a 💡 to your shared score). There are no hints in Hard mode.
• Everyone gets the same figure each day. A new one arrives at midnight, your local time.
• Win or lose, you'll learn who they were and why they mattered.