Guide · Learn
Why Molino asks for an exact date
A year alone isn't enough to know a sign, and we'd rather have a shorter list than a doubtful one.
What you'll learn
- Why the year of birth isn't enough to know a sign
- What happens to entities that only have a founding year
- How the dates Molino uses are verified
- Why some lists are shorter than you'd expect
What it is
The Chinese zodiac sign changes with Chinese New Year, which falls on a different day each year between January 21 and February 20. Everything that happened before that date belongs to the sign of the previous year.
That goes for you and for every city, club or brand on the map. If only the year of an entity is known, its sign can't be known for certain: it could be that year's or the previous one's.
How it works
That's why My Map only shows entities whose event of origin has a day, month and year. Those with only a year stay in the catalog, but aren't used to recommend anything.
Dates are loaded from two sources that have to agree — for example, Wikidata and Wikipedia, or Wikidata and the site's own record. If they don't agree on the day, month and year, the date is discarded. Dates before 1582 are compared taking into account the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
How Molino uses it
The consequence is visible: some well-known cities don't appear, such as Santiago de Chile or Lima, because their founding falls in the Chinese New Year window and an error of a few days would change their sign. And some categories, like clothing, still have few brands with an exact date.
Fact, tradition and Molino's reading
Fact
Each entity's date of origin, with day, month and year, and the source it comes from.
Tradition
The Chinese lunisolar calendar, in which the year begins with the new moon at the end of winter and not on January 1.
Molino's reading
Molino would rather not show an entity than place it in the wrong slot. A recommendation built on a doubtful date isn't a recommendation.
What it does NOT mean
- An entity not appearing says nothing about it: only that it doesn't yet have an exact date confirmed by two sources.
- It doesn't mean your sign is doubtful either: your date of birth is exact, so yours is always calculated correctly.
Where to keep exploring
Want to see this applied to your own map?
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