Category Archives: 365DaysOfMaps

National Retro Video game Day (67/365)

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Some days are just excuses to have fun. So here’s some pixelated mappy fun. Now, where did I put my Commodore 64?

Retro Video Game Map

Original prompt (ChatGPT)

I need a world map that celebrate retro video games. The style of the map needs to be heavy on old school games such as Space invaders, Pac-man, and Asteroids. Maybe show the map as part of the screen in a video game console that you might find in an amusement arcade. I’ll leave it up to you what sort of data and idea you want to map. Let’s see what you can come up with!

Iditarod Sled Dog Race (66/365)

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Sure, it’s National Cereal Day. It’s also National Sock monkey Day. But of greater importance is the Iditarod Dog Sled Race. From Wikipedia:

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at least 5 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 8–15 days or more. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today’s highly competitive race.

Iditarod Dog Race Map

Original Prompt (ChatGPT)

For this map I wanted a specific route so i gave ChatGPT a JPEG of a basic route map to use as a template. Sometime it seems to help with getting specific details a little more correct.

March signifies the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race spanning roughly 1,000 miles in Alaska from Anchorage to Nome. The race draws over a hundred participants who navigate challenging terrains with their sled dog teams. Participants compete side by side, enduring the harsh Alaskan wilderness to reach the finish line in Nome. The race follows a historic trail originally used for mail and supply routes in the early 20th century. Over the years, the Iditarod has become Alaska’s largest sporting event and a testament to human and animal resilience and teamwork​​. Can you create an illustrated map that shows the accurate route of the trail, and adorn the map with various facts about the race, the landscape, and the Alaskan wilderness it covers. The map i uploaded shows the route and since this is for 2026 you’ll need to use the northern route option.

National Dress in Blue Day (65/365)

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At first glance this seemed like a frivolous day which simply recommended you dress in blue. And why not. Blue is a decent colour so let’s celebrate it. But it’s actually a day to recognise awareness of colorectal cancer, and the choice of blue attire is a suggestion to act as a starting point for a conversation.

So here’s a map that adds to the conversation. All cancer is worth talking about. There’s an awful lot of impacted directly either in our own health or that of family and friends. Being aware. Checking for signs. talking. Getting assessed, and early diagnosis and treatment are all important. if it takes a blue short (or map) to get things started then so be it.

Colorectal Cancer Map

Original Prompt\ (ChatGPT)

Can you make a map illustration that highlights the importance of the awareness of colorectal cancer. The map should probably show cancer rates for this specific type of cancer. It should include useful facts, and be in an impactful style such as a health promotion poster. Awareness is recognised by the National Wear Blue Day so please illustrate the map content, and ancillary graphics in suitable shades of blue.

Happy Cheese Doodle Day (64/365)

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I’m quite partial to a cheesy Wotsit, or Cheeto. Crunchy. Almost fluorescent and definitely unhealthy coloured orange. But I never knew, until today, that this snack is collectively, generically, referred to as a cheese doodle. Light. Airy. And sure to leave your tongue looking like you should get yourself to a hospital immediately.

So, today is a day to celebrate this dusty delight. Grab a few packets and set up a taste test. And in the meantime, here’s a map that illustrates global popularity. no surprise the US has the unhealthiest love for this corn-based snack.

Cheese Doodle snack map

Original Prompt (ChatGPT)

Can you create a world map that illustrates the relative popularity of cheese doodle snacks?

Happy National Grammar Day! (63/365)

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Happy National Grammar Day!

I’m a stickler for grammar. My kids can’t stand it. Grammar, though, is natural language syntax. It’s key for clear communication with other humans and LLMs.

So I was excited to see this day show up on the calendar. In this map, many grammatical differences based on state dialects are presented and categorized. These were created with Google Gemini, and I have to say some don’t appear to be in the correct states. The Minnesota example, for instance, is literally a Pennsylvania example.

So what did I learn from this? Google Gemini is still subpar at creating datasets from the web compared to my ChatGPT assistant or Perplexity Pro. Sample size of 2 now, but it just isn’t as robust for me.

But I’m keeping its results, because all of the examples are realistic and definitely American dialect fudgings of grammar. And this whole daily map thing is truly just a meta-experiment about prompt cartography — and an attempt to highlight the absurdity of many declared days.

If you know an English Language Arts teacher or have connected with your former ones on social media, consider sending them a note today to say that you appreciate them, and you are grateful that they taught you the rules of English grammar… so that you can break them! 🙂

View Grammar Police Crime Incident Map

LLM Tools

Dataset: Google Gemini (geographically subpar but overall it works)

Map creation: WebMapGPT

Original Prompt

Hi, I want to make a map for National Grammar Day on March 4, 2026. I came up with a list of different dialect expressions, state-by-state. (It’s not authoritative, but it’s something.) You can credit Google Gemini for creating the list in the sources. The CSV is attached here. I would like you to add a column to it categorizing (you will have to come up with some categories) what part of the grammar is different from normal in the state-based expression (e.g., noun-verb exchange, missing verb, unique adjective, etc.). The column can contain as many categories as is relevant based on the sample sentence. Try to limit the categorization of all variation across the map it to 4-7 different groups. Then, for each feature, I would like you to add an additional field with one of those categories: the most significant or pronounced difference from standard/official/high American English grammar. Which one of those issues is most prominent. The states should be color coded using a Color Brewer categorical color scheme based on the most prominent grammatical variation category you chose for that state. Then make a US map (with Alaska and Hawaii in the main window in the lower left that shows each state, in each color. Place a title at the top that reads: “Grammar Police Crime Incident Map.” No subtitle. An interactive legend should be in the lower right and minimizable so Florida can be viewed easily. It should minimize when the user clicks on the header and maximize when they do so as well. Legend title should read: “Violation Types” and list the categories with their associated colors. Users should be able to (multi-select) violations in the legend to filter (show) states with those violations as the prominent ones. By clicking on those categories again, they become unfiltered. Please add a “Show All” button at the button of the legend, minimized in the legend’s visual hierarchy that shows all the states as they were too if people get confused. Near the bottom of the legend, tucked in stylishly, please place a small, subtle “Sources” button that will open a sources Modal. MAKE CERTAIN the modal is closed when the map is first loaded and that clicking outside of the sources modal at any point will close it automatically. The map should be minimalist and have a very light gray background body color behind the map. Avoide a separate header bar format and instead just leave space for the title to be in the upper left and predominant. Perhaps the title can be in an instructor’s chalk font or a bright red (like a grammar police person’s pen markings) pen font. Use Google fonts to make the map fun and modern. Choose a Color Brewer color scheme that fits the “police” or “education” motif. Neither too gaudy nor too pastel please. If none exists, improvise to make the map vibe and aesthetic work and the categories still easily discernible. Finally, the info windows should do the following. When a user clicks on a state, please have an info window pop up with the state name as the header, the most common grammatical offense underneath (in the color that it is in the legend). Then, format it so it’s easily legible (not too small and styled) the example quote that is wrong. Then underneat, also styled, have a translation. At the bottom, have a list of all the grammatical issues identified with the statement from the other field, each’s font colored accordingly to the category it represents. No need for source information in the info window, we will add this to the sources tab. For mobile devices, please do not show the map unless the device is rotated to landscape mode. Thank you! Please let me know if you have any questions or if something I wrote is not clear enough. I appreciate it!

Happy National Cold Cut Meats Day! (62/365)

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Happy National Cold Cut Meats Day!

I imagine that this may have been started by the cold cut meats industry to offset National Colectoral Cancer Awareness Month. Cold cut meats are designated as a Class 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization, as deadly (and some research shows potentially more lethal) than smoking.

For me, it’s a tough call between a quarter kilo of thinly sliced turkey or salami or a pack of Dunhill International cigarettes. In most circles, i.e., around my kids and wife, it’s more socially acceptable to eat cold cuts. So I’ll probably stick with that. Though, if smoking is actually less deadly… I do miss smoking like an old friend. Maybe I should give up meat and go back to that? Perhaps I will just shun both! That’s an idea! Yes…

Regardless of cancer risk, today is a day to celebrate! Today is just as important and celebrated as any other self-declared day, including our discipline’s sacred GIS Day.

So tip your hats and salute the Cold Cuts Meat Industry! (And not just for the gall to place their day smack dab in the middle of Colectoral Cancer awareness week and month!)

Today is a day for cold cuts! And here is a map to celebrate the industry’s many triumphs!

Map of colectoral cancer rates in the US. View the map here.

LLM tools used:

  • WebMapGPT: to create the map, interactivity, and layout, etc.
  • ChatGPT 5.2 Image: for the background tiles.
  • Google Gemini: to collect the CDC data on colectoral cancer rates by state.

WebMapGPT Prompt

Hi there. I have a dataset of colon and rectal cancer rates by state. I’m wondering if there is a way to get this information by county. Regardless, I’d like to make a thematic US map (with Alaska and Hawaii in the lower left) of colon and rectal cancer rates by state or country as a counter-celebration to National Cold Cut Meats Day on March 3. Processed meats are known to be carcinogenic and likely cause colon cancer, so I think it’s a good opportunity to highlight the risks. The background, behind the map, should be a large, tiled image of cold but meats layered on top of one another from a bird’s eye view angle. Can you create a background tile that makes it look like a neverending layering of sliced deli meats, including roast beef, salami, turkey, and ham, please? That should be the html body fill behind the map. The color should be caramel and brown, by and large, but the meat colors. I’m going for shock like Lady Gaga’s meat dress that one year. 🙂 The map itself should be a legitimate choropleth representation of the cancer rates (by county, preferably but state to start, to create the proof of concept). Use a quantitative color scheme from Color Brewer from orange/yellow to red (red being the highest rates). Let’s go with Natural Breaks and six categories. The info window should show the State Name, the colon and rectal cancer rate, and the state’s rank for highest rate to lowest. The title should be: “Cold Cutting Your Way to Cancer” Make the title look like one of those label stickers they slap on plastic cold cut meat bags at a deli. White rounded rectangle label with the title, a faux mini bar code under it, and March 3, 2026 as a date on it. Put the title in the upper left. Create a legend in the lower right. Double the legend as a multi-selet filter (clicking on certain classes will show them and remove unselected classes). Include a minimal reset button at the bottom of the legend. Also, a minimal Sources button in the bottom of the legend that will show the Sources Modal when clicked. When someone clicks anywhere outside of the sources modal, it should disappear. The sources modal MUST NOT be open when the map instantiates. Keep it hidden until it is asked for. The legend title should be something like colectoral cancer rates. The pop-up window should note, in fine print, at the bottom, but still readable, that processed meats have been deemed as carcinogenic as smoking by the WHO. Thanks!

Happy Banana Cream Pie Day, USA! (61/365)

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Happy National Banana Cream Pie Day!

In honor of a pie I’ve never had, I decided to show each state’s adult obesity rate. Howeve,r you have to find your state first! It’s hard digging through all of that cream! Celebrate responsibly!

View map here.

Provenance File

Original Prompt (Web Map GPT at around midnight)

Tomorrow is National Cream Pie Day. Please create a map of the United States that fits in a single browser window (with (Alaska and Hawaii in the lower left) that has no state outlines but just a coconut or chocolate cream pie texture fill across the entire United States. It should look a lot like a cream pie.

Then, as a person clicks on different states, which do not have borders necessarily, a tooltip should pop up with the state name and percent of population (adult is fine if that is easier) that is overweight or obese.

Recency of data doesn’t matter, as it’s a tongue in cheek nod to America’s obsession with bad food.

Give the map a title of Happy National Boston/Maple/Baked Cream Pie Day! In the upper left. An Attribution button should pop up a modal (make sure it starts closed) that provides info on where you got the obesity data, that the map was made with Web Mapper GPT, and list the APIs you used. At the end, remind people to enjoy eating responsibly.

Please give the map a clean, white background aesthetic and a big corny pie-tastic title. Thanks!

Happy National Tooth Fairy Day! (60/365)

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Happy National Tooth Fairy Day (and welcome to March)!

The Tooth Fairy has been shaking parents down for cash for a long, long time around the world. How much does it cost parents? Well, geography matters. (Hint: I’m glad I don’t live in Delaware, as I’d never be able to save up for my children’s orthodontist!)

View where your state stands (if you live in the US) to see how much more or less you are paying on average compared to the national average for a tooth. If you don’t live in the US, sorry. Only the US dental insurance company seems to collect data on this… as far as I could find.

View Map Here

View Entire Web Map GPT Conversation

View Entire Perplexity Pro Conversation to Create the Dataset

Happy (National) Science Day! (59/365)

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Today is National Science Day (in India)!

I figured we could celebrate by looking back at the past 25 years of scientific breakthroughs and accomplishments since the millennium turned in 2001. I asked Perplexity to find major scientific achievements and breakthroughs continent by continent around the world.

Then I asked Web Mapper GPT to create an interactive, graduated symbol map with clustered points of achievements that are color-coded by category to explore. I added an interactive legend so you can whittle the results by category, etc. Took four iterations — mostly because I kept coming up with new tweaks, etc. And here we are.

Explore twenty-first century scientific achievements by country and category. (Apologies to anyone who was accidentally left off the list. I blame Perplexity for that, even though it was probably bad prompting on my part. (You can see the Perplexity prompts by visiting the Sources tab at the bottom of the Legend.)

Map of world with proportional symbols showing number of scientific breakthroughs since 2000.View Map Here

 

Original Web Map GPT prompt

I would like to crate a world map centered on India to celebrate India’s National Science Day. I realize it’s India’s National Science Day, but we’re going to make a world map celebrating international scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century so far.

I have uploaded a JSON/geojson file with country names, ISO_A3 abbreviations, and several different values. There is more than one value for many countries. What I would like you to design is the following type of web map:

—

# Map Symbology

Each country has a proportional symbol representing its count of features in the dataset. The symbols can be graduated using equal intervals from 1 to whatever the maximum number is. Three of four classes max.

The graduated symbol will act as a point cluster. When the user clicks on a particular country’s graduated symbol, the map zooms to that country’s extent and and a point is created for each feature within the country.

Each point will be a different color (use Color Brewer if possible) representing the type of “science” or category it belongs to. (There is a field in the geojson representing this. I can’t recall the name right now.)

When the user clicks on those points, an info window appears that provides the name of the scientific breakthrough, the year, the names of those affiliated with it, and a brief description. All of the sub-points from the cluster remain visible and clickable until the user clicks outside of any info window or on the map not over one of the subpoints, at which point the cluster returns.

The info window should have the breakthrough in the same color as the point symbol, tying the name to that innovation.

Dark or black background color with white or lighter text. Also, the type of scientific breakthrough (as identifiable in one of the fields) can be highlighted and classified by a color on the bottom.
—
# Map Navigation

On the map, there should be a “Zoom Out” button that shows the world at its full extent.

Allow zoom and drag. However, don’t allow people to zoom all the way in. Only to a subregional extent (e.g., Arabian Peninsula size fits in their map window) that allows them to click on smaller countries.

Do not let people zoom outside of global extent.

—

The base map should be dark gray with white outlines for the countries — similar to a polar bear map you created recently in color. Graduated symbols should be in the middle of the countries if possible, using the LABEL_X and LABEL_Y values for lat-long.

—
Title and Vibe

The title should read: Celebrating National Science Day (India)
Subtitle: “Learn about 21st century scientific breakthroughs from around the world.”

Please use a Google font that epitomizes scientific knowlege.

—

# Sources Modal

In the legend, please include a link that opens a “Sources” modal. The modal should include the following information in a styled manner:

“`
Data Provenance:
– [Perplexity Plus](https://www.perplexity.ai/search/please-try-to-identify-major-s-HNvrL2GWQK2upsmvQxka5g)
– [Mapshaper](https://www.mapshaper.org) used to join dataset to geometry layer.
Map Provenance:
– Web Mapper GPT: [JSON](min-provenance-schema.json)
– Base Map: Countries with lakes boundaries from [Natural Earth Data](https://naturalearthdata.com)
– Geometry Generalization: [Mapshaper](https://mapshaper.org)
– Prompt Cartographer: Ian Muehlenhaus

Apologies in advance for any omissions of important scientific breakthroughs. This map is not comprehensive. For example, I didn’t have enough tokens to do a thorough web analysis of all countries.
“`
PLEASE MAKE SURE that the sources modal is NOT open by default and easily closes by clicking anywhere outside of it.

—

# Map Component Interactivity and Behaviors

The legend should start open on desktop, closed on mobile. make sure that if you click outside of the legend, it minimizes. On mobile, it may have a different mechanism for opening and closing, whatever works best in that UX. Just make sure it works, please. 🙂

Legend title bar should read: “25 Years of Science”.

The legend should show the graduated symbol classes and data ranges for each (largest on top, smallest on bottom). When the user clicks on a circle size, all other circles should disappear and only those belonging to that range should be present on the map. When the user clicks on that range symbol in the legend again, it should show all symbols on the map again. Or if a user clicks on a different range symbol int he legend, it should stop showing the currently shown range and instead only show the map symbols belonging to that current range. (Users are still able to click on these filtered graduated symbols on the map and see the point symbols pop up and interact, etc.

The legend should also have a list of simplified / concise scientific category names in alphabetical order with a small point symbol to the left of the category text in the appropriate color. The text should be in the appropriate color too.

Above this list, in minimal text, add some concise text telling the user that they can filter the results by category and select multiple categories by holding the Ctrl/Cmnd Key.

When the user selects one or more categories, any graduated circles on the map (as filtered already or earlier in the legend by clicking on the legend symbols above this list) that contain points of these values should remain. All others should become invisible. This should update in real time as the user interacts with the legend, if possible.

If the user has filtered to one or more particular scientific categories, when the user clicks on a map graduated symbol, only the points matching those symbols inside the cluster should be visible. However, the graduated symbols as a whole do not need to resized based on how many points of a particular category area contained therein.

## Legend Composition
On desktop, the legend and filter can be a floating panel on the left-hand side of the map underneath the title. Make sure it doesn’t overlap the title or any other map elements other than the map. Make sure the legend is minimizable so info windows that may pop up underneath it on the map are still viewable.

In mobile make sure that the legend is minimizable with ease (normally clicking outside of it or by clicking close. Make sure that it DOES NOT start open in mobile formats, please.
—

Requirements:
– This map must work on mobile devices. The interface can change to better fit mobile (e.g., legend placements, info windows popping up from bottom panel instead of over the map, title font size smaller, etc. But make sure the info window closes when the user clicks away, etc.

Any questions, before we begin? Thank you! I’m really excited about this map! If it’s not possible to center the map on India, that’s okay, but it would be a nice shout-out for the country celebrating this wonderful day! 🙂

 

Provenance JSON (available in Sources as well but now automatically produced for every WebMapGPT map)

{
"schema_version": "1.0.0",
"created_at": "2026-02-27T20:08:46Z",
"map_fingerprint": {
"hash": "4ee07a3d7f5795c4f26be5e07955c8dd414445ddc54c617cc3eec8d515bfba48",
"algorithm": "sha256(files:index+css+js+data)"
},
"model": {
"llm_name": "GPT-5.2 Thinking"
},
"agent": {
"name": "Web Mapper GPT",
"url": "https://webmapgpt.com",
"version": "v4"
},
"prompts": [
"I would like to crate a world map centered on India to celebrate India's National Science Day... (full prompt in chat)",
"This is an AWESOME first pass! ... no symbols are showing up ... left align the title ...",
"This is rad! ... polishing touches ... title green, India highlighted, reverse symbol sizes, remove Antarctica, legend drag, zoom out in legend, clear filters ...",
"Perfect. Two minor things... legend buttons wrapping, zoom out placement, clear filters not clearing..."
]
}

Happy International Polar Bear Day! (58/365)

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Happy World Polar Bear Day!!!

Polar bears are beloved by many. They are also amazing hunters, tracking prey over vast distances.

 

Climate change is threatening their existence, however. They may be extinct within 100 years, some have predicted.

To celebrate these wonderful beasts, I decided to create a map showing the bears remaining (where counts are available) in the Arctic region.

View Map Here

Tools used

  • Dataset Doctor GPT
  • Web Mapper GPT

Prompt

I would like to make a map of polar bear counts in the Arctic region using the attached CSV dataset. In each region, which should be highlighted very lightly on a global map using a polar projection, I would like a proportional symbol to be created representing how many bears are in each district. Please scale based on area. The smallest should be 15px wide and the largest 35px wide. The geojson is in EPSG: 3413 coordinate system. If possible, I would love to use the same projection for this map. If it makes sense, we can omit a basemap and instead use Natural Earth countries. The map theme should be scientific. Not bleak but not positive. I’m attaching a polar bear report from where the data was collected to provide nuance and context. Polar Bears are endangered, but it’s International Polar Bear Day, so let’s celebrate them! Also please make sure this map works well on mobile devices. Thanks! Please provide feedback and ask follow-up questions, as required, to help begin drafting this map. Thank you.