Tutorial: This Day in History

Reference

Data source: Wikipedia (Wikimedia REST API)

Overview

This Day in History wraps Wikipedia (Wikimedia REST API), handling authentication, pagination, and rate limits for you. This tutorial covers all 2 tools with working code examples you can copy and run.

Prerequisites

Sign up at https://context.gnist.ai/signup for a free API key (100 calls/day).
Choose your integration method: MCP protocol or REST API.

Connect via MCP

Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.):

MCP Config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gnist-this-day": {
      "url": "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/this-day/",
      "headers": {
        "Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools (2)

`get_on_this_day`

Get historical events, births, and deaths that happened on this day. Returns notable events, famous births, and notable deaths for a given month/day from Wikipedia's comprehensive historical database. Defaults to today's date.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`month`	any	optional	Month (1-12). Defaults to today.
`day`	any	optional	Day of month (1-31). Defaults to today.
`type`	any	optional	Filter: 'events', 'births', or 'deaths'. Omit for all three.
`max_results`	any	optional	Max entries per category (default: 20, max: 100).

curl -X POST "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/this-day/" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Gnist-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/call", "id": 1, "params": {"name": "get_on_this_day", "arguments": {"month": "example"}}}'

import httpx

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/this-day/",
    headers={"Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={'id': 1,
 'jsonrpc': '2.0',
 'method': 'tools/call',
 'params': {'arguments': {'month': 'example'}, 'name': 'get_on_this_day'}},
)
print(resp.json())

`report_feedback`

Report a bug, feature request, or general feedback for this data source. Use this when something doesn't work as expected, when you'd like a new feature, or when you have suggestions for improvement. Args: feedback: Describe the issue or suggestion. feedback_type: One of 'bug', 'feature_request', or 'general'.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`feedback`	string	required
`feedback_type`	string	optional	(default: `general`)

curl -X POST "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/this-day/" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Gnist-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/call", "id": 1, "params": {"name": "report_feedback", "arguments": {"feedback": "example"}}}'

import httpx

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/this-day/",
    headers={"Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={'id': 1,
 'jsonrpc': '2.0',
 'method': 'tools/call',
 'params': {'arguments': {'feedback': 'example'}, 'name': 'report_feedback'}},
)
print(resp.json())

Common Patterns

Pagination
Several tools support limit, offset, or page parameters. Start with small limits during development, then increase for production queries.