User:MIDI/ODB

An ODB (from "one day before") is the wording used to trivially link an individual's date of death with their birthday. It comes from the phrasing "Joe Bloggs died on, one day before his 72nd birthday". At best, writing like this is unnecessary – if the article includes the individual's birthday then the reader has all the information they need. At worst, it implies a link between the two dates – correlation does not imply causation.

It should be noted that the birthday effect, which states that an individual's likelihood of death appears to increase on or close to their birthday, is only relevant if covered by reliable sources in relation to the subject's death.

Overview
When covering an individual's death, many articles refer to their death relative to their birthday (e.g. "one day after their birthday" or "n days shy of their birthday). While an individual's death on their birthday may be notable (and is more than likely covered in reliable sources), an arbitrary number of days between a person's date of death and their birthday is trivia and should be avoided. If (and only if) their death is causally related to their birthday, it may be worth mentioning with support of reliable sources. One example may be a person known for their longevity, because their main reason for notability is their date of birth.

Dealing with ODBs
Dealing with ODBs is simple: state the simplest of verifiable facts. If someone died one day after their 72nd birthday, they died at the age of 72. If they died one day before their 72nd birthday, they died at the age of 71.

At 09:44 UTC on 19 March 2024, the Charles A. Crow article said:
 * He died in Campbell, Missouri, March 20, 1938, 11 days shy of his 65th birthday.

At 09:45 UTC on 19 March 2024, the article was modified to say:
 * He died in Campbell, Missouri, March 20, 1938, at the age of 64.