Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Archive
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These featured pictures, as scheduled below, appeared as the picture of the day (POTD) on the English Wikipedia's Main Page in the last 30 days.
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February 17
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The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings in the centre of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. It is located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. Archaeological evidence shows that the site was originally a grassy wetland, which was drained in the 7th century BC with the building of the first structures of the Cloaca Maxima sewer system. The earliest structures in the Forum were discovered in two separate locations: the site of the Comitium and the group of sanctuaries of Regia, House of the Vestals and Domus Publica. Further structures were added over the centuries including the Temple of Saturn (497 BC), the Temple of Castor and Pollux (484 BC) and the Basilica Fulvia (179 BC), followed by major work in the 80s BC, in which the plaza was raised and permanent marble paving stones laid. Further significant work was undertaken by Julius Caesar and Augustus, and the reign of Constantine the Great saw the completion of the construction of the Basilica of Maxentius (AD 312), the last significant expansion of the complex. The Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million or more sightseers yearly. This panoramic photograph, taken in 2018 from the Capitoline Museums, shows some of the surviving structures of the Roman Forum, including the Tabularium, the Gemonian stairs, the Tarpeian Rock, and several temples and basilicas. Photograph credit: Wolfgang Moroder
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February 16
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The violet-backed starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) is a relatively small species of starling, common in most of sub-Saharan Africa. It is strongly sexually dimorphic, with the male's iridescent violet plumage contrasting with the heavily streaked brown female. A bird of open woodland, clearings and gallery forests, it feeds in the treetops, with its diet including fruits, seeds and insects. It nests in tree cavities, with green leaves and dung having been recorded as nesting materials. The female incubates the clutch of two to four eggs, and the male helps rear the young until they fledge about three weeks after hatching. This female violet-backed starling, of the subspecies C. l. verreauxi, was photographed in Damaraland, Namibia. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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February 15
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Leland D. Melvin (born February 15, 1964) is an American engineer and retired NASA astronaut. He served on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-122, and as mission specialist 1 on STS-129, logging more than 565 cumulative hours in space. He was named NASA's associate administrator for education in 2010 and retired from the agency in 2014. This official NASA portrait of Melvin wearing an orange Advanced Crew Escape Suit was taken in 2009. Photograph credit: Robert Markowitz
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February 14
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Chromolithography is a method of printmaking using multiple colours, stemming from the process of lithography. It became the most successful of several methods of colour printing developed by the 19th century. This image is a chromolithograph of Love or Duty by Gabriele Castagnola, printed by Hangard-Mangué of Paris. The blocks on the lower right-hand side show the nineteen colours of ink used. The image depicts, like many of Castagnola's works, Lucrezia Buti and Filippo Lippi. Lippi, a painter, was in 1458 working in the city of Prato, Italy, where he set about painting a picture for the monastery chapel of Saint Margherita in that city. There he met Lucrezia, a beautiful novice of the order. Lippi asked that she model for the figure of the Virgin Mary, or perhaps Margaret the Virgin. The two began a sexual relationship, and Buti moved into Lippi's home. This relationship resulted in a son, Filippino Lippi, who became a famous painter, and a daughter, Alessandra. Illustration credit: Gabriele Castagnola; chromolithography by Jehenné; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 13
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The Dale Creek Crossing was a 650-foot (200 m) bridge in the southeastern Wyoming Territory, United States, completed in 1868. It was constructed by the Union Pacific Railroad as part of the first transcontinental railroad. With a maximum height of 150 feet (46 m) and with a necessity of cutting through solid rock on both sides, it was one of the most difficult parts of the line to build. The original bridge was built of wood, and its trestles began swaying in the wind from the opening day. The original bridge was replaced on the 1868 piers in 1876 by an iron bridge, manufactured by the American Bridge Company, and this was dismantled entirely in 1901 when the Union Pacific completed construction of a new alignment over Sherman Hill as part of a reconstruction project which shortened the Overland Route. This photograph of the Dale Creek Crossing was taken during construction in 1868 by the project's official photographer, Andrew J. Russell. Photograph credit: Andrew J. Russell; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 12
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The snakelocks anemone (Anemonia viridis) is a sea anemone found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The latter population is however sometimes considered a separate species, the Mediterranean snakelocks anemone (Anemonia sulcata). Several species of small animals regularly live in a symbiotic or commensal relationship with the snakelocks anemone, gaining protection from predators by residing among the venomous tentacles. These include the incognito goby, the shrimp Periclimenes aegylios and the Leach's spider crab. Photograph credit: Diego Delso
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February 11
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Stellerite is a rare mineral discovered by and named after Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German explorer and zoologist. The mineral has the general formula Ca[Al2Si7O18]·7H2O. Like most rare minerals, there are few commercial uses for stellerite other than as part of mineral collections, although it has been studied along with other zeolites using a dehydration process, to gauge the potential use of their phases as molecular sieves, sorbents, and catalysts. This stellerite crystal measuring 5.5 cm × 4 cm × 2.5 cm (2.17 in × 1.57 in × 0.98 in) was found in Imilchil, Morocco. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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February 10
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Chillon Castle is an island castle located on Lake Geneva to the south of Veytaux in Vaud, Switzerland. It is situated at the eastern end of the lake, on the narrow shore between Montreux and Villeneuve, and close to the Fort de Chillon, which is embedded in the neighbouring hillside. The oldest parts of the castle have not been dated definitively, but the first written record of the castle was in 1005. It was built to control the road from Burgundy to the Great St Bernard Pass, on the site of an earlier Roman outpost. From the mid 12th century, the castle became the summer home of the Counts of Savoy, who kept a fleet of ships on Lake Geneva. It was greatly expanded during the 13th century. The castle became a prison in the 16th century, housing among others the Genvois monk François Bonivard, before reverting to being a residence and then again becoming a prison in 1733. Since the end of the 18th century, the castle has been a tourist attraction. Photograph credit: Giles Laurent
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February 9
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Laocoön is an oil painting created between 1610 and 1614 by El Greco, a Greek painter of the Spanish Renaissance. The painting depicts the Greek and Roman mythological story of the deaths of Laocoön, a Trojan priest of Poseidon, and his two sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus. Laocoön and his sons were strangled by sea serpents, a punishment sent by the gods after Laocoön attempted to warn his countrymen about the Trojan Horse. Although inspired by the recently discovered monumental Hellenistic sculpture Laocoön and His Sons in Rome, El Greco's Laocoön is a product of Mannerism, an artistic movement originating in Italy during the 16th century that countered the artistic ideals of the Renaissance. The painting is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Painting credit: El Greco
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February 8
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The flame robin (Petroica phoenicea) is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It was first described by the French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830 and, like many brightly coloured Australasian robins, it is sexually dimorphic. Measuring 12 to 14 cm (5 to 6 in) long, the flame robin has dark brown eyes and a small thin black bill. The male has a brilliant orange-red chest and throat, and a white patch on the forehead above the bill. Its upper parts are iron-grey with white bars, and its tail black with white tips. The female is a nondescript grey-brown. It mostly breeds in and around the Great Dividing Range, the Tasmanian highlands and islands in Bass Strait. With the coming of cooler autumn weather, most birds disperse to lower and warmer areas. This male flame robin was photographed in Jenolan Caves, New South Wales, Australia. Photograph credit: John Harrison
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February 7
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Greenpeace is a global campaigning network founded in Canada in 1971. Its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity", with campaigns focused on issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering and the anti-war and anti-nuclear movements. It uses direct action, advocacy, research and ecotage to achieve its goals. Greenpeace had its origins in protests staged in the late 1960s against Cannikin, an American underground nuclear weapon test in the tectonically unstable island of Amchitka in Alaska, amid concerns that the test would trigger earthquakes and a tsunami. This 1971 photograph shows the nuclear device that sparked the creation of Greenpeace being lowered into its firing hole for Cannikin. Photograph credit: United States Atomic Energy Commission; retouched by Kylesenior and Bammesk
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February 6
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Magna Lykseth-Skogman (6 February 1874 – 13 November 1949) was a Norwegian-born Swedish operatic soprano. After making her debut at the Royal Swedish Opera (Kungliga Operan) in 1901 as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, she was engaged there until 1918 and became the company's prima donna. Lykseth performed leading roles in a wide range of operas but is remembered in particular for her Wagnerian interpretations, creating Brünnhilde in the Swedish premieres of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, as well as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde in 1909. Considered to be one of the most outstanding Swedish opera singers of her generation, she was awarded the Litteris et Artibus, a Swedish royal medal for the arts, in 1907 and became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1912. This 1909 photograph shows Lykseth in costume as Isolde with the Kungliga Operan. Photograph credit: Atelier Jaeger; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 5
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The banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) is a species of damselfly in the family Calopterygidae. It is a Eurasian species, occurring from the Atlantic coast eastwards to Lake Baikal and northwestern China. Often found along slow-flowing streams and rivers, it is a common species throughout much of its range. This male banded demoiselle was photographed at Farmoor in Oxfordshire, England, near the River Thames. Males have a dark wing patch that starts at the nodus but can reach up to the wing tip in southern races. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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February 4
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San Pedro is a composite volcano in northern Chile and one of the tallest active volcanoes in the world. It is part of the Andean Volcanic Belt and, like other Andean volcanoes, was formed by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate. San Pedro is formed of two separate edifices, the Old Cone and the Young Cone, and is adjoined to a neighbouring volcano, San Pablo. The Old Cone was active over one hundred thousand years ago and was eventually truncated by a giant landslide that removed its northwestern side. Within the landslide scar lava flows and pyroclastic flows constructed the Young Cone as well as the lateral centre La Poruña. Some eruptions have been reported during historical time, and presently the volcano is fumarolically active. This photograph shows San Pedro in the foreground, with San Pablo visible behind it to the right. Photograph credit: Diego Delso
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February 3
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The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small cowbird in the icterid family, Icteridae. It is distinguished from other icterids by its finch-like head and beak and its smaller size. The adult male is iridescent black in color with a brown head, while the adult female is slightly smaller and is dull grey with a pale throat and very fine streaking on the underparts. The brown-headed cowbird is an obligate brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of other small perching birds and relying on those birds to raise its young. Its eggs have been documented in the nests of at least 220 host species, including hummingbirds and raptors. This female brown-head cowbird was photographed in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City. Photograph credit: Rhododendrites
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February 2
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Edmonia Lewis (1844–1907), also known as "Wildfire", was a sculptor of African-American and Native American heritage. Born free from slavery, Lewis spent her childhood in Upstate New York and New Jersey before moving to Boston in 1864 to pursue her career as a sculptor. After training with marble-bust specialist Edward Augustus Brackett, Lewis opened her own studio later in 1864. In 1866, she moved to Rome, Italy, citing "opportunities for art culture" and finding "a social atmosphere where I was not constantly reminded of my color" as reasons for the move. She went on to spend most of her adult career there. Her largest and most significant work was a marble sculpture weighing more than 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) showing the death of Cleopatra, which was created for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. This albumen print of Lewis was produced in around 1870 by the German-American photographer Henry Rocher. Photograph credit: Henry Rocher; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 1
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Daphne mezereum, commonly known as the mezereum, February daphne, spurge laurel or spurge olive, is a species of daphne in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to most of Europe and western Asia. D. mezereum is very toxic because of the compounds mezerein and daphnin present especially in the berries and twigs. The flowers have a four-lobed pink or light purple (rarely white) perianth and are strongly scented. This D. mezereum flower was photographed in a forest near Keila, Estonia. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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January 31
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Brookesia thieli, commonly known as Domergue's leaf chameleon, is a species of lizard in the chamaeleon family, Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to eastern Madagascar. It was first described in 1969 by Édouard-Raoul Brygoo and Charles Antoine Domergue. This B. thieli lizard was photographed on a leaf in Andasibe, Madagascar. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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January 30
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The redcurrant (Ribes rubrum) is a deciduous shrub in the gooseberry family, Grossulariaceae, which is native to western Europe. The plant normally grows to a height of up to one metre (3 ft), with its leaves arranged spirally on the stems. The flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green, maturing into bright red translucent edible berries. An established redcurrant bush can produce 3 to 4 kilograms (7 to 9 lb) of berries from mid- to late summer. The species is widely cultivated, with the berries known for their tart flavor, a characteristic provided by a relatively high content of organic acids and mixed polyphenols. This photograph of a bunch of redcurrant berries was focus-stacked from 15 separate images. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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January 29
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Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1950 American adventure comedy film based on the 1897 French verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. It uses the poet Brian Hooker's 1923 English blank-verse translation as the basis for its screenplay. The film was the first motion picture version in English of Rostand's play, though there were several earlier adaptations in different languages. The 1950 film was produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Michael Gordon. José Ferrer received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring performance as Cyrano de Bergerac. Mala Powers played Roxane, and William Prince portrayed Christian de Neuvillette. Film credit: Michael Gordon
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January 28
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The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was the first fatal accident to an American spacecraft in flight. On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into the flight of STS-51-L, the 25th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. All seven crew members aboard were killed. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 am EST. This official portrait of the STS-51-L crew was taken on November 15, 1985. In the back row, from left to right, are Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. In the front row, from left to right, are Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, and Ronald McNair. Photograph credit: NASA
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January 27
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The Indian pied myna (Gracupica contra) is a species of starling found in the Indian subcontinent, with a principal distribution from the Gangetic plains extending south to the Krishna River. This range has increased in recent times, with populations established in Pakistan, western India and also Dubai. The spread has been aided by changes in irrigation and farming patterns and accidental escape of caged birds. The Indian pied myna is found mainly in lowland open areas with scattered trees near water, often near human habitation, but also inhabits areas up to around 700 metres (2,300 ft) in altitude. It has a black and white plumage with a yellowish bill and a reddish bill base. This pair of Indian pied mynas was photographed outside the city of Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, India. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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January 26
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Kenje Ogata (1919–2012) was a Japanese American who served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. Born in Gary, Indiana, he grew up in Sterling, Illinois, and went on to earn his pilot's license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Ogata applied to join the armed forces. Due to his Japanese heritage he was discouraged from joining, but he insisted, telling the recruitment office "I am here to serve". In 1943, Ogata was assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy, training as a ball turret gunner. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant, completed thirty-five missions, and survived two crashes. For his service and injuries sustained in combat, he received the Air Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart. This portrait of Ogata in uniform was taken in 1943. Photograph credit: unknown photographer; restored by Adam Cuerden
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January 25
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Lahaul and Spiti is a district of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Located in the Himalayas, it was formed by the merger of the districts of Lahaul and Spiti in 1960. At the 2011 census of India, it was the least densely populated district of India. This photograph shows the valley of the Bhaga River in Lahaul, with the villages of Kardang (left) and Biling (right) visible on opposite sides of the river, near the district headquarters of Kyelang. Photograph credit: Timothy A. Gonsalves
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January 24
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The Mac (known as the Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The product lineup includes the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, and the iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro desktops. Macs are sold with the macOS operating system, previously known as OS X. The Macintosh project was conceived by Jef Raskin in 1979 and then redefined in 1981 by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the first model being introduced in 1984 through an advertisement played during Super Bowl XVIII. The product evolved with the introduction of color in 1987 with the Macintosh II, and a new processor line in the Power Macintosh in 1994. Through most of the 1990s, the Mac was not fully competitive with commodity IBM PC compatibles. Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1996 and subsequently returned the Mac to the mainstream with the launch of the iMac series OS X. Many users, especially professionals, felt that the Mac was neglected during the 2010s under CEO Tim Cook, but a new line of Macs with the Apple silicon chipset has received more positive reviews. This photograph shows Jobs with the first Mac, at the time of its launch on January 24, 1984. The image on the computer screen is a digitized version of A Woman Combing Her Hair, a painting by the Japanese artist Goyō Hashiguchi. Photograph credit: Bernard Gotfryd; edited by W.carter and Janke
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January 23
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Junonia orithya, commonly known as the blue pansy or the blue argus, is a nymphalid butterfly with many subspecies occurring from Africa, through southern and south-eastern Asia, and Australia. Both males and females have predominantly velvety black, blue, orange and white colouring, with females being slightly larger than males and with more clearly defined ocelli and markings. This male J. orithya butterfly was photographed in Periyar National Park in Kerala, India. Photograph credit: Jeevan Jose
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January 22
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The 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak was a severe outbreak of cholera that occurred near Broad Street (now Broadwick Street), in the London district of Soho, during the 1846–1860 worldwide cholera pandemic. The outbreak, which killed 616 people and had a mortality rate of 12.8 per thousand in some areas, is best known for the study of its causes by the physician John Snow and his hypothesis that germ-contaminated water was the source of cholera, rather than particles in the air (referred to as miasma). This discovery came to influence public health and the construction of improved sanitation facilities beginning in the mid–19th century. This dot map of Soho drawn by Snow shows clusters of cholera cases (indicated by stacked rectangles) in the 1854 outbreak. He identified a contaminated pump, located at the junction of Broad Street and Cambridge Street, as the source. The map, published in Snow's book On the Mode of Communication of Cholera, marks an important part of the development of epidemiology as a field, and of disease mapping as a whole. Map credit: John Snow
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January 21
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The rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri) is a medium-sized parrot in the family Psittacidae. It has disjunct native ranges in Africa and the Indian subcontinent, and has been introduced into many other parts of the world, including northern Europe, where feral populations have established themselves in urban areas and are bred for the exotic pet trade. Wild populations have a distinctive green colour, red beak and blue tail with adult males sporting a pink and black neck ring. This male rose-ringed parakeet of the subspecies P. k. borealis was photographed in Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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January 20
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Ely Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to an abbey founded in Ely in 672 by St Æthelthryth (also called Etheldreda). The earliest parts of the present building date to 1083, and it was granted cathedral status in 1109. Until the Reformation the cathedral was dedicated to St Etheldreda and St Peter, at which point it was refounded as the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Ely and seat of the Bishop of Ely. Ely Cathedral was built in a monumental Romanesque style, with the galilee porch, lady chapel and choir later rebuilt in an exuberant Decorated Gothic. Its central octagonal tower and the West Tower give it a prominent position above the surrounding flat landscape. This photograph shows the cathedral's lady chapel. Photograph credit: David Iliff
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January 19
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Billy Bowlegs (c. 1810 – 1859), real name Holata Micco (Alligator Chief), was an important leader of the Seminoles in Florida during the Second Seminole War and was the remaining Seminoles' most prominent chief during the Third Seminole War, in which he led the Seminoles' last major resistance against the United States government. With the possibilities of military victory dwindling, he finally agreed to relocate with his people to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1858. As part of the settlement he was paid $6,500, plus $1,000 each for the subchiefs and $100 each for the women and children who went with him. This lithograph of Bowlegs was produced by an unknown engraver around 1865 to 1870, based on an original work by Julian Vannerson. Lithograph credit: unknown, after Julian Vannerson; restored by Adam Cuerden
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