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.
You can add an automatically updating POTD template to your user page using {{Pic of the day}} (version with blurb) or {{POTD}} (version without blurb). For instructions on how to make custom POTD layouts, see Wikipedia:Picture of the day.
March 12
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The Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus) is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae endemic to the forests of Mauritius, where it is restricted to the southwestern plateau's forests, cliffs, and ravines. It colonized the island and evolved into a distinct species from other Indian Ocean kestrels, probably during the Gelasian or Early Pleistocene periods. The Mauritius kestrel can reach a size between 26 and 30.5 centimetres (10.2 and 12.0 inches), with a mass of up to 250 grams (8.8 ounces) and rounded wings with a span of approximately 45 centimetres (18 inches). Males are slightly smaller than the females. It is a carnivorous bird, eating geckos, dragonflies, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets, and small birds. It hunts by means of short, swift flights through the forests. In 2022, it was proclaimed the Mauritian national bird to mark the 30th anniversary of the Republic of Mauritius. This Mauritius kestrel was photographed in the Ebony Forest near the village of Chamarel. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 11
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Eero Saarinen (1910–1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer. He created many buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan; the passenger terminal at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.; the TWA Flight Center (now TWA Hotel) at John F. Kennedy International Airport; the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City; and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. He was the son of Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. This photograph of Saarinen smoking a pipe was taken by the Hungarian-American photographer Balthazar Korab in 1955 or 1956. Photograph credit: Balthazar Korab; restored by Yann Forget and Bammesk
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March 10
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Verbena hastata, commonly known as the American vervain, blue vervain, simpler's joy, or swamp verbena, is a perennial flowering plant in the vervain family, Verbenaceae. It grows throughout the continental United States and in much of southern Canada. V. hastata grows as a stiffly erect stem, occasionally branching in the upper half, reaching up to 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall. The stems are four-angled (square), hairy, and green to reddish in color. Leaves are opposite, simple, and measure up to 15 centimetres (6 inches) long and 3 centimetres (1 inch) across. This photograph, which was focus-stacked from 50 separate images, shows a V. hastata inflorescence. Photograph credit: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma
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March 9
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Detour is a 1945 American film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. The screenplay was adapted by Martin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney (uncredited) from Goldsmith's 1939 novel Detour, and the film was released by the Producers Releasing Corporation, one of the so-called Poverty Row film studios in mid–20th-century Hollywood. Detour tells the story of an unemployed piano player who hitchhikes to Los Angeles with a bookie, and the consequences when the bookie dies on the way. The film, which is now in the public domain, was restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2018. Film credit: Edgar G. Ulmer; restored by the Academy Film Archive
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March 8
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The flame-faced tanager (Tangara parzudakii) is a species of bird in the tanager family, Thraupidae. It is endemic to South America and is found in the eastern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, its natural habitat being subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The flame-faced tanager is a distinctive-looking species with black and opalescent-green upperparts, opalescent-green and buff underparts, and a deep-red and yellow face. The subspecies T. p. lunigera lacks the deep red on the face, which is replaced with orangish-red. It is an omnivorous bird, feeding on fruit and arthropods found mostly on mossy branches. It breeds in the rainy season with eggs laid in clutches of two and fledglings fed by both parents. Although it is listed as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, it is facing population decline due to habitat destruction. This flame-faced tanager of the subspecies T. p. parzudakii was photographed perching on a branch in the Parque Verde y Agua in Colombia's Cundinamarca Department. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 7
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SpaceX CRS-20 was a Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on March 7, 2020. Contracted by NASA and flown by SpaceX, the mission was the final flight of Dragon 1, before the introduction of Dragon 2. CRS-20 was launched aboard Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and used Dragon capsule C112, which had previously flown to the ISS on CRS-10 and CRS-16. CRS-20 arrived at the ISS on March 9, 2020, and was captured by the station's robotic arm. It carried 1977 kilograms (4358 lbs) of cargo. This photograph shows the CRS-20 capsule approaching the ISS while around 267 miles (430 kilometres) above Namibia. Photograph credit: Johnson Space Center; edited by Nythar
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March 6
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Philippe Chaperon (1823–1906) was a French painter and scenic designer, particularly known for his work at the Paris Opera. He produced stage designs for the premieres of numerous 19th-century operas, including Verdi's Don Carlos and Aida, Massenet's Le Cid, Saint-Saëns's Henry VIII, part two of Berlioz's Les Troyens, and the first performances in France of Verdi's Otello and Rigoletto and Wagner's Tannhäuser. His painting style was influenced by his architecture studies, such as his debut work exhibited at the Paris Salon, Ruines d'un Temple dans l'Inde. This photographic portrait of Chaperon, taken around 1900, was produced by the studio (a.k.a. atelier) of the French photographer Nadar. Photograph credit: Atelier Nadar; restored by Adam Cuerden
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March 5
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The Mocking of Christ is a small 13th-century panel painting by the Italian artist Cimabue, in tempera on a poplar panel. It depicts the mocking of Jesus and is one of three panels known from Cimabue's Diptych of Devotion. It was discovered in the kitchen of an elderly woman in northern France. In October 2019 it sold at auction for €24 million, a record for an artwork predating the 16th century. It is believed to be the first work by Cimabue to have been auctioned. Following an export ban, it was acquired by the Louvre in 2023. Painting credit: Cimabue
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March 4
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The Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) is a large ground-dwelling squirrel, from the genus of marmots. It is found in high numbers in mountainous areas of central and southern Europe, at heights between 800 and 3,200 metres (2,600 and 10,500 feet) in the Alps, the Carpathians, the Tatras, and the northern Apennines. In 1948, the species was reintroduced with success in the Pyrenees, where it had disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. This Alpine marmot was photographed in the Grand Muveran federal game reserve, in the Swiss canton of Vaud. Photograph credit: Giles Laurent
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March 3
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Apollo 9 was the third crewed mission in the United States Apollo program. Launched by a Saturn V rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on March 3, 1969, and flown in low Earth orbit, the mission flight-qualified the Lunar Module (LM), showing that its crew could fly it independently, then rendezvous and dock, as would be required for Apollo 11, the first crewed lunar landing. Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart tested systems and procedures critical to landing on the Moon. A spacewalk tested the extravehicular life support backpack. McDivitt and Schweickart, entering the LM through the docking tunnel, became the first humans to pass between spacecraft without going outside them, two months after Soviet cosmonauts spacewalked to transfer between Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5. Apollo 9, a complete success, landed in the Atlantic Ocean on March 13 and was followed by Apollo 10, the dress rehearsal for Apollo 11. This photograph, taken by Schweickart, shows Scott performing a stand-up extravehicular activity from the Command Module Gumdrop, seen from the docked LM Spider with the Earth in the background. Photograph credit: NASA / Rusty Schweickart; edited by Coffeeandcrumbs
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March 2
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Whitehead's trogon (Harpactes whiteheadi) is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is endemic to the island of Borneo, where it is an uncommon resident in primary mountain forest. One of Borneo's largest trogons at 29 to 33 centimetres (11 to 13 inches) long, it is sexually dimorphic. The male is crimson on the head, nape, and underparts, with a black throat and grey chest; the rest of its upperparts are cinnamon-coloured. The female is similarly patterned, but cinnamon-brown where the male is scarlet. The species is primarily an insectivore, but also eats various plant materials, including fruits and seeds. Other than the timing of its breeding, typically between April and June, little is known about its breeding biology. It is classified as a near-threatened species, with population numbers thought to be declining and habitat loss a key threat. This male Whitehead's trogon was photographed perching on a branch on Mount Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah. Photograph credit: JJ Harrison
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March 1
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The Palace of Truth is a three-act blank verse "Fairy Comedy" by the English dramatist W. S. Gilbert. First produced at the Haymarket Theatre in London on 19 November 1870, the plot was adapted in significant part from Madame de Genlis's fairy story Le Palais de la vérite. It was the first of several such plays that Gilbert wrote founded upon the idea of self-revelation by characters under the influence of some magic or supernatural interference. The play ran for approximately 140 performances, then toured the British provinces and enjoyed various revivals even well into the 20th century. There was also a New York production in 1910. This photograph shows the real-life married couple William Hunter Kendal and Madge Robertson Kendal as the lovers Prince Philamir and Princess Zeolide in the original 1870 production of The Palace of Truth. Photograph credit: London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 28
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The Continental XI-1430 (often identified as the IV-1430) was a liquid-cooled aircraft engine developed in the United States by a partnership between the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) and Continental Motors. It resulted from the USAAC's hyper-engine efforts that started in 1932, but never entered widespread production as it was not better than other available engines when it finally matured. In 1939, the I-1430-3 was designated as the engine to power the Curtiss XP-55, a radical pusher-engine fighter design that did not reach production. This I-1430-11 engine is in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Photograph credit: Dane A. Penland
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February 27
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Ctenosaura similis, commonly known as the black iguana or the black spiny-tailed iguana, is a species of iguanid lizard native to Mexico and Central America. It has been reported in some Colombian islands in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, and has been introduced to the United States in the state of Florida. The largest species in the genus Ctenosaura, it is commonly found in areas such as grasslands and forests. This C. similis lizard was photographed on a tree branch near the Macal River, in Cayo District, western Belize. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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February 26
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Wangath temple complex is a group of Hindu temple monuments in Wangath, close to Naranag, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The current structure was built by Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota dynasty in the 8th century CE but are now ruins. The temple is constructed out of local grey granite and consists of two complexes, dedicated respectively to Shiva Jyeshthesa and Shiva Bhuteshwara, with a central pavilion in between. The temple marks the starting point of pilgrimages to the Gangabal Lake, a high-altitude alpine lake in the Himalayas considered by Kashmiri Hindus to be an abode of Shiva. This photograph shows the main temple of the site's western complex. Photograph credit: Basavaraj K. Korkar; edited by UnpetitproleX
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February 25
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George I Rákóczi (1593–1648) was a Hungarian nobleman who served as Prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death. Before acceding to the throne, he was a leader of the Protestant faction in Hungary and a faithful supporter of Prince Gabriel Bethlen. When Bohemian nobles requested military support in their struggles against the Habsburg monarchy, Rákóczi persuaded Bethlen to help and commanded Transylvanian forces in several battles. After Bethlen's death, there were short reigns by his wife and then his brother, but the Transylvanian parliament elected Rákóczi as Bethlen's permanent successor. His reign was notable for his role in the Thirty Years' War, with a campaign against Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, from 1644 to 1645. After Rákóczi held Upper Hungary and most of Lower Hungary at one point, the fighting was ended by the Treaty of Linz, under which seven counties of Upper Hungary were annexed by Transylvania. This etching of Rákóczi was produced in 1631 by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan Gillisz. van Vliet, after an earlier design by Rembrandt, Van Vliet's teacher. The illustration is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Illustration credit: Jan Gillisz. van Vliet, after Rembrandt
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February 24
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The National Library of Poland is a central library of Poland and one of the oldest cultural institutions in the country. Established on 24 February 1928 by a decree of President Ignacy Mościcki, it traces its origins to the Załuski Library, one of the first public libraries in Europe, founded in 1747. The library's headquarters is located in the district of Ochota in Warsaw, with additional facilities at the Krasiński Palace, which houses its collection of early printed books and manuscripts. This photograph shows an aerial view of the main building of the National Library of Poland, surrounded by Mokotów Field. Photograph credit: Emptywords
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February 23
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The western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized species of bird in the family Icteridae, the icterids. About 8.5 inches (22 centimetres) in length, it is found across western and central North America. It is a full migrant, breeding in Canada and the United States with resident populations also found in Mexico. The species has distinctive calls described as watery or flute-like, which distinguish it from the closely related eastern meadowlark. The western meadowlark is the state bird of six U.S. states: Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming. This western meadowlark was photographed perching on a twig in Grasslands National Park, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Photograph credit: Simon Pierre Barrette
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February 22
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Wheelwright is a city in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located at the southern end of Floyd County, the land that would later become the city was originally owned by the Hall family. In 1916, the family sold their land to the Elk Horn Coal Company, which established a post office and named it Wheelwright in honor of its president, Jere Wheelwright. It was incorporated as a city in 1917. The Elk Horn Coal Company founded the city as a company town, and built houses, stores, churches, schools, and hospitals, which were used by miners employed by the company. In 1930, Wheelwright was sold to the Inland Steel Company, which in turn sold the city to the Island Creek Coal Company in 1966. In the 1970s, the mine closed and the city was purchased by the Kentucky Housing Corporation. This 1946 photograph, taken by the American photographer Russell Lee, shows Harry Fain, a coal loader from Wheelwright who worked for the Inland Steel Company. The photograph is in the collection of the National Archives and Records Administration. Photograph credit: Russell Lee; restored by Kentuckian
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February 21
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Pumori is a mountain on the China–Nepal border in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Its peak lies at an elevation of 7,165 metres (23,507 feet) above sea level. Located 8 kilometres (5 miles) west of Mount Everest, it is sometimes known as "Everest's daughter"; the name Pumori, meaning 'the mountain daughter' in the Sherpa language, was coined by the mountaineer George Mallory. Pumori is a popular climbing peak, the easiest route being graded class 3, although with significant avalanche danger. Pumori was first climbed in 1962 by a German–Swiss expedition. Photograph credit: Vyacheslav Argenberg
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February 20
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Catherine Grand (1761–1835) was a French courtesan and noblewoman. Born in India as the daughter of a French East India Company officer, she married George Grand, an officer of the English East India Company. After her marriage, she had a scandalous liaison with Bengal councillor Philip Francis in Calcutta. Her husband sent her to Paris, where she became a popular courtesan, having relationships with several powerful men, and was known as Madame Grand. She became the mistress and later the wife of French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the first prime minister of France. This 1783 oil-on-canvas portrait of Grand was painted by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. It was exhibited at the Salon of the Royal Academy in Paris the same year, as one of at least ten portraits submitted by Le Brun, and was favourably received. The painting is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Painting credit: Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
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February 19
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The oak eggar (Lasiocampa quercus) is a common moth in the family Lasiocampidae found in Europe and northern and western parts of Asia. The larvae feed on a wide variety of plant species, low down, including blackthorn, hawthorn, viburnum, dogwood, ivy and ling, but are not known to feed on oak. They can be infected by baculoviruses, which change their behaviour and cause them to climb out of the protection of low scrub and leave them open to predation, facilitating the spread of infection. Oak eggar larvae eventually pupate on the ground inside a silken cocoon, the exterior of which is hard and yellowish, and resembles an acorn, from which the common name "oak eggar" is derived. This oak eggar larva in the form of a fourth-instar caterpillar, with a body length of 53 millimetres (2.1 inches), was photographed on a branch in Keila, Estonia. The photograph was focus-stacked from 59 separate images. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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February 18
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Vaduz Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. Florin, is a neo-Gothic church in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and the centre of the Archdiocese of Vaduz. Originally a parish church, it has held the status of cathedral since 1997. The church was built in 1874 by Friedrich von Schmidt on the site of earlier medieval foundations. Its patron saint is Florinus of Remüs (Florin), a 9th-century saint of the Vinschgau valley. This photograph shows the nave and choir of the cathedral. Photograph credit: A.Savin
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February 17
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Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) was an American actress of film, stage, and television. Known for her headstrong independence and spirited personality, Hepburn's career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned more than 60 years. She won a record four Academy Awards, and in 1999 was named as Hollywood's top female legend by the American Film Institute. Hepburn began acting in college, and spent four years in the theatre before entering films in 1932. She became an instant star, but after a series of unsuccessful films was named "box office poison". The Philadelphia Story revived her career, and she subsequently formed a popular alliance with Spencer Tracy that lasted 25 years. In middle age, Hepburn found a niche playing spinsters, such as in The African Queen, and became a Shakespearean stage actress. She continued to work into old age, making her final screen appearance in 1994 at the age of 87. Hepburn is remembered as an important cultural figure, as she came to epitomize the "modern woman" in 20th-century America and helped change perceptions of women. This publicity photograph of Hepburn was taken around 1941. Photograph credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 16
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The lesser violetear (Colibri cyanotus) is a medium-sized, metallic-green species of hummingbird commonly found from Costa Rica south to the Andes and Argentina and east to Venezuela. It commonly inhabits the canopy and borders of subtropical and lower temperate forest, secondary woodland and scrub, and clearings and gardens. It is recorded mostly between altitudes of 1,500 and 3,000 metres (4,900 and 9,800 ft), although it is sometimes found down to 900 metres (3,000 ft). The lesser violetear is a medium-sized hummingbird with an average length around 9.7 to 12 centimetres (3.8 to 4.7 in) and a body mass of 4.8 to 5.6 grams (0.17 to 0.20 oz). Its bill is black and mostly straight with only a slight downward curve. This lesser violetear of the subspecies C. c. cabanidis was photographed in the Mount Totumas cloud forest in Chiriquí Province, Panama. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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February 15
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Ernest Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He and three companions established a new record Farthest South latitude, 112 miles (180 km) from the South Pole, as part of the Nimrod Expedition of 1907–1909; Shackleton was knighted on his return home. He planned the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 but his ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and then sank on 21 November 1915. The crew escaped and used the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island and ultimately the island of South Georgia in a stormy ocean voyage of more than 700 nautical miles (800 mi; 1,300 km), Shackleton's most famous exploit. He returned to the Antarctic in 1921 with the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition but died of a heart attack on South Georgia, where he was buried at his wife's request. This photograph of Shackleton was taken by George Charles Beresford before 1909. Photograph credit: George Charles Beresford; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 14
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The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae that grows between 5 and 10 metres (16 and 33 feet) tall. The pomegranate fruit husk is red-purple in color, with an outer, hard pericarp, and an inner, spongy mesocarp (white "albedo"), which comprises the fruit inner wall where seeds attach. Pomegranate seeds are characterized by having sarcotesta, thick fleshy seed coats derived from the integuments or outer layers of the ovule's epidermal cells. The number of seeds in a fruit can vary from 200 to about 1,400. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, the pomegranate is thought to have originated from Afghanistan and Iran before being introduced and exported to other parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. This photograph, which was focus-stacked from 10 separate images, shows a whole pomegranate fruit (right), and a fruit split open to reveal the sarcotestas, each of which surrounds a seed (left). Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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February 13
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The Jadeite Cabbage, also known as Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, is a piece of jadeite carved into the shape of a head of Chinese cabbage, with a locust and a katydid camouflaged in the leaves. Created by an unknown sculptor in the 19th century, it was first displayed in the Forbidden City's Yonghe Palace, the residence of Consort Jin, who probably received it as part of her dowry for her wedding to the Guangxu Emperor in 1889. The Jadeite Cabbage is now part of the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. It has been called the museum's "most famous masterpiece" and, along with the Meat-Shaped Stone and the Mao Gong ding, is considered one of the Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum. Sculpture credit: unknown; photographed by the National Palace Museum
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February 12
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Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many scientists initially favoured competing explanations that gave only a minor role to natural selection, and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey. This photograph of Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron was taken around 1868. Photograph credit: Julia Margaret Cameron; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 11
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The Dolderbahn is a rack railway in the Swiss city of Zurich. It has a length of 1.3 km (0.8 mi) and is located in Zurich's Hottingen and Fluntern suburbs on the south slope of the Adlisberg mountain. The lower terminus of the line is at Römerhof, around 1.5 km (0.9 mi) from the city centre, where it connects with lines 3 and 8 of the Zurich tramway. The upper terminus at Bergstation Dolderbahn is adjacent to the Dolder Grand Hotel and the Dolder recreation area. Two intermediate stations, at Titlisstrasse and Waldhaus Dolder, are also served. This image shows car 1/2 1 from the 1973 SLM rolling stock. This image shows car 1/2 1 from the 1973 SLM rolling stock. Photograph credit: Kabelleger
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