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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March 19
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Margaret Harwood (March 19, 1885 – February 6, 1979) was an American astronomer who specialized in photometry, which involved measuring variation in the light of stars and asteroids. In 1916, at 30 years old, Harwood was named director of Maria Mitchell Observatory, and worked there until her retirement in 1957. In 1917, she discovered the asteroid 886 Washingtonia four days before its formal recognition, but was advised not to report it because it would have been inappropriate for a woman to do so. In 1923, she became the first woman to gain access to the Mount Wilson Observatory, and in 1924 was the first woman allowed to use the observatory's 60-inch telescope, the largest in the world at the time. In 1960, an asteroid discovered at Palomar was named in her honor as 7040 Harwood. This photograph of Harwood is in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden
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March 18
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The saung, also known as the saung-gauk or the Burmese harp, is an arched harp used in traditional Burmese music. It is regarded as the national musical instrument of Myanmar. It was possibly introduced as early as 500 AD from southeastern India, based on archaeological evidence of Burmese temple reliefs that depict a long-necked harp similar to depictions found in Bengal. The earliest evidence of the saung itself is at the Bawbawgyi Pagoda near present-day Prome. At that site, there is a mid-600s sculptured relief depicting the arched harp with about five strings, appearing with musicians and a dancer. It has survived continuously since that time, and has been mentioned in many texts, pictorial representations and Bagan temples. Burmese chronicles describe harps in ceremonial ensembles at medieval Pagan, and female harpists who performed for royals. This 19th-century saung is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Photograph credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art
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March 17
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The Dark Hedges are an avenue of beech trees near Armoy in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Planted in the late 18th century for the Gracehill House estate of James Stuart, the trees form an atmospheric "tunnel" and became a tourist attraction after their use as a filming location in the HBO television series Game of Thrones. This photograph of the Dark Hedges was taken in 2016. Photograph credit: Colin Park
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March 16
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Agelena labyrinthica is a species of spider in the family Agelenidae. It builds a flat-plate surface web connected to a funnel-shaped retreat similar to a labyrinth, typically between low-lying grass and vegetation. These webs can be at ground level, or up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) from the ground. The species is fairly common in Europe, and is typically concentrated in areas near forests and low-lying vegetation, as well as in dry grassland. This female A. labyrinthica spider was photographed in a funnel web in Blankaart Nature Reserve near Diksmuide, Belgium. She has lost one leg, which is trapped in the web. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 15
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg (March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton to replace retiring justice Byron White, and at the time was generally viewed as a moderate consensus-builder. She eventually became part of the liberal wing of the Supreme Court as the Court shifted to the right over time. Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court, after Sandra Day O'Connor. During her tenure, Ginsburg wrote notable majority opinions, including United States v. Virginia (1996), Olmstead v. L.C. (1999), Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. (2000), and City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York (2005). This official photographic portrait of Ginsburg was taken by Supreme Court photographer Steve Petteway in 2016. Photograph credit: Steve Petteway
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March 14
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Golden Delicious is a cultivar of apple. The cultivar arose from a chance seedling, possibly a hybrid of Grimes Golden and Golden Reinette. The original tree was found on the family farm of J. M. Mullins in Clay County, West Virginia, and was locally known as Mullins' Yellow Seedling. Mullins sold the tree and propagation rights to Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards for $5000, which first marketed it as a companion of their Red Delicious in 1914 (although the two cultivars are not closely related). Golden Delicious is one of the fifteen most popular apple cultivars in the United States in 2008, popular for eating as well as in salads, apple sauces, and apple pies. This photograph of one whole and one halved Golden Delicious apple was focus-stacked from six images. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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March 13
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The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III is the third iteration of the flagship camera in the series of OM-D mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras produced by Olympus on the Micro Four-Thirds system. Released on February 28, 2020, it replaced the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. Photograph credit: Petar Milošević
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March 12
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The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), is a species of Old World monkey native to South, Central, and Southeast Asia. It has the widest geographic range of all non-human primates, occupying a great diversity of altitudes and a great variety of habitats, from grasslands to arid and forested areas, but also close to human settlements. Generally brown or grey in colour, it is 47 to 53 cm (19 to 21 in) in length with a 20.7 to 22.9 cm (8.1 to 9.0 in) tail and weighs 5.3 to 7.7 kg (12 to 17 lb). Due to its wide availability and biological similarity to humans, the rhesus macaque has been used extensively in medical and biological research. It has facilitated breakthroughs including vaccines for rabies, smallpox, polio, and antiretroviral medication to treat HIV/AIDS. A rhesus macaque became the first primate astronaut in 1948, but died during the flight, followed on 14 June 1949 by Albert II, who became the first primate and first mammal in space. This male rhesus macaque, of the subspecies M. m. mulatta, was photographed in the Gokarna Forest, Nepal. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 11
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A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, lakes and rivers. This picture shows a group of fishing boats lashed together in a tidal creek near the village of Anjarle in Maharashtra, India. Photograph credit: Sandip Dey
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March 10
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Mount Ngauruhoe is a volcanic cone in New Zealand. It is the youngest vent in the Tongariro stratovolcano complex on the Central Plateau of the North Island, and first erupted about 2,500 years ago. Ngauruhoe was New Zealand's most active volcano in the 20th century, with 45 eruptions, the most recent in 1977. This panoramic photograph, taken from Mount Tongariro, shows Mount Ngauruhoe and its surroundings, with Mount Ruapehu in the background. Photograph credit: KennyOMG
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March 9
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Marie Stopes (1880–1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist, and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. After obtaining a doctorate from the University of Munich, Stopes was appointed to the faculty of the Victoria University of Manchester, becoming its first female academic. She went on to make significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, assisting the British government with her coal expertise during World War I. From 1913, Stopes began writing on issues of marriage, parenthood and women's reproductive rights. With her second husband, Humphrey Verdon Roe, she founded the first birth control clinic in Britain. Her sex manual Married Love (1918) was controversial and influential, and brought the subject of birth control into wide public discourse. She was also a believer in eugenics, being described in her biography by June Rose as "an elitist, an idealist, interested in creating a society in which only the best and beautiful should survive". This 1904 photograph shows Stopes at work in her laboratory in Manchester. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden
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March 8
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The Hayden Bridge is a wrought-iron truss bridge that was manufactured by the Phoenixville Bridge Works in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built in 1882 and was initially located near Corinne, Utah, crossing the Bear River as part of the first transcontinental railroad. In 1901, the bridge was moved more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) and reassembled at its present location, crossing the McKenzie River in Springfield, Oregon, where it serves as part of the Marcola line for the distribution of lumber. It later closed down due to the closure of the area's lumbermills, until it was converted into a pedestrian bridge in 2019. It is the oldest intact bridge in the state of Oregon. This photograph of the Hayden Bridge was taken as part of a 1990 Historic American Engineering Record survey. Photograph credit: Historic American Engineering Record; restored by Jeff G. and Bammesk
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March 7
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La Wally is an opera in four acts by composer Alfredo Catalani, to a libretto by Luigi Illica, first performed at La Scala, Milan, in 1892. The story is set in the Austrian Tyrol where the heroine Wally is in love with Giuseppe Hagenbach. However, her father, Stromminger, wants her to marry Vincenzo Gellner. The opera concludes with Hagenbach and Wally pledging their love for each other, but being killed by an avalanche. La Wally was Catalani's last opera. This 1892 illustration by Adolfo Hohenstein depicts the Act I costume design for the title character Wally. Painting credit: Adolfo Hohenstein; restored by Adam Cuerden
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March 6
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Tirumala limniace, also known as the blue tiger, is a butterfly found in South Asia, and Southeast Asia, which belongs to the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. It is a large butterfly with a wingspan of 90 to 100 millimeters, with the males being smaller than the females. The upper side of the wing is dark brown to black and patterned with bluish-white, semi-transparent spots and lines. This male blue tiger, of the subspecies T. l. exoticus, was photographed in Kumarakom, in the Indian state of Kerala. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 5
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Mohawkite is a rare rock consisting of mixtures of the elements arsenic, silver, nickel and copper, and the mineral skutterudite, with the chemical formula Cu3As up to Cu6As, and the most desirable material was usually found in white quartz matrix. Named after the Mohawk Mine in the Keweenaw Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, where it was originally found, mohawkite has a hardness on the Mohs scale of 3.0 to 3.5 and a metallic luster. The rock's color ranges from brassy yellow to metallic gray, with some specimens having a blue or greenish surface tarnish. This nugget of mohawkite measures about 50 mm × 40 mm × 28 mm (2.0 in × 1.6 in × 1.1 in). Photograph credit: Heinrich Pniok
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March 4
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859) was an English civil and mechanical engineer. The son of French engineer Marc Isambard Brunel, he worked under his father as an assistant engineer on the Thames Tunnel project for several years until he was seriously injured in a flooding incident. During his recuperation he began a design for a bridge in Bristol, which would later be completed as the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In 1833, Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, overseeing development of the main line from London to Bristol which was completed in 1841. Brunel's other achievements included the design of the first transatlantic steamship and dockyards. This 1857 photograph, titled Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern, was taken by Robert Howlett. It depicts Brunel standing before a drum of chain used during the launching of SS Great Eastern at Millwall in London; he carries a cigar case, and his boots and trousers are muddy. Photograph credit: Robert Howlett; restored by Bammesk
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March 3
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The Woman Suffrage Procession was a suffragist parade held in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson's first presidential inauguration. It was organized by Alice Paul for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Thousands of suffragists marched down Pennsylvania Avenue "in a spirit of protest against the present political organization of society, from which women are excluded". The march and the attention it attracted were important in advancing women's suffrage in the United States. This image shows the front cover of the official program of the Woman Suffrage Procession, illustrated by Benjamin Moran Dale. It depicts an elaborately dressed woman blowing a trumpet with a "Votes for Women" banner while riding on horseback in front of the United States Capitol. Illustration credit: Benjamin Moran Dale; restored by Adam Cuerden
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March 2
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Romanesco broccoli is an edible flower bud of the species Brassica oleracea. It is chartreuse in color, and has a form naturally approximating a fractal. When compared to a traditional cauliflower, it has a firmer texture and delicate, nutty flavor. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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March 1
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The Port Hills are a range of hills in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. The hills are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. Starting at Godley Head, the range runs approximately east–west along the northern side of Lyttelton Harbour and thence to the south, terminating near Gebbies Pass above the head of the harbour. It includes a number of summits between 300 and 500 metres (980 and 1,640 feet) above sea level. This photograph shows a panoramic view of the Port Hills from Mount Ada, looking towards Lyttelton Harbour in the distance. Photograph credit: Michal Klajban
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February 28
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Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) was an African-American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped the space agency pioneer the use of computers to perform tasks. She worked with the Apollo program, calculating rendezvous paths for the lunar lander and command module on its flights to the Moon. Johnson's calculations were essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program and she also worked on plans for a mission to Mars. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as a pioneering example of African-American women in STEM. She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson as a lead character in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. This NASA photographic portrait of Johnson was taken in 1983. Photograph credit: NASA
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February 27
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The blue-billed duck (Oxyura australis) is a small Australian stiff-tailed duck, with both the male and female growing to a length of 40 centimetres (16 in). The male has a slate-blue bill which changes to bright-blue during the breeding season, which gives the duck its common name. The male has deep chestnut plumage during breeding season, reverting to a dark grey. The female retains black plumage with brown tips all year round. The duck is endemic to Australia's temperate regions, inhabiting natural inland wetlands and also artificial wetlands, such as sewage ponds, in large numbers. It can be difficult to observe due to its cryptic nature during its breeding season through autumn and winter. The male duck exhibits a complex mating ritual. The species is omnivorous, with a preference for small aquatic invertebrates. This male blue-billed duck was photographed near Penrith, New South Wales, in 2020. Photograph credit: John Harrison
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February 26
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The Inquisition Tribunal is a 46-by-73-centimetre (18 by 29 in) oil-on-panel painting produced by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya between 1812 and 1819. It depicts an auto-da-fé by a tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition taking place inside a church. The officials in the scene are predominantly monks, with only a single secular judge present, while the four accused are wearing tall, pointed corozas or capirotes (white pointed hats) on their heads and clad in sanbenitos describing their offences. The painting is now in the collection of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. Painting credit: Francisco Goya
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February 25
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Harriet Jacobs (1813 or 1815 – 1897) was an African-American writer who was born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina. During her teenage years, seeking protection from sexual harassment by her enslaver James Norcom, she began a relationship with the white lawyer Samuel Sawyer, who became the father of her children Joseph and Louisa Matilda. When Norcom threatened to sell her children if she did not submit to his desire, Jacobs escaped and hid in a tiny crawl space under the roof of her grandmother's house, so low that she could not stand up in it. After staying there for seven years, she finally managed to escape to the free North, where she was reunited with her children. In 1861, she published an autobiography titled Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl under the pseudonym Linda Brent, a book which was later described by her biographer Jean Fagan Yellin as an "American classic". This portrait of Jacobs, her only known formal photograph, was taken in 1894 by Gilbert Studios in Washington, D.C. Photograph credit: Gilbert Studios; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 24
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The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat twin-turbofan attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force. Nicknamed the Warthog, it has been in service since 1976, and is named for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a World War II–era fighter-bomber. The A-10 was designed to provide close air support to ground troops by attacking armored vehicles, tanks, and other enemy ground forces, with a secondary mission of forward air control, which involves directing other aircraft in attacks on ground targets. This A-10, assigned to 74th Fighter Squadron, was photographed in 2011 flying over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Photograph credit: William Greer
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February 23
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Physalis peruviana, also known by various names including the cape gooseberry or the Peruvian groundcherry, is a species of plant in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) native to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Known to be cultivated in the Inca Empire, the plant has been grown in England since the late 18th century and the region around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa since at least the start of the 19th century. It is now cultivated or grows wild across the world in temperate and tropical regions. This photograph shows the P. peruviana fruit, which is a round, smooth berry 1.25 to 2 cm (1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in) wide. It is bright yellow to orange in color and sweet when ripe, with a characteristic, mildly tart grape- or tomato-like flavor. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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February 22
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Hair Like Mine is a 2009 photograph by Pete Souza, the chief official White House photographer, showing Jacob Philadelphia, the five-year-old son of a United States National Security Council staff member, touching the head of President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. The moment arose after Philadelphia had asked the president: "I want to know if your hair is like mine." The photograph was called "iconic" by Time, and was later described by First Lady Michelle Obama as symbolizing progress in the African-American struggle for civil rights. Photograph credit: Pete Souza
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February 21
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Robert le diable is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. Superficially based on the medieval legend of Robert the Devil, it is regarded as one of the first French grand operas. This illustration depicts the set design by Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri of the opera's third act, known as the Ballet of the Nuns. Painting and lithography credit: Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri; additional lithography by Eugène Cicéri, Philippe Benoist, Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot; restored by Adam Cuerden
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February 20
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The human genome is the complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in small DNA molecules found within mitochondria. This includes both protein-coding DNA sequences and various types of DNA that does not encode proteins. This schematic representation of the human diploid karyotype shows the organization of the human genome into chromosomes, as well as annotated bands and sub-bands as seen on G banding. The diagram shows both the female (XX) and male (XY) versions of the 23rd chromosome pair. Chromosomal changes during the cell cycle are displayed at the top center. The human mitochondrial genome is shown to scale at the bottom left. Diagram credit: Mikael Häggström
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February 19
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The Stopića Cave is a limestone cave near Sirogojno, on the slopes of Mount Zlatibor in western Serbia. It has been protected by the state as a natural monument. It is located in the village of Rožanstvo, 19 kilometres (12 mi) from the town of Zlatibor. This photograph shows cascading tufa "bathtubs" filled with water within the cave. Photograph credit: Čedomir Žarković
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February 18
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The Lakhmid kingdom was an Arab kingdom in southern Iraq and eastern Arabia from the late 3rd century to 602. The Lakhmids were generally but intermittently the allies and clients of the Sasanian Empire, and participant in the Roman–Persian Wars. This Persian-language manuscript, dating from the 15th century and illustrated by Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād, depicts the construction of al-Khornaq Castle in the Lakhmid capital al-Hirah. The manuscript is in the collection of the British Museum in London. Illustration credit: Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād
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