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October 24
The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis is anoil painting by the Dutch painterRembrandt, produced around1661–62. It depicts an episode from Tacitus'sHistories of theBatavian rebellion (AD 69–70), led by the one-eyed chieftainClaudius Civilis. The painting was commissioned by the city council ofAmsterdam for theTown Hall, and was originally Rembrandt's largest-ever painting. It was placed briefly in the town hall but eventually returned to Rembrandt, who may never have been paid for the work. In financial difficulties, he was forced to cut the painting down in size and partly repaint it, after which it was sold. After passing between various private owners, it was eventually deposited in theRoyal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, and is now in the collection of theNationalmuseum in Stockholm. Painting credit:Rembrandt Recently featured: |
October 23
Pachygrapsus marmoratus, also known as the marbled crab, is a species in the familyGrapsidae, the marsh crabs. The species is found in southern Europe and northern Africa, in the waters of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a dark violet-brown crab, with yellow marbling, and with a body up to 36 millimetres (1.4 inches) long. Asemiaquatic omnivore, it feeds onalgae and various animals includingmussels andlimpets. ThisP. marmoratus crab was photographed near the shore ofButrint Lagoon inButrint National Park, southern Albania, near the coast of theIonian Sea. The picture has beenfocus-stacked from 12 separate images. Photograph credit:Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: |
October 22
Bennu is acarbonaceous asteroid in theApollo group. Discovered by theLincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project in 1999, it is named afterBennu, a bird ofEgyptian mythology associated with the Sun, creation, and rebirth. Bennu has a mean diameter of 490 metres (1,610 ft) and has been observed extensively by theArecibo Observatory planetary radar, theNASA Deep Space Network, andOSIRIS-REx, aNASA mission that landed on and hasreturned samples of the asteroid to Earth. Bennu is classed as apotentially hazardous object, with a cumulative 1-in-1,750 chance of impacting Earth between 2178 and 2290. This mosaic image was produced in 2020 from photographs based on two years of close observation of Bennu by OSIRIS-REx. Photograph credit:NASA /Goddard Space Flight Center /University of Arizona Recently featured: |
October 21
Tihar is a five-day Hindu festival of lights, celebrated in Nepal and parts of India (Sikkim,Darjeeling andAssam) by theNepalese andIndian Gorkha people. The festival coincides and shares similarities withDiwali, the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus across theIndian subcontinent and elsewhere, but also has some distinct features, such as the celebration of animals associated with the Hindu deityYama. Today (21 October 2025) is the third day of the festival,Lakshmi Puja, representing the cow, and is considered the most important day of Tihar. This photograph shows a woman lightingdiyas for Tihar, in theTelgha area of Nepal. Photograph credit:Mithun Kunwar Recently featured: |
October 20
Thecrescent-faced antpitta (Grallaricula lineifrons) is a species of bird in theantpitta family, Grallariidae. It is found in scattered locations in the Andes, from southern Ecuador through to Colombia'sQuindío Department. It inhabits the tiny undergrowth of hot forest, both cloudforest and elfin forest near but not past the treeline. Recent studies show that its range is almost entirely above 2,900 metres (9,500 ft) in altitude and it reaches at least 3,700 metres (12,100 ft) in places. It is 11 to 12 centimetres (4.3 to 4.7 in) long with a mass between 17 and 22 grams (0.60 and 0.78 oz). Both sexes have the same plumage, with adults featuring the eponymous white crescent from the crown through the lores and almost to the throat and a small white spot behind the eye. The crescent-faced antpitta's crown and nape are dark sooty gray, its face is black, its upperparts are brownish olive and the wings and tail a browner shade. It forages singly or in pairs as well as eating regularly from artificial feeding stations at viewing points, its diet consisting of earthworms, insects, spiders, and other arthropods. This crescent-faced antpitta was photographed at Hacienda El Bosque nearManizales, Colombia. Photograph credit:Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: |
October 19
Christ Church Cathedral is a cathedral of theChurch of England inOxford, England. It is the seat of thebishop of Oxford and the principal church of theDiocese of Oxford. It is also the chapel ofChrist Church, one of thecolleges of the University of Oxford; this dual role is unique in the Church of England. The first church on the site was anunnery and parish church that was burnt during theSt Brice's Day massacre in 1002; it was re-founded as a priory ofAugustinian canons by 1122. This was suppressed in 1524 by CardinalThomas Wolsey, who intended to demolish the church in order to found a new college on the site. After Wolsey fell from favour in 1529, the project was taken over byHenry VIII, who preserved the church. When the Diocese of Oxford was created in 1542, its cathedral was the formerOsney Abbey, which was supplanted by Christ Church in 1546. This picture shows thechoir of Christ Church Cathedral, looking east towards the altar. Photograph credit:David Iliff Recently featured: |
October 18
The Window is asong cycle composed byArthur Sullivan with words byAlfred, Lord Tennyson. Written in 1867 and published in 1871, the cycle consists of twelve poems by Tennyson, eleven of which were set to music by Sullivan, as well as this one illustration, titled "A Reverie", drawn in 1868 byJohn Everett Millais and depicting a female figure looking pensively out of a window. Tennyson had a draft of the text by February 1867, but he was dissatisfied with his work and reluctant to publish it. In August 1867, Tennyson had revised the words, but he refused to allow publication until November 1870. By this time, however, Millais had disposed of all the drawings he had prepared for the publication except for "A Reverie", and he was too busy to work any further on the project. Drawing credit:John Everett Millais; restored byAdam Cuerden Recently featured: |
October 17
Parazoanthus axinellae, commonly known as the yellow cluster anemone, is a species ofzoanthid coral in the familyParazoanthidae. It is found on rockysubstrates around the southern Atlantic coasts of Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea, at depths between 23 and 45 metres (75 and 148 ft). Zoanthids differ from true sea anemones in having a different internal anatomy and in forming true colonies in which the individual animals (polyps) are connected by a common tissue, called thecoenenchyme.Parazoanthus axinellae is yellow or orange in colour, each polyp featuring 24 to 36 tentacles and having a diameter of 5 millimetres (0.20 in) with a height of 20 millimetres (0.79 in). In the Mediterranean Sea, it frequently forms dense agglomerations, often in association with the soft coralAlcyonium acaule. ThisP. axinellae cluster was photographed inArrábida Natural Park, Portugal. Photograph credit:Diego Delso Recently featured: |
October 16
Kaʻiulani (Hawaiian pronunciation:[kə'ʔi.u.'lɐni]; Victoria Kawēkiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn; October 16, 1875 – March 6, 1899) was the only child of Princess MiriamLikelike, and the lastheir apparent to the throne of theHawaiian Kingdom. She was the niece of KingKalākaua and QueenLiliʻuokalani. After the death of her mother, Princess Kaʻiulani was sent to Europe at age 13 to complete her education under the guardianship of British businessman and Hawaiian sugar investorTheo H. Davies. She had not yet reached her eighteenth birthday when the 1893overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom altered her life. TheProvisional Government of Hawaii rejected pleas from both her fatherArchibald Scott Cleghorn, and provisional presidentSanford B. Dole, to seat Kaʻiulani on the throne, conditional upon the abdication of Liliʻuokalani. The Queen thought the Kingdom's best chance at justice was to relinquish her power temporarily to the United States. Photograph credit: unknown; restored byMark Miller Recently featured: |
October 15
Helen Hunt Jackson (October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885) was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of the improved treatment ofNative Americans by the United States government. She described the adverse effects of government actions in her historyA Century of Dishonor (1881). Her popular novelRamona (1884) dramatized the federal government's mistreatment of Native Americans inSouthern California after theMexican–American War and attracted considerable attention to her cause. Commercially successful, it was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times, with readers liking its romantic and picturesque qualities more than its political content. The novel was so popular that it attracted many tourists to Southern California who wanted to see places from the book. This full-length seated portrait of Jackson was taken around 1884, and thisalbumen print is in the collection of theNational Portrait Gallery, part of theSmithsonian Institution. Photograph credit: Charles F. Conly; restored byAdam Cuerden Recently featured: |
October 14
Devonshire Lodge, also known as the Low–Martin House, is a mansion located in theWalkerville neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Commissioned by the rum-runner Harry Low in 1927 and designed by George Lawton, likely with input from Low, the mansion and its accompanying coach house were built in the style of aCotswold cottage and completed in 1928. After Low defaulted on his mortgage, the building was sold in 1938 and in 1949. In 1961, it was purchased byPaul Martin Sr., a local Member of Parliament, who lived there until his death. By 2008, the Lodge required extensive renovations, which were ultimately undertaken over a two-year period by Vern Myslichuk after he purchased it in 2012. The Devonshire Lodge was designated under theOntario Heritage Act in 2008. Photograph credit:Chris Woodrich Recently featured: |
October 13
Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico is a black-and-white photograph taken by American landscape photographerAnsel Adams, late in the afternoon on November 1, 1941, from a shoulder of the highwayUS 84 /US 285, in the unincorporated community ofHernandez, New Mexico, United States. The photograph shows the Moon rising in a dominating black sky with low clouds above a collection of modest dwellings, a church and a cross-filled graveyard, with snow-covered mountains in the background. Adams captured a single image, with the sunset lighting the white crosses and buildings. Because Adams did not date the image, attempts have been made to determine a date from astronomical information in the photograph. It is one of Adams's most popular works. Photograph credit:Ansel Adams Recently featured: |
October 12
Thelittle owl (Athene noctua) is a bird in the familyStrigidae, the true owls. It inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, thePalearctic realm east to Korea, and North Africa. The species is mainly nocturnal and is found in a range of habitats, including farmland, woodland fringes, steppes and semi-deserts. It is around 22 centimetres (8.7 inches) long, andcryptically coloured. The little owl typically feeds on insects, earthworms, other invertebrates and small vertebrates. Males hold territories that they defend against intruders. It is a cavity nester, and a clutch of about four eggs is laid in spring. The female does the incubation and the male brings food to the nest, first for the female and later for the newly hatched young. As the chicks grow, both parents hunt and bring them food, and the chicks leave the nest at about seven weeks of age. This little owl was photographed in Zhabaiushkan, a wildlife sanctuary inMangystau Region, Kazakhstan. Photograph credit: Maksat Bisengaziev Recently featured: |
October 11
Emily Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was asuffragette who fought forvotes for women in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century. Davison grew up in a middle-class family and studied atRoyal Holloway College, London, andSt Hugh's College, Oxford, before taking jobs as a teacher and governess. Astaunch feminist and passionate Christian, she deemedsocialism to be a moral and political force for good. She became an officer of theWomen's Social and Political Union and a chief steward during its marches. Her tactics included breaking windows, throwing stones, setting fire to postboxes, and, on three occasions, hiding overnight in thePalace of Westminster – including on the night of the1911 census. Davison was arrested nine times, went onhunger strike seven times, and wasforce fed on forty-nine occasions. She died after being hit byKing George V's horse Anmer at the 1913Epsom Derby when she walked onto the track during the race. This studio portrait, showing Davison wearing herHunger Strike Medal andHolloway brooch, was taken in the early 1910s. Photograph credit: Andrew William Dron; restored byAdam Cuerden Recently featured: |
October 10
TheAustralian Senate is the upper house of the bicameralParliament of Australia, the lower house being theHouse of Representatives. It meets atParliament House in the national capital,Canberra. There are 76 senators, elected throughsingle transferable vote in state-wide and territory-wide elections. Each of the sixAustralian states elects 12 senators, while theAustralian Capital Territory and theNorthern Territory elect 2 each. The role of the Senate is defined in theconstitution of Australia and it has almost equal powers to the lower house. In contrast to other countries with aWestminster system of government, the Australian Senate plays an active role in legislation, although in practice most legislation is initiated bythe government, which controls the lower house. This photograph shows the chamber where the Senate meets. Photograph credit:JJ Harrison Recently featured: |
October 9
Aluterus scriptus, commonly known as the scrawled filefish, is a marine fish in thefilefish family, Monacanthidae. It has acircumtropical distribution, being found in the tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific. It inhabits lagoons, coral and rocky reefs, seaweed fields, pinnacles, wrecks and also open water.Aluterus scriptus grows up to 1.1 metres (3 ft 7 in) in length and has an elongated elliptical body shape. Its coloration is olive-brown or grey depending on its surrounding environment, with irregular blue lines and spots distributed on the body mixed with some black spots mainly on the head. The species is omnivorous with a diet including small crustaceans, algae, gorgonians, sea anemones, tunicates, fire coral, seagrasses and hydrozoans. ThisA. scriptus fish was photographed in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt. Photograph credit:Diego Delso Recently featured: |
October 8
Veronica filiformis, commonly known as the slender speedwell among other names, is a species offlowering plant in the familyPlantaginaceae. It is native to northern Turkey and the Caucasus, and is known in many other regions as anintroduced species, for example in the United Kingdom, where it began as a rock garden plant and later became wild.Veronica filiformis is arhizomatous perennial herb producing mats of hairy stems. It isself-sterile and rarely seeds, being spread bystolons. The petals are four-lobed and blueish with a white tip, around 8–10 mm in diameter, the top lobe being largest since it is actually a fusion of two lobes. At the center are two long, protrudingstamens. Solitary flowers occur in leaf axils. They are on relatively long, slender stalks that arise from theleaf axils, and appear between April and July. This photograph of aV. filiformis flower wasfocus-stacked from 42 separate images. Photograph credit:Reinhold Möller Recently featured: |
October 7
TheNobel Prize in Physics is an annual award given by theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences to those who have made the most outstanding contributions to humanity throughphysics. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious award that a scientist can receive in that field. One of the fiveNobel Prizes established by the will ofAlfred Nobel in 1895, the Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded since 1901, when the German physicistWilhelm Röntgen was recognised for the discovery ofX-rays. As of 2025, there have been229 Nobel laureates in physics. The prize consists ofa medal (whose obverse bears a profile of Nobel), a diploma, and a monetary award. This 1931 group photograph includes three Nobel laureates in physics in the front row – from left to right,Albert A. Michelson (1907),Albert Einstein (1921), andRobert Millikan (1923) – each of whom autographed the image. The photograph is in the collection of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology at theSmithsonian Institution. Photograph credit: unknown; scanned by theSmithsonian Institution; restored byBammesk Recently featured: |
October 6
Thehooded mountain tanager (Buthraupis montana) is a bird in thetanager family, Thraupidae. The species is found in forest and woodland in the Andean highlands of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, at altitudes between 1,800 and 3,000 metres (5,900 and 9,800 ft). It is one of the largest tanagers, at 23 centimetres (9.1 in) and 96 grams (3.4 oz), and has a black head and thighs, a blue black and bright yellow belly, with red eyes. This hooded mountain tanager of the subspeciesB. m. cucullata was photographed in Hacienda El Bosque, a wildlife reserve nearManizales, Colombia. Photograph credit:Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: |
October 5
Chester A. Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21stpresident of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was aRepublican fromNew York who previously served as the 20thvice president under PresidentJames A. Garfield. Assuming the presidency afterGarfield's assassination, Arthur's presidency saw the largest expansion of theU.S. Navy, the end of the so-called "spoils system", and the implementation of harsher restrictions for migrants entering from abroad. Suffering from poor health, Arthur made only a limited effort to secure the Republican Party's nomination in 1884, and he retired at the end of his term. He has been described as one of theleast memorable presidents in the history of the United States. This photograph byAbraham Bogardus shows Arthur around 1880. Photograph credit:Abraham Bogardus; restored byAdam Cuerden Recently featured: |
October 4
Agnes Booth (October 4, 1843 – January 2, 1910) was an Australian-born American actress and in-law of actorsJunius Brutus Booth,Edwin Booth, andJohn Wilkes Booth, the assassin ofAbraham Lincoln. She made her US debut in early 1858 as Agnes Land, performing with her sister Belle at Maguire's Opera House, San Francisco. In 1865 she moved to New York where she appeared at theWinter Garden Theatre. In 1867, she marriedJunius Brutus Booth Jr. and she performed as Agnes Booth thereafter. She played Belinda in the first American production ofW. S. Gilbert'sEngaged in 1879, as shown in this photograph byAbraham Bogardus. Photograph credit:Abraham Bogardus; restored byAdam Cuerden |
October 3
TheImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965 is aUnited States federal law that was passed bythe 89th Congress and signed into law by PresidentLyndon B. Johnson on October 3, 1965. The act formally removed de facto discrimination against people of various ethnicities fromthe country's immigration policy and created a system giving priority to various categories of people such as relatives of US citizens, skilled professionals, and refugees. Previous policy consisted of theNational Origins Formula of the 1920s, whose aim was to preserve American homogeneity by promoting immigration from Western and Northern Europe, an approach which came under attack during thecivil rights movement for beingracially discriminatory. This photograph shows President Johnson officially signing the Immigration and Nationality Act in a ceremony onLiberty Island in New York City. Photograph credit:Yoichi Okamoto |
October 2
Epinephelus marginatus is a species of fish in thegrouper family, Epinephelidae. It is found in coastal waters, primarily at the edges of the Atlantic Ocean – off western Africa and eastern South America – and also in the Indian Ocean around South Africa, Madagascar andRéunion, and throughout theMediterranean.Epinephelus marginatus is a very large, oval-bodied and large-headed fish with a wide mouth which has a protruding lower jaw. It is typically 90 cm in length but some individuals grow up to 150 cm. The head and upper body are coloured dark reddish brown or greyish, usually with yellowish gold countershading on the ventral surfaces, while the base colour is marked by a vertical series of irregular pale-greenish-yellow, silvery-grey or whitish blotching. ThisE. marginatus individual was photographed offCape Palos, Spain. Photograph credit:Diego Delso Recently featured: |
October 1
Sarah Forbes Bonetta (c. 1843 – 1880), born Aina or Ina, was an African slave who later became a ward and goddaughter ofQueen Victoria. Believed to be a titled member of theYewa, a clan of the West AfricanYoruba people, she was orphaned as a child during a war with the nearby kingdom ofDahomey and was later enslaved byGhezo, the king of Dahomey. She was then given as a "gift" to Captain Frederick E. Forbes of theRoyal Navy and was taken to England, where she became a goddaughter ofQueen Victoria. On Victoria's orders, Bonetta married CaptainJames Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthyLagos philanthropist, in 1862. The couple moved back to Africa and had three children, including Lagos socialiteVictoria Davies Randle. Bonetta died aged 37 on the Portuguese island ofMadeira. This formal photograph, taken by the French photographerCamille Silvy in 1862, shows Bonetta and Davies at around the time of their marriage. Photograph credit:Camille Silvy; restored byAdam Cuerden Recently featured: |
September 30
Child labor in the United States was a common phenomenon across the economy in the 19th century, gradually declining in the early 20th century, with exceptions in the Southern textile and related industries and agriculture. Compulsory school laws and Northern state laws prohibiting work in mines and factories further reduced the phenomenon.A national law was passed in 1916, but it was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1918; a 1919 law was also overturned. In the 1920s, an effort to pass a constitutional amendment failed, because of opposition from the South and from Catholics. Outside of farming, child labor was steadily declining in the 20th century, and theNew Deal in 1938 finally ended child labor in factories and mines. Child labor has always been a factor in agriculture, and that continues into the 21st century. There has been a large rise in child labor in the 2020s amid a labor shortage due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and some states have proposed or enacted measures to loosen restrictions. This 1910 photograph byLewis Hine shows ten-year-old Rose Biodo ofPhiladelphia carrying berries in a field inBrowns Mills, New Jersey, four weeks into the school year. Photograph credit:Lewis Hine Recently featured: |
September 29
Thetawny-bellied hermit (Phaethornis syrmatophorus) is a species in thehummingbird family, Trochilidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, where it inhabits the understory of humidmontane forest and is also sometimes at forest edges and in densesecondary forest. In elevation it mostly ranges between 1,000 and 2,300 m. The tawny-bellied hermit is about 14 cm long and weighs 5 to 7 g. It has olive green upperparts, males also having reddish-orange uppertailcoverts, whle the central tail feathers of both sexes are long and white and the rest are dark with bright orange ends. It has either an orange or dark brown chest, depending on subspecies. Similar to other hermit hummingbirds, it is a "trap-line" feeder, visiting a circuit of a wide variety of flowering plants for nectar, and it has a song which consists of high-pitched "tsi" calls. This tawny-bellied hermit was photographed at San Isidro Lodge near Cosanga,Napo Province, Ecuador. Photograph credit:Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: |
September 28
Machu Picchu is a 15th-centuryInca citadel located on a mountain ridge in theEastern Cordillera of southern Peru, about 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it was built around 1450, likely as an estate for the Inca emperorPachacuti, and was abandoned roughly a century later. Notable structures include the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, andIntihuatana, a ritual stone. Machu Picchu wasdesignated a historic sanctuary by Peru in 1981, and aWorld Heritage Site byUNESCO in 1983. It received more than 1.5 million visitors annually as of 2024, making it Peru's most visited tourist attraction. This photograph of Machu Picchu was taken in 1912 byHiram Bingham III, the American explorer who rediscovered the citadel, and was published in the April 1913 edition ofNational Geographic. The image was taken after early clearing work, and shows the agricultural terraces, the central urban complex, and the steep peak ofHuayna Picchu rising in the background. Photograph credit:Hiram Bingham III Recently featured: |
September 27
Gypsum is a softsulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formulaCaSO4·2H2O. It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard orsidewalk chalk. TheMohs scale of mineral hardness defines gypsum as hardness value 2 based onscratch hardness comparison. Other forms of gypsum include the fine-grained, lightly-tintedalabaster, used for sculpture by many cultures in history, and the translucent crystals ofselenite. This specimen of gypsum originates inCarresse-Cassaber, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. Photograph credit:Didier Descouens |
September 26
Voss is the seventeenth collection by British fashion designerAlexander McQueen. It had itsrunway show on 26 September 2000 at the Gatliff Road Warehouse in London, and was created for the Spring/Summer 2001 season ofMcQueen's eponymous fashion house. The collection draws on imagery of madness and the natural world to explore ideas of bodily perfection, interrogating who and what was beautiful.Voss features a large number of showpiece designs, including dresses made withrazor clam shells, an antique Japanese screen, taxidermy hawks, and microscope slides. The collection's palette mainly comprises muted tones; common design flourishes included Orientalist and surrealist elements. This photograph shows the razor clam shell dress at the 2024Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibition at theMetropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph credit:Rhododendrites Recently featured: |
September 25
Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) is a medium-sized primate in one of thelemur families, theIndriidae.Critically Endangered, it lives in Madagascar and can be found in a variety of habitats from rainforest todry deciduous forests of western Madagascar and thespiny thickets of the south. This photograph was taken near Réserve Peyrieras, Madagascar Photograph credit:Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: |
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