Archive for 2013
ORP Grom is an Orkan-class fast attack craft originally contracted by East Germany and laid down in 1989. After German reunification, the unfinished hull was bought by Poland, where it was completed in 1995. The ship now serves with the 31st Rocket Warships Squadron, 3rd Ship Flotilla of the Polish Navy. Photo: Łukasz Golowanow |
Shasta Dam, an arch dam across the Sacramento River at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, California, during its construction in June 1942. The dam mainly serves long-term water storage and flood control in its reservoir, Shasta Lake, and also generates hydroelectric power. At 602 ft (183 m) high, it is the ninth-tallest dam in the United States and forms the largest reservoir in California. Photo: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI; Restoration: Chick Bowen |
Dilma Rousseff is the 36th and current President of Brazil, in office since 1 January 2011. She is the first woman to hold the office. Previously she was Chief of Staff to the President of Brazil, serving under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from 2005 to 2010. The daughter of a Bulgarian entrepreneur, she is an economist by training and co-founder of the Democratic Labour Party. She served as Da Silva's Minister of Energy and became Chief of Staff after José Dirceu's resignation amidst scandal. She was elected the presidency in a run-off election on 31 October 2010. Photo: Agência Brasil |
Two banknotes for Confederate States of America dollars, in five (top) and 100 dollar (bottom) amounts. The notes were first issued just before the outbreak of the Civil War by the Confederacy. They were not backed by hard assets, but simply by a promise to pay the bearer after Confederate victory. By the end of the war, the notes were worthless. Today, the "Greybacks" are prized as collector's items. Restoration: Michael Holley |
Photomontage is the process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other ones. Here, 16 different photos have been digitally manipulated in Photoshop to give the impression that it is a real landscape. The term was coined by German Dadaists, but the technique, then known as combination printing, was originated by the British-based Swedish artist Oscar Rejlander in the 1850s. Image: Mmxx |
The main reading room of the United States Library of Congress, located in the Thomas Jefferson Building, the oldest of its three buildings. Constructed between 1890 and 1897, the Beaux-Arts style building is known for its classicizing facade and elaborately decorated interior, designed during the "American Renaissance". Photo: Carol M. Highsmith |
The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is an endangered sea turtle found in tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The common name derives from the usually green fat found beneath its carapace. Photo: Mbz1 |
This photo, taken the day after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, shows the damage it caused to the National Palace of Haiti. The palace's collapsed cupola has become a symbol of the devastation caused by the quake. The Haitian government is currently in the process of demolishing the remains in preparation for reconstruction. Photo: Logan Abassi, UNDP Global |
The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is a medium-sized retriever dog breed that originated in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is named for its ability to lure waterfowl within gunshot range, called "tolling". It is particularly suited for retrieving in cold water climates because of its water-repellent double coat. Photo: Kallerna |
Two male impalas (Aepyceros melampus) fighting during rutting (breeding) season, which begins yearly toward the end of the wet season in May and lasts typically for three weeks. During this period, males often rub their antlers on trees or shrubs, fight with each other, and herd estrus females together. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
The Frecce Tricolori is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Aeronautica Militare, based at Rivolto Air Force Base, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, province of Udine. They were formed in 1961 as an Air Force team, replacing unofficial teams that had been sponsored by various commands by the end of the 1920s. Photo: Łukasz Golowanow |
Three bars of vanadium exhibiting different crystal forms and surface oxidation made using the crystal bar process, and a 1 cm3 cube of the element for comparison. Vanadium is a hard, silvery gray, ductile and malleable transition metal named after Vanadís, another name for the Norse goddess Freyja. In nature, vanadium only exists in chemically combined form. Photo: Alchemist-hp |
Nasser Al-Attiyah, a Qatari rally driver, in a Ford Fiesta S2000 at the 2010 Rally Finland. He is the only Arab to have won the Dakar Rally, a feat he achieved in 2011. In addition to driving, Al-Attiyah is a sport shooter and won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in skeet. Photo: Kallerna |
Davy Jones' Locker is an idiom used as a euphemism for drowning ("to be sent to Davy Jones' Locker"). This illustration from the English satirical magazine Punch shows Jones on his locker while viewing a 1789 chart of Ferrol Harbour, Spain, belonging to HMS Howe. The ship had run aground at the mouth of the harbour on 2 November 1892, allegedly after using a poorly prepared naval chart to navigate its waters. In the accompanying caption (not included here), Jones is saying, "Aha! So long as they stick to them old charts, no fear o' my locker bein' empty!!" Artist: John Tenniel Recently featured: Blois, France – Green sea turtle – National Palace of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake |
A panoramic view of Blois, the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours. The area has been inhabited since at least the 6th century and was once the seat of a powerful countship. It is also known for being Joan of Arc's base of operations for the relief of Orléans. Photo: David Iliff |
A diagram of the federal government of the United States and its relationship to the 34 states and nine territories in 1862. At the top is the Constitution, the "supreme law of the land". The blue line originating from it represents allegiance and the red line shows the separation of Constitutional powers. Art: N. Mendal Shafer; Restoration: Fallschirmjäger |
St. Michael's Cathedral in Izhevsk, Russia, is one of the two main Orthodox churches of Udmurtia. It is built in the Russian Revival style and its tent-like roof is 67 m (220 ft) tall. The church was originally built in 1915, but destroyed by the Soviets in 1937. It was reconstructed in 2007. Photo: Richard Bartz/Murdockcrc |
Schematic diagram of a piano, one of the most popular musical instruments in the world. The diagram (see legend) shows a grand piano, one of two basic piano configurations, the other being the upright piano. Full-size grand pianos are preferred for concerts, because larger pianos with longer strings have larger, richer sound and lower inharmonicity of the strings. Image: Olek Remesz/Bechstein |
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis, ssp. tippelskirchi shown here) is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. There are nine subspecies, which are distinguished by their coat patterns. Fully grown giraffes stand 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall, with males taller than and weighing nearly twice as much as females. The giraffe's scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands. Their primary food source is acacia leaves, which they can browse at heights which most other herbivores cannot reach. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
The Thames Barrier, the world's second-largest movable flood barrier, as seen from Silvertown on the north bank of the River Thames during normal operation, looking across to New Charlton. The barrier is located downstream of central London and is meant to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea. It needs to be raised (closed) only during high tide; at ebb tide it can be lowered to release the water that backs up behind it. Photo: David Iliff |
A sketch of a longnose sawshark (Pristiophorus cirratus), a species of sawshark found in the eastern Indian Ocean around southern Australia on the continental shelf at depths of between 40 and 310 m (130 and 1,020 ft). It is a medium-sized shark with a saw-like flattened snout which measures up to thirty percent of its body size. Artist: William Buelow Gould |
A 1905 photograph of the Executive Mansion, the official residence of the Governor of Virginia. Designed by Alexander Parris and completed in 1813, it is the oldest occupied governor's mansion in the United States. It is both a Virginia and a National Historic Landmark, and has had a number of successive renovations and expansions during the 20th century. Photo: Detroit Publishing Co.; Restoration: Jbarta |
The comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) is found in temperate areas of Europe and Asia and is named after a white 'C' shape on the underside of the wings resembling a comma. The wings have a distinctive ragged edge, apparently a cryptic form as the butterfly resembles a fallen leaf. Photo: Quartl |
Three types of nail clippers, used to cut finger- and toenails as part of grooming. The left cutter is in the plier style, while the centre and right ones are in the compound lever style. Photograph: Evan-Amos |
Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556, depicted in 1545) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of three monarchs. Ascending to power during the reign of Henry VIII, under Edward VI he was able to promote a series of reforms in the Church of England. He was executed for treason under Mary I. Painting: Gerlach Flicke |
The White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae, shown in non-breeding plumage) is a relatively small heron that is common throughout most of Australasia. First described by John Latham in 1790, adults range in size from 60 to 70 centimetres (24 to 28 in) in length. Photograph: JJ Harrison |
An Antonov An-124 belonging to Polet Airlines on final approach to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia. The An-124 was designed for strategic lift capability and remains the third-largest operating cargo aircraft. Photograph: Sergey Kustov |
A view from the path to the base camp of Nanga Parbat, in Pakistan. With a summit elevation of 8,126 metres (26,660 ft), the mountain is the ninth-highest in the world. It was first climbed in 1953. Photograph: Waqas Usman |
A view from the path to the base camp of Nanga Parbat, in Pakistan. With a summit elevation of 8,126 metres (26,660 ft), the mountain is the ninth-highest in the world. It was first climbed in 1953. Photograph: Waqas Usman |
An Antonov An-124 belonging to Polet Airlines on final approach to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia. The An-124 was designed for strategic lift capability and remains the third-largest operating cargo aircraft. Photograph: Sergey Kustov |
American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham with his puppet "Achmed the Dead Terrorist". Dunham, whose puppets Time magazine has described as "politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill tempered", uses Achmed to satirize terrorists. Photograph: Richard Mclaren |
A campaign poster from the National Union Party during the US election of 1864, showing presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln (left) and his running-mate Andrew Johnson. The Republican Party changed its name and selected Johnson, a former Democrat, to draw support from War Democrats during the Civil War. Lithograph: Currier and Ives, Restoration: Lise Broer |
Hurricane Bob, the first hurricane of the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season and the only one to make landfall on the contiguous United States, as it approaches New England. The Category 3 storm killed 17 people and caused $1.5 billion in damage. Photo: NOAA / Satellite and Information Service |
almost created a diplomatic incident when he tried...
Bangladesh Tourism - The Longest Natural Sea Beach: A Great Place for a Bangladesh Vacation by Khondoker Aminul Islam
Judge Denies Request for Delay in Trayvon Martin Case: A lawyer for George Zimmerman, who is accused of killing the unarmed teenager last February, said he needed more time to prepare.![]()
Wikipedia picture of the day for December 27:
ORP Grom is an Orkan-class fast attack craft originally contracted by East Germany and laid down in 1989. After German reunification, the unfinished hull was bought by Poland, where it was completed in 1995. The ship now serves with the 31st Rocket Warships Squadron, 3rd Ship Flotilla of the Polish Navy. Photo: Łukasz Golowanow |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 2:
Shasta Dam, an arch dam across the Sacramento River at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, California, during its construction in June 1942. The dam mainly serves long-term water storage and flood control in its reservoir, Shasta Lake, and also generates hydroelectric power. At 602 ft (183 m) high, it is the ninth-tallest dam in the United States and forms the largest reservoir in California. Photo: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI; Restoration: Chick Bowen |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 1:
Dilma Rousseff is the 36th and current President of Brazil, in office since 1 January 2011. She is the first woman to hold the office. Previously she was Chief of Staff to the President of Brazil, serving under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from 2005 to 2010. The daughter of a Bulgarian entrepreneur, she is an economist by training and co-founder of the Democratic Labour Party. She served as Da Silva's Minister of Energy and became Chief of Staff after José Dirceu's resignation amidst scandal. She was elected the presidency in a run-off election on 31 October 2010. Photo: Agência Brasil |
Wikipedia picture of the day for December 26:
Two banknotes for Confederate States of America dollars, in five (top) and 100 dollar (bottom) amounts. The notes were first issued just before the outbreak of the Civil War by the Confederacy. They were not backed by hard assets, but simply by a promise to pay the bearer after Confederate victory. By the end of the war, the notes were worthless. Today, the "Greybacks" are prized as collector's items. Restoration: Michael Holley |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 6:
Photomontage is the process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other ones. Here, 16 different photos have been digitally manipulated in Photoshop to give the impression that it is a real landscape. The term was coined by German Dadaists, but the technique, then known as combination printing, was originated by the British-based Swedish artist Oscar Rejlander in the 1850s. Image: Mmxx |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 5:
The main reading room of the United States Library of Congress, located in the Thomas Jefferson Building, the oldest of its three buildings. Constructed between 1890 and 1897, the Beaux-Arts style building is known for its classicizing facade and elaborately decorated interior, designed during the "American Renaissance". Photo: Carol M. Highsmith |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 13:
The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is an endangered sea turtle found in tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The common name derives from the usually green fat found beneath its carapace. Photo: Mbz1 |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 12:
This photo, taken the day after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, shows the damage it caused to the National Palace of Haiti. The palace's collapsed cupola has become a symbol of the devastation caused by the quake. The Haitian government is currently in the process of demolishing the remains in preparation for reconstruction. Photo: Logan Abassi, UNDP Global |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 11:
The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is a medium-sized retriever dog breed that originated in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is named for its ability to lure waterfowl within gunshot range, called "tolling". It is particularly suited for retrieving in cold water climates because of its water-repellent double coat. Photo: Kallerna |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 8:
Two male impalas (Aepyceros melampus) fighting during rutting (breeding) season, which begins yearly toward the end of the wet season in May and lasts typically for three weeks. During this period, males often rub their antlers on trees or shrubs, fight with each other, and herd estrus females together. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 7:
The Frecce Tricolori is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Aeronautica Militare, based at Rivolto Air Force Base, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, province of Udine. They were formed in 1961 as an Air Force team, replacing unofficial teams that had been sponsored by various commands by the end of the 1920s. Photo: Łukasz Golowanow |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 17:
Three bars of vanadium exhibiting different crystal forms and surface oxidation made using the crystal bar process, and a 1 cm3 cube of the element for comparison. Vanadium is a hard, silvery gray, ductile and malleable transition metal named after Vanadís, another name for the Norse goddess Freyja. In nature, vanadium only exists in chemically combined form. Photo: Alchemist-hp |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 16:
Nasser Al-Attiyah, a Qatari rally driver, in a Ford Fiesta S2000 at the 2010 Rally Finland. He is the only Arab to have won the Dakar Rally, a feat he achieved in 2011. In addition to driving, Al-Attiyah is a sport shooter and won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in skeet. Photo: Kallerna |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 15:
Davy Jones' Locker is an idiom used as a euphemism for drowning ("to be sent to Davy Jones' Locker"). This illustration from the English satirical magazine Punch shows Jones on his locker while viewing a 1789 chart of Ferrol Harbour, Spain, belonging to HMS Howe. The ship had run aground at the mouth of the harbour on 2 November 1892, allegedly after using a poorly prepared naval chart to navigate its waters. In the accompanying caption (not included here), Jones is saying, "Aha! So long as they stick to them old charts, no fear o' my locker bein' empty!!" Artist: John Tenniel Recently featured: Blois, France – Green sea turtle – National Palace of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 14:
A panoramic view of Blois, the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours. The area has been inhabited since at least the 6th century and was once the seat of a powerful countship. It is also known for being Joan of Arc's base of operations for the relief of Orléans. Photo: David Iliff |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 20:
A diagram of the federal government of the United States and its relationship to the 34 states and nine territories in 1862. At the top is the Constitution, the "supreme law of the land". The blue line originating from it represents allegiance and the red line shows the separation of Constitutional powers. Art: N. Mendal Shafer; Restoration: Fallschirmjäger |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 19:
St. Michael's Cathedral in Izhevsk, Russia, is one of the two main Orthodox churches of Udmurtia. It is built in the Russian Revival style and its tent-like roof is 67 m (220 ft) tall. The church was originally built in 1915, but destroyed by the Soviets in 1937. It was reconstructed in 2007. Photo: Richard Bartz/Murdockcrc |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 18:
Schematic diagram of a piano, one of the most popular musical instruments in the world. The diagram (see legend) shows a grand piano, one of two basic piano configurations, the other being the upright piano. Full-size grand pianos are preferred for concerts, because larger pianos with longer strings have larger, richer sound and lower inharmonicity of the strings. Image: Olek Remesz/Bechstein |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 27:
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis, ssp. tippelskirchi shown here) is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. There are nine subspecies, which are distinguished by their coat patterns. Fully grown giraffes stand 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall, with males taller than and weighing nearly twice as much as females. The giraffe's scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands. Their primary food source is acacia leaves, which they can browse at heights which most other herbivores cannot reach. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 25:
The Thames Barrier, the world's second-largest movable flood barrier, as seen from Silvertown on the north bank of the River Thames during normal operation, looking across to New Charlton. The barrier is located downstream of central London and is meant to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea. It needs to be raised (closed) only during high tide; at ebb tide it can be lowered to release the water that backs up behind it. Photo: David Iliff |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 24:
A sketch of a longnose sawshark (Pristiophorus cirratus), a species of sawshark found in the eastern Indian Ocean around southern Australia on the continental shelf at depths of between 40 and 310 m (130 and 1,020 ft). It is a medium-sized shark with a saw-like flattened snout which measures up to thirty percent of its body size. Artist: William Buelow Gould |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 23:
A 1905 photograph of the Executive Mansion, the official residence of the Governor of Virginia. Designed by Alexander Parris and completed in 1813, it is the oldest occupied governor's mansion in the United States. It is both a Virginia and a National Historic Landmark, and has had a number of successive renovations and expansions during the 20th century. Photo: Detroit Publishing Co.; Restoration: Jbarta |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 22:
The comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) is found in temperate areas of Europe and Asia and is named after a white 'C' shape on the underside of the wings resembling a comma. The wings have a distinctive ragged edge, apparently a cryptic form as the butterfly resembles a fallen leaf. Photo: Quartl |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 29:
Three types of nail clippers, used to cut finger- and toenails as part of grooming. The left cutter is in the plier style, while the centre and right ones are in the compound lever style. Photograph: Evan-Amos |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 28:
Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556, depicted in 1545) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of three monarchs. Ascending to power during the reign of Henry VIII, under Edward VI he was able to promote a series of reforms in the Church of England. He was executed for treason under Mary I. Painting: Gerlach Flicke |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 30:
The White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae, shown in non-breeding plumage) is a relatively small heron that is common throughout most of Australasia. First described by John Latham in 1790, adults range in size from 60 to 70 centimetres (24 to 28 in) in length. Photograph: JJ Harrison |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 31:
An Antonov An-124 belonging to Polet Airlines on final approach to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia. The An-124 was designed for strategic lift capability and remains the third-largest operating cargo aircraft. Photograph: Sergey Kustov |
Wikipedia picture of the day for February 1:
A view from the path to the base camp of Nanga Parbat, in Pakistan. With a summit elevation of 8,126 metres (26,660 ft), the mountain is the ninth-highest in the world. It was first climbed in 1953. Photograph: Waqas Usman |
Wikipedia picture of the day for February 1:
A view from the path to the base camp of Nanga Parbat, in Pakistan. With a summit elevation of 8,126 metres (26,660 ft), the mountain is the ninth-highest in the world. It was first climbed in 1953. Photograph: Waqas Usman |
Wikipedia picture of the day for January 31:
An Antonov An-124 belonging to Polet Airlines on final approach to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia. The An-124 was designed for strategic lift capability and remains the third-largest operating cargo aircraft. Photograph: Sergey Kustov |
Wikipedia picture of the day for February 2:
American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham with his puppet "Achmed the Dead Terrorist". Dunham, whose puppets Time magazine has described as "politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill tempered", uses Achmed to satirize terrorists. Photograph: Richard Mclaren |
Wikipedia picture of the day for February 3:
A campaign poster from the National Union Party during the US election of 1864, showing presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln (left) and his running-mate Andrew Johnson. The Republican Party changed its name and selected Johnson, a former Democrat, to draw support from War Democrats during the Civil War. Lithograph: Currier and Ives, Restoration: Lise Broer |
Wikipedia picture of the day for February 4:
Hurricane Bob, the first hurricane of the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season and the only one to make landfall on the contiguous United States, as it approaches New England. The Category 3 storm killed 17 people and caused $1.5 billion in damage. Photo: NOAA / Satellite and Information Service |
DealBook: U.S. and States Prepare to Sue S.&P. Over Mortgage Ratings: The Justice Department and state prosecutors plan to file civil charges against Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service, accusing the firm of fraudulently rating mortgage bonds that led to the financial crisis, people briefed on the plan said.![]()
John Kerry starts first day at State Department with a confession: John Kerry, America’s new Secretary of State, confessed that he had once
almost created a diplomatic incident when he tried...
