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Picture of the day archives

2004: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2006: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2009: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2010: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2011: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2012: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2013: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2015: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2016: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2017: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2018: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2019: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2020: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2021: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2022: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2023: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2024: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2025: January February March April May June July August September October November December

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.Purge server cache


November 4

The Abduction of Europa

The Abduction of Europa is a 1632 oil-on-panel painting by Rembrandt. One of his rare mythological works, it was inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, part of which tells the tale of Zeus's seduction and capture of Europa. The painting shows a coastal scene with Europa being carried away in rough waters by Zeus in the form of a bull while her friends remain on shore with expressions of horror. The use of an ancient myth to impart a contemporary thought and his portrayal of the scene using the High Baroque style are two strong aspects of the work. It was also influenced by Titian's painting of the same subject 70 years earlier, although there are significant differences; Rembrandt's painting is less violent in nature than Titian's. The Abduction of Europa is now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum in New York City.

Painting credit: Rembrandt

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November 3

Coconut

The coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family, Arecaceae. Originally native to the Central Indo-Pacific, in the regions of Maritime Southeast Asia and Melanesia, coconuts are now found across the world due to human cultivation and dispersal. They are normally cultivated in hot and wet tropical climates. The term coconut also commonly refers to the seed and fruit of the coconut tree, which is botanically a drupe. The fruit has three layers including an edible white, fleshy endosperm and is filled with a liquid known as coconut water. The coconut thus played a critical role in the migration of Austronesian peoples across the Indian Ocean, as it provided a portable source of both food and water for long sea voyages. In modern times coconuts are used extensively in cooking and cuisine, using the raw flesh, the water or in alternative forms such as coconut milk and coconut butter. These coconuts, one whole and one halved, were grown in the Dominican Republic; this photograph was focus-stacked from 19 separate images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus


November 2

Mauritius kestrel

The Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus) is a bird of prey from 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 cm (10.2 and 12.0 in), with a mass of up to 250 g (8.8 oz) and rounded wings with a span of approximately 45 cm (18 in). 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. This Mauritius kestrel was photographed in the Ebony Forest reserve near Chamarel, Mauritius.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp


November 1

Diwali

Diwali is a five-day Hindu festival of lights which symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness and good over evil. It commemorates the day when Hindu god Rama, along with his wife-consort Sita and brother Lakshmana, returned to his kingdom of Ayodhya after defeating demon-king Ravana and following 14 years of exile. Celebrations peak on the night of the third day of the festival—the main day of Diwali, which is today—marking the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar calendar. People celebrate on this day by lighting traditional lamps (diyas) and candles. Pictured here is a woman lighting candles on Diwali.

Photograph credit: AjoyDutta1997; edited by Aristeas


October 31

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a German silent horror film, first released in 1920. Directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, it is considered to be the quintessential work of German Expressionist cinema, and tells the story of an insane hypnotist (Werner Krauss) who uses a somnambulist (Conrad Veidt) to commit murders. The film features a dark and twisted visual style. The sets have sharp-pointed forms, oblique and curving lines, and structures that lean and twist in unusual angles. The film's design team, Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Röhrig, recommended a fantastic, graphic style over a naturalistic one. With a violent and insane authority figure as its antagonist, the film expresses the theme of brutal and irrational authority. Considered a classic, it helped draw worldwide attention to the artistic merit of German cinema and had a major influence on American films, particularly in the genres of horror and film noir.

Film credit: Robert Wiene


October 30

Anna Bartels

Anna Bartels (1869–1950) was a Swedish operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano. She made her debut at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1897 in the title role of Friedrich von Flotow's Martha. Engaged by the company for the next 20 years, she appeared in many Swedish premieres, such as Musette in Puccini's La bohème (1901), Marianne in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (1920) and La Ciesca in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (1920). Other works in which she appeared include The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and Carmen. Bartels is also remembered for her appearances in concerts and lieder recitals. She was awarded the Litteris et Artibus medal in 1923 for her contributions to Swedish culture. This 1901 photograph by the Swedish photographer Ferdinand Flodin shows Bartels in her role as Musette.

Photograph credit: Ferdinand Flodin; restored by Adam Cuerden

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October 29

A yak in a mountainous landscape looking at the camera over a body of water

The yak (Bos grunniens) is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle in the family Bovidae. It is found throughout the Himalayas in Pakistan, India, the Tibetan Plateau of China, Tajikistan, and as far north as Mongolia and Siberia, Russia. Yak physiology is well adapted to high altitudes and cold weather, featuring larger lungs and heart than other cattle, a greater capacity for transporting oxygen through their blood and a thick layer of subcutaneous fat. Yaks have been domesticated in areas such as Mongolia and Tibet, primarily for their fibre, milk and meat, and as beasts of burden. Yaks' milk is often processed to a cheese called chhurpi in the Tibetan and Nepali languages, and byaslag in Mongolia, while butter made from yaks' milk is an ingredient of Tibetan butter tea. This yak was photographed near the river Chuya in the Altai Republic, a region in southern Siberia.

Photograph credit: Alexandr Frolov


October 28

Le roi d'Ys

Le roi d'Ys is an opera in three acts by the French composer Édouard Lalo, to a libretto by Édouard Blau. It is based on the old Breton legend of the drowned city of Ys, which was according to the legend the capital of the kingdom of Cornouaille. The opera includes a noteworthy aubade for tenor in act 3, titled "Vainement, ma bien-aimée" (In vain, my beloved). Le roi d'Ys premiered on 7 May 1888 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, in a production by the Opéra-Comique. Within France, the opera was regarded as Lalo's most recognized work. This poster was produced by Auguste François-Marie Gorguet for the 1888 premiere of Le roi d'Ys, and depicts the final scene of the opera.

Poster credit: Auguste François-Marie Gorguet; restored by Adam Cuerden


October 27

Acer negundo

Acer negundo, also known as the box elder, is a species of maple in the family Sapindaceae, native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, ash-like compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or invasive species, and has been naturalized throughout much of the world. It grows up to 10 to 25 metres (35 to 80 feet) tall, with a trunk diameter of 30 to 50 centimetres (12 to 20 inches). Male and female flowers appear on separate plants, with flowers on male plants generally appearing in clusters of four and flowers on female plants appearing as a raceme. These flowers of a female A. negundo plant were photographed in Keila, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus


October 26

Greater white-fronted goose

The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is a species of goose in the family Anatidae. It is closely related to the lesser white-fronted goose, which is smaller. The greater white-fronted goose is migratory, breeding in northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia, and winters farther south in North America, Europe and Asia. The greater white-fronted goose has a length of 64 to 81 cm (25 to 32 in), a wingspan of 130 to 165 cm (51 to 65 in), and a mass of 1.93 to 3.31 kg (4 lb 4 oz to 7 lb 5 oz). Males are typically larger in size, and both sexes are similar in appearance – greyish brown with light grey breasts dappled with dark brown to black blotches and bars. Both males and females also have a pinkish bill, and orange legs and feet. This greater white-fronted goose was photographed in flight in the Central Valley of the US state of California.

Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg


October 25

USS Johnston

USS Johnston was a Fletcher-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant John V. Johnston, a navy officer during the American Civil War. The ship was laid down in May 1942 and was launched in March 1943, entering active duty later that year as part of the US Pacific Fleet. Johnston provided naval gunfire support for American ground forces during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in 1944 and again, after three months of patrol and escort duty in the Solomon Islands, during the recapture of Guam in July. Thereafter, Johnston was tasked with escorting escort carriers during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the liberation of the Philippines. On 25 October 1944, Johnston and various other ships were engaged by a large Imperial Japanese Navy flotilla, in what became known as the Battle off Samar. After engaging several Japanese capital ships and a destroyer squadron, Johnston was sunk with 187 dead. Johnston's wreck was discovered in 2019, and at a depth of more than 20,000 feet (6,100 m) below the surface, is one of the deepest shipwrecks ever surveyed. This photograph shows Johnston in Seattle in October 1943.

Photograph credit: unidentified US Navy photographer; restored by Adam Cuerden and Cobatfor


October 24

Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut

The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut is a mortuary temple built during the reign of Hatshepsut, a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, around the 15th century BC. Located opposite the city of Luxor, the temple's three terraces rise above the desert floor and into the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari. Hatshepsut's tomb lies inside the same massif, capped by El Qurn, a pyramid for her mortuary complex. At the edge of the desert, one kilometre (0.6 miles) east, connected to the complex by a causeway lies the accompanying valley temple. Across the river Nile, the whole structure points towards the monumental Eighth Pylon, Hatshepsut's most recognizable addition to the temple of Karnak. The temple's twin functions are identified by its axes: its main east–west axis served to receive the barque of Amun-Re at the climax of the festival, while its north–south axis represented the life cycle of the pharaoh from coronation to rebirth. This aerial photograph shows the reconstructed mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, viewed from the southeast.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso


October 23

Hairy dragonfly

The hairy dragonfly (Brachytron pratense) is a species of European dragonfly in the hawker family, Aeshnidae. It is found in Europe and Asia Minor, as far east as the Caspian Sea, and resides close to water bodies containing plants with a flight season running from May to July. The hairy dragonfly is named for its hairy thorax, distinguishing it from other hawkers. With a typical length of around 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in), it has a long, narrow pterostigma and features coupled, oval-shaped markings on its abdomen, blue on males and yellow on females. This male hairy dragonfly on a fern was photographed in Burren National Park, County Clare, Ireland.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp


October 22

Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso

Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970) was a Scottish politician and leader of the Liberal Party. After an education at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Sinclair served on the Western Front during the First World War, rising to the rank of Major and working under J. E. B. Seely and Winston Churchill. After the war he worked with Churchill again when the latter was Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for the Colonies. Sinclair entered the House of Commons as a Liberal MP in 1922, rising to become the party's Chief Whip by 1930. When the Liberal Party joined the National Government of Ramsay MacDonald in 1931, Sinclair was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, holding the post until his party resigned from the government in 1932. He took over as Liberal Party leader in 1935 after incumbent Herbert Samuel lost his seat in the election. Sinclair returned to government as Secretary of State for Air in 1940, under Churchill's all-party Second World War coalition government. In this role he worked with the Royal Air Force (RAF) to plan the Battle of Britain. Sinclair remained a minister until the end of the coalition in 1945, but then lost his seat in the 1945 general election. He was elevated to the House of Lords in 1952. This portrait of Sinclair was taken by the RAF official photographer during the Second World War.

Photograph credit: Royal Air Force official photographer


October 21

X-ray

X-rays are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, with wavelengths shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays – roughly in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometres. X-rays were discovered by German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, who named them X-radiation to signify an unknown type of radiation. X-rays can penetrate many solid substances such as construction materials and living tissue, and X-ray radiography is widely used in medical diagnostics. This medical significance was noticed by Röntgen shortly after he discovered X-rays; this print, titled Hand mit Ringen (Hand with Rings), is a print of his first medical X-ray, taken of his wife Anna Bertha Ludwig's hand in December 1895.

Print credit: Wilhelm Röntgen; restored by Yann Forget


October 20

House sparrow

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. Originally native to Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and a large part of Asia, it is now found in most parts of the world and is the most widely distributed wild bird. It is closely associated with human habitation and resides in both urban and rural areas. The house sparrow is a small bird with a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a mass of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. It is sometimes considered a pest but is also sometimes kept as a pet or used as a food item. This male house sparrow was photographed in Prospect Park, New York City, New York.

Photograph credit: Rhododendrites


October 19

Extremely Large Telescope

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is an astronomical observatory under construction. Part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) agency, it is located on top of Cerro Armazones in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The project was proposed in 2011 with construction beginning in 2017. Completion and first light is anticipated to take place in 2028. The ELT's design consists of a reflecting telescope with a 39.3-metre-diameter (130-foot) segmented primary mirror and a 4.2 m (14 ft) diameter secondary mirror. When completed, it will be the world's largest optical telescope. This picture shows a schematic view of the ELT, released by the ESO in 2012.

Design credit: European Southern Observatory


October 18

Krishna's Butterball

Krishna's Butterball is a large granite balancing rock that rests on a short incline in the coastal resort town of Mamallapuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is approximately six metres (20 ft) high and five metres (16 ft) wide, with a mass of around 250 tonnes. It is balanced on a slope on top of a 1.2-metre-high (4 ft) plinth that is a naturally eroded hill. Krishna's Butterball is part of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built during the 7th and 8th centuries as Hindu religious monuments by the Pallava dynasty. It is now a popular tourist attraction.

Photograph credit: Timothy A. Gonsalves


October 17

Greenbottle blue tarantula

The greenbottle blue tarantula (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens) is a species of spider in the tarantula family, Theraphosidae. It is native to the Paraguaná Peninsula in the Venezuelan state of Falcón. The spider features metallic blue legs and a blue-green carapace, which give it its name. They are very active and fast-growing animals that are particularly attractive to hobbyists. This mounted greenbottle blue tarantula female is part of the collection of the Muséum de Toulouse in France.

Photograph credit: Didier Descouens

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October 16

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After completing his education in Ireland and Britain, Wilde became associated with the philosophy of aestheticism and then settled in London. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, including plays, poems and lectures, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s, with works including Salome (1891), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). He also wrote his sole novel The Picture of Dorian Gray around this time. At the height of his fame and success, Wilde prosecuted the Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men; he was convicted and jailed from 1895 to 1897. After his release, he spent his last three years impoverished and in exile in France before his death from meningitis. His last works included De Profundis (published posthumously in 1905), a letter discussing his spiritual journey through his trials, and The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a poem about the harsh rhythms of prison life.

Photograph credit: Napoleon Sarony; restored by Adam Cuerden

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October 15

Wheat Fields

Wheat Fields is a series of dozens of paintings by the Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh, borne out of his religious studies and sermons, connection to nature, appreciation of manual laborers and desire to provide a means of offering comfort to others. The series includes this 1890 oil-on-canvas landscape, painted at Auvers-sur-Oise and titled Wheatfield with Cornflowers, now in the collection of the Beyeler Foundation in Riehen, Switzerland.

Painting credit: Vincent van Gogh

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October 14

White stork

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on its wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average 100 to 115 centimetres (39 to 45 inches) from the beak tip to the end of the tail, with a wingspan of 155 to 215 centimetres (61 to 85 inches). It is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. A carnivore, it eats a wide range of animal prey, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and small birds. This white stork in flight was photographed in Andalusia, Spain, carrying a piece of plastic. It is fitted with a wildlife transmitter on its back.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp


October 13

Art Tatum

Art Tatum (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American pianist, widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz performers in history. Born in Toledo, Ohio, he began playing the piano professionally and hosting a nationwide radio program while in his teens. He left Toledo in 1932 and had residencies as a solo pianist at clubs in major urban centers including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In that decade, he settled into a pattern he followed for most of his career – paid performances followed by long after-hours playing, all accompanied by prodigious consumption of alcohol. In the 1940s, Tatum led a commercially successful trio for a short time and began playing in more formal jazz concert settings, including at Norman Granz-produced Jazz at the Philharmonic events. His popularity diminished towards the end of the decade, as he continued to play in his own style, ignoring the rise of bebop. Granz recorded Tatum extensively in solo and small group formats in the mid-1950s, with the last session only two months before Tatum's death from uremia at the age of 47. This photograph by William P. Gottlieb shows Tatum playing the piano in the Vogue Room in New York City sometime in the late 1940s.

Photograph credit: William P. Gottlieb


October 12

Europa Clipper commemorative vault plate, etched with waveforms of the word "water"

Europa Clipper is a space probe developed by NASA and scheduled for launch in October 2024. The largest spacecraft NASA has built for a planetary mission, Europa Clipper is designed to study Jupiter's moon Europa through a series of flybys while in orbit around Jupiter, with the goals of exploring Europa, investigating its habitability, and aiding in the selection of a landing site for the future Europa Lander. It is expected to reach its destination in 2030. This photograph shows a commemorative plate, 7 by 11 inches (18 by 28 centimeters) in size and made of tantalum, that is attached to the outside of the space probe to seal an entrance to a vault designed to protect the electronics from Jupiter's radiation. The outer face of the plate, pictured here, is etched with waveforms of audio recordings of the word water translated into 103 languages, radiating outwards from a representation of the American Sign Language sign for the same word. The inner face of the plate features a work by the American poet Ada Limón.

Photograph credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech; photographed by Ryan Lannom


October 11

Goniobranchus kuniei

Goniobranchus kuniei is a mollusc species in the family Chromodorididae, often classified as a sea slug. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean including Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and the French territory of New Caledonia. It has a body length of up to 40 mm and features a pattern of blue spots with pale blue haloes on a creamy mantle. The mantle has a double border of purple and blue. This G. kuniei individual was photographed in Wakatobi National Park, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Photograph credit: q phia; retouched by Christian Ferrer


October 10

Silver certificates

Silver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 1878 and 1964 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Coinage Act of 1873, which had effectively placed the United States on a gold standard. Since 1968 they have been redeemable only in Federal Reserve Notes and are thus obsolete, but they remain legal tender at their face value and hence are still an accepted form of currency. These are three banknotes from the 1934 series of silver certificates, designed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and comprising the denominations $1, $5 and $10. Each banknote bears a portrait of a different individual, identified above.

Banknote design credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing

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October 9

Li Fu Lee

Li Fu Lee (1904–1985) was a Chinese engineer and teacher who in 1925 became the first Chinese woman to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She majored in electrical engineering, a course which some undergraduates at the time described as the most difficult major. She was one of the 25 women who graduated from MIT in 1929 and one of the first women to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at MIT. After graduating, Lee returned to China, where she became an engineer and taught at university. She fled with her family to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War and later returned to the United States, residing in Chicago. This 1925 photograph shows Lee at MIT's radio experiment station.

Photograph credit: Underwood & Underwood; restored by Adam Cuerden


October 8

Common blackbird

The common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush. It breeds in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It has several subspecies across its large range; a few of the Asian subspecies are sometimes considered to be full species. Depending on latitude, the common blackbird may be resident, partially migratory, or fully migratory. The male of the nominate subspecies, which is found throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and bill and has a rich, melodious song; the adult female and juvenile have mainly dark brown plumage. The species breeds in woods and gardens, building a neat, mud-lined, cup-shaped nest. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits. This common and conspicuous bird has given rise to many literary and cultural references, frequently related to its song. This female common blackbird, of the subspecies T. m. mauritanicus, was photographed in the Souss-Massa National Park, Morocco.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp


October 7

Iolanthe

Iolanthe is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed in 1882 as the seventh Gilbert and Sullivan operatic collaboration, it tells the story of Iolanthe, a fairy banished from fairyland because she married a mortal. Her son Strephon, half a fairy, loves Phyllis, whom all the members of the House of Peers wish to marry. Phyllis sees Strephon embracing Iolanthe (as fairies never age, she appears to be seventeen) and assumes that he is unfaithful, not realizing that Iolanthe is his mother, setting off a climactic confrontation between the peers and the fairies. The opera satirises many aspects of British government, law and society. Iolanthe was the first new theatre production in the world to be illuminated entirely by electric lights. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre and ran there for 398 performances, with a simultaneous production in New York. It is still played throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. This poster by H. M. Brock was produced for an early-20th-century tour production of Iolanthe by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

Poster credit: H. M. Brock; restored by Adam Cuerden


October 6

Juniper berry

A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by various species of junipers. It is used as a flavoring agent in northern European and Scandinavian cuisine for meat dishes. Juniper is used to flavor gin, a liquor developed in the 17th century in the Netherlands. Juniper berries are among the only spices derived from conifers, along with spruce buds. This photograph shows foliage and cones of Juniperus communis, the common juniper, in Keila, Estonia. This picture was focus-stacked from 55 separate images.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus


Picture of the day archives and future dates

2004: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2006: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2009: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2010: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2011: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2012: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2013: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2015: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2016: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2017: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2018: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2019: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2020: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2021: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2022: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2023: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2024: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2025: January February March April May June July August September October November December