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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 August 2005.
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
August 1
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Highgate Cemetery, located in Highgate, London, England, was opened in 1839 as part of an initiative to provide seven large, modern cemeteries in a ring round the outside of London. Highgate was a fashionable place for burials. The Victorian attitude to death and its presentation led to the creation of a wealth of Gothic tombs and buildings. Photo credit: Michael Reeve |
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August 2
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The American Eskimo Dog is a breed of companion dog originating in the United States (probably in New York City) in the twentieth century. It is derived from the German Spitz, the Finnish Spitz, and almost certainly the Pomeranian and Keeshond. The spitz family of Nordic dogs is one of the least altered by human husbandry and reflects most nearly the prototypical dog, from which stock all others have been derived. Archeology suggests that Neolithic dogs living with humans would today pass for spitzes. Photo credit: Robert Southworth |
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August 3
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Exploded view of an Enigma rotor. The Enigma was a small, portable electro-mechanical rotor machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. Key: (1) notched ring; (2) marking dot for "A" contact; (3) alphabet tyre; (4) plate contacts; (5) wire connections; (6) pin contacts; (7) spring-loaded ring adjusting lever; (8) hub; (9) finger wheel; (10) ratchet. Illustration credit: Eric Pierce |
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August 4
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In photography, the f-number (focal ratio) expresses the diameter of the diaphragm aperture in terms of the effective focal length of the lens. The diaphragm aperture diameter is proportional to the focal length divided by the f-number. The greater the f-number, the greater the depth of field and the less light per unit area reaches the focal plane. The standard sequence of f-stops on a camera lens represent a halving of the light intensity at each step. Photo credit: MarkSweep |
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August 5
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Perito-Moreno glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, and second only to the oceans as the largest reservoir of total water. Glaciers are found on every continent except Australia. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah |
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August 6
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The typical anatomy of an insect consists of a segmented body supported by an exoskeleton, and a hard outer covering made mostly of chitin. The body is divided into three sections: A head, B thorax, and C abdomen. The head supports a pair of sensory antennae, compound eyes, and a mouth. The thorax has six legs (one pair per segment) and wings (if present). The abdomen has excretory and reproductive structures. Image credit: PioM |
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August 7
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A wildfire, sometimes known as a forest fire, is an uncontrolled fire in wildland often caused by lightning, human carelessness or arson. Ecologists today consider wildfires part of wildland ecosystem. Some plants have evolved to survive fires. Fire tolerant traits in some plants, when their habitat is exposed to fire, allow them to gain dominance over less fire-tolerant species. Photo credit: John McColgan, US Forest Service |
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August 8
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The space suit used by David Scott on the lunar surface during the Apollo 15 mission. A spacesuit is a complex system of garments, equipment, and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space. Related preceding technologies include the gas mask used in WWII, the oxygen mask used by pilots of high flying bombers in WWII, the high altitude or vacuum suit required by pilots of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird, the diving suit, rebreather and scuba diving gear. Photo credit: Jawed Karim |
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August 9
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The Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is the most common and well-known dolphin species. It inhabits warm and temperate seas worldwide and may be found in all but the Arctic and the Antarctic Oceans. Photo credit: NASA Kennedy Space Center |
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August 10
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The Mahameru volcano on the island Java in Indonesia. A volcano is a geological landform where magma erupts through the surface of the planet. There are numerous volcanoes on the Solar System's rocky planets and moons. On Earth at least, this phenomenon tends to occur near the boundaries of the continental plates. Photo credit: Jan-Pieter Nap |
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August 11
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Clivia miniata (also known as Kaffir lily) is a species of clivia. It grows in dry, shady areas, and tends to flower red or orange. It contains small amounts of lycorine, making it poisonous. Photo credit: Raul654 |
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August 12
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Osiris is an extrasolar planet that orbits the Sun-like star HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, some 150 light years from Earth's solar system. HD209458 is a 7th magnitude star, visible on Earth with binoculars. The radius of its orbit is only 7 million kilometers, resulting in a year only 3.5 Earth days long and an estimated surface temperature of about 1000°C. Photo credit: NASA/ESA/CNRS |
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August 13
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Succulents are plants that store water in their enlarged fleshy leaves, stems, or roots, as shown in this split aloe leaf. This allows them to survive in arid environments. The enlargement is usually due to the greater amount of the parenchyma tissue. Many succulents have a waxy coating on their stems and leaves, helping them to retain moisture. Having a large internal volume for storage but minimum surface area is also important to prevent dehydration. Photo credit: Raul654 |
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August 14
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German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is an annual plant of the sunflower family Asteraceae. The flowers are borne in paniculate capitula. The white ray florets are furnished with a ligule, while the disc florets are yellow. The hollow receptacle is swollen and lacks scales. The flowers bloom in June and July and have a strong, aromatic smell. Photo credit: Fir0002 |
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August 15
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Pearl Harbor is a complex embayment on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i, west of Honolulu. Originally an extensive, shallow inlet or bay called Wai Momi, meaning "Water of Pearl", or Pu'uloa, by the Hawaiians, Pearl Harbor was regarded as the home of the shark goddess Ka'ahupahau and her brother Kahi'uka. Pearl Harbor is well known for the attack by Japan in 1941 which brought the United States into World War II. Photo credit: NASA |
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August 16
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Terragen is a scenery generator program for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh, that can be used to create renderings and animations of landscapes. It is popular among amateur artists, because of its intuitive interface, its capability to create photorealistic landscapes when used skillfully, and because it is available in a freeware version. The commercial version of the software can generate higher resolution images and has fewer licensing restrictions on the images generated. Photo credit: Fir0002 |
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August 17
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Pitstone Windmill, believed to be the oldest windmill in the British Isles. A windmill is an engine powered by wind energy. In Europe, windmills have been used since the Middle Ages. They were developed from the 12th century, apparently from technology gained by crusaders who came into contact with windmills in the Middle East. Persian sources indicate windmill use as early as the 7th century BC. In the United States, the development of water-pumping windmills was a major factor in allowing the farming of vast areas of North America. Photo credit: Michael Reeve |
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August 18
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The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The manuscript was produced on Lindisfarne in Northumbria in the late 7th century or early 8th century, and is generally regarded as the finest example of the kingdom's unique style of religious art, a style that combined Anglo-Saxon and Celtic themes, what is now called Hiberno-Saxon art. Illustration credit: Eadfrith of Lindisfarne |
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August 19
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An onsen is a Japanese hot spring, often developed as a public bath (sento) or spa. Crucially, the hot water should originate from a volcanic spring. As well as bathing facilities, onsens should include accommodation, extravagant cooking and all manner of relaxing pastimes - massages, aromatherapy, relaxation rooms and comfortable surroundings. Photo credit: Chris 73 |
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August 20
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The Teller-Ulam design is a nuclear weapon design used for megaton-range thermonuclear weapons or hydrogen bombs. It uses a fission bomb as a trigger to ignite a fusion explosion by compressing the fusion fuel with a radiation implosion. It is named after two of its chief contributors, Hungarian physicist Edward Teller and Polish mathematician Stanisław Ulam, who developed the design in 1951. Illustration credit: Fastfission |
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August 21
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The heliosphere is a bubble in space produced by the solar wind, the stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. At some not exactly known distance, far beyond the orbit of Pluto, this supersonic wind slows down to meet the gases in the interstellar medium, producing several shock boundaries. This diagram shows the position of Voyager 1 as it crossed the termination shock and entered the heliosheath at a distance of 94 AU in December 2004. Illustration credit: NASA |
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August 22
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The Mandelbrot set is a fractal that is defined as the set of points in the complex number plane for which with z0 = 0 does not tend to infinity. The Mandelbrot set was first defined by Pierre Fatou in 1905, and first plotted on computer by Benoît Mandelbrot. The color reflects the number of iterations it takes to reach a certain distance from the origin. Illustration credit: Evercat |
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August 23
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The Silver torch cactus is a columnar cactus native to high mountain regions of Bolivia and Argentina. The grey-green columns can grow to a height of 3 m (10 ft) and are densely covered with 4 cm (2 in) long spines. In late summer, the Silver torch produces burgundy flowers which protude horizontally from the columns. In common with other cacti in the genus Cleistocactus, the flowers hardly open, with only the style and stamens protruding. Cultivated plants often flower freely. Photo credit: Raul654 |
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August 24
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The Carolina Anole is a lizard found primarily in the south eastern parts of the United States. It has color-changing abilities, although it is not a chameleon. This lizard can reach a total length of about 22 cm. The male has a pink or red dewlap that extends from his chin. Green Anoles can have a green or a brown body colour, which depends on mood and climate. Photo credit: Pollinator |
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August 25
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Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the Moon during the first human Moon landing. This iconic photograph was taken by Neil Armstrong, Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, from a point near the leg of the Lunar Module Eagle at its landing site on the Sea of Tranquility. Michael Collins, remained with the Command and Service Modules Columbia in lunar orbit, waiting to rendezvous with the Lunar Module for the return journey to Earth. Photo credit: Neil Armstrong, NASA |
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August 26
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The Gyeongbokgung is a palace located in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Along with Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung, it is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the Joseon Dynasty. This dynasty was founded in 1392 by Korean general Yi Seonggye, who overthrew the former kingdom of Goryeo and established the kingdom of Joseon. Photo credit: Kokiri |
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August 27
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Gas metal arc welding is a semi-automatic or automatic arc welding process that uses a welding gun through which a continuous and consumable wire electrode and a shielding gas is fed. A constant voltage, direct current power source is most commonly used with GMAW, but constant current systems, as well as alternating current, can be used. It was originally developed for aluminum in the 1940s, but its high welding speed has led to its use in welding steel, especially in industries such as the automobile industry. Photo credit: William M. Plate Jr., U.S. Air Force |
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August 28
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A mouse is a handheld pointing device for computers, involving a small object shaped to sit naturally under the hand, that can detect its motion relative to a flat surface and usually fitted with one or more buttons. The 2D motion of the mouse is typically translated into the motion of a cursor on the display. The mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Institute in 1963 after extensive usability testing. It was one of several experimental pointing devices developed for Engelbart's oN-Line System. Photo credit: Archive - Nominate new image |
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August 29
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Common clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). The Clownfish are a subfamily of the family Pomacentridae, native to the Pacific Ocean. Clownfish are marked by their behavior of living in a comensual relationship with sea anemones. A school of clownfish is always built into a hierarchy with a female fish at the top. When she dies, the most dominant male changes sex and takes her place. Photo credit: Jan Derk |
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August 30
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The Cannes Film Festival is the world's most prestigious film festival, held in the resort town of Cannes, France, since 1946. The top award given out at Cannes is the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) for the best film. The festival isn't open to the public, but attracts massive media exposure for the many movie stars, directors and producers who attend to promote their new films. Starlets posing for photographers are a part of Cannes folklore. Photo credit: Ericd |
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August 31
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Glass ball from the Vérrerie of Brehat. In its pure form, glass is a transparent, biologically inactive material. Hand blown glassware is popular for its artistry. Some artists in glass include Sidney Waugh, Rene Lalique, Dale Chihuly, and Louis Comfort Tiffany, who were responsible for extraordinary glass objects. The term "crystal glass", derived from rock crystal, has come to denote high-grade colorless glass, often containing lead, and is sometimes applied to any fine hand-blown glass. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah |
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