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Featured picture tools: |
These featured pictures, as scheduled below, appeared as the picture of the day (POTD) on the English Wikipedia's Main Page in September 2016. Individual sections for each day on this page can be linked to with the day number as the anchor name (e.g. [[Wikipedia:Picture of the day/September 2016#1]] for September 1).
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
September 1
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A time lapse video showing one rotation of the Falkirk Wheel; in this video, the rotation period of approximately 10 minutes has been compressed to ten seconds. Connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal near Falkirk, Scotland, the rotating boat lift raises and lowers boats by 24 m (79 ft). It was opened in 2002 as part of the Millennium Link project. Video: David Iliff
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September 2
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The ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console released by Coleco Industries in August 1982. It offered more powerful hardware than competitors, along with the means to expand the system's basic hardware. Its library of games consisted of approximately 145 titles, including Nintendo's Donkey Kong and Sega's Zaxxon. ColecoVision was retired in 1985. Photograph: Evan Amos
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September 3
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The Great Day of His Wrath is an 1851–1853 oil painting on canvas by the English painter John Martin. It has variously been described as showing the "destruction of Babylon and the material world by natural cataclysm" (as a response to the emerging industrial scene of London), "the collapse of Edinburgh in Scotland", and a portion of the Biblical Book of Revelation. The painting is held by Tate Britain in London. Painting: John Martin
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September 4
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A one peso banknote from the United States of Venezuela, dated 27 August 1811, less than two months after the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence from Spain. This was the first national issue of Venezuelan paper currency. Banknote: Venezuelan Government; image courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection
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September 5
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Plum Park in Kameido is a woodblock print in the ukiyo-e genre by the Japanese artist Hiroshige. It was published in 1857 as the thirtieth print in the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo series and depicts Prunus mume trees in bloom. Popular prints such as Plum Park in Kameido were produced in the tens of thousands at a low individual cost. After the opening up of Japan in 1853, they found a following in Europe, where they had a significant influence on the Impressionist artists such as Vincent van Gogh. See Van Gogh's derivative version Print: Hiroshige
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Flowering Plum Tree (after Hiroshige), a copy of the ukiyo-e woodblock print Plum Park in Kameido by the Japanese artist Hiroshige. Completed in 1887, this painting is one of several Japanese-influenced works created by Vincent van Gogh after the opening up of Japan. In his copy, van Gogh ignored the shading present in the trunk and background of Hiroshige's image, which there implied age, and instead used colours with more "passion" and "youthfulness". See Hiroshige's original version Painting: Vincent van Gogh, after Hiroshige
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September 6
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Viborg Katedralskole is a public gymnasium (secondary school) in Viborg, Denmark, which supports about 1000 students. Established around 1060 as a Catholic seminary, the school was male-only until 1904. The present school building, which was designed by Hack Kampmann and began construction in 1922, has a Neoclassical exterior and a Scandinavian modern interior. Photograph: Slaunger
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September 7
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The Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection is a projection used for mapping a sphere to a disk. It accurately represents area in all regions of the sphere, but it does not accurately represent angles. It is used in scientific disciplines such as geology for plotting the orientations of lines in three-dimensional space, and by the National Atlas of the US in its online map-making application. Map: Strebe, using Geocart
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September 8
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The NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise at the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with cast members from Star Trek and NASA staff in 1976. Shown, from left to right, are: James C. Fletcher (NASA Administrator), DeForest Kelley (Dr. "Bones" McCoy), George Takei (Hikaru Sulu), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Nichelle Nichols (Nyota Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek creator), an unnamed official, and Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov). The naming of the space shuttle after Star Trek's lead ship is only part of the series' extensive cultural influence. The first American series to feature an interracial cast, it drew public interest to space travel, birthed a new language, and spawned five successor series, thirteen movies, a plethora of merchandise, and a multi-billion dollar industry. Photograph: NASA
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September 9
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The great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It breeds in much of the Old World and the Atlantic coast of North America. It can dive to considerable depths, but often feeds in shallow water. It frequently brings its prey, mostly fish, to the surface. Photograph: JJ Harrison |
September 10
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Alexander the Great (356–323 BC), the King of Macedonia, as depicted in a detail from the Alexander Mosaic. Originally from the House of the Faun in Pompeii and dated to c. 100 BC, the mosaic depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. It is believed to be a copy of an early 3rd century BC Hellenistic painting, probably by Philoxenos of Eretria. The whole mosaic measures 2.72 × 5.13 m (8 ft 11 in × 16 ft 9 in). Mosaic: Unknown |
September 11
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The World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It featured landmark twin towers, which opened on April 4, 1973, and were the tallest buildings in the world. The other five buildings were completed between 1975 and 1985. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the twin towers in a coordinated act of terrorism. After burning for 56 minutes, the South Tower collapsed, followed 29 minutes later by the North Tower. Falling debris and fires led to the partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the complex and caused catastrophic damage to surrounding structures. The attacks killed 2,606 people in and around the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. Photograph: Carol M. Highsmith; edit: Soerfm |
September 12
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The Death of Socrates is a 1787 oil-on-canvas painting by the French painter Jacques-Louis David depicting the story of the execution of Socrates, as told by Plato in his Phaedo. The painting is now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Painting: Jacques-Louis David
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September 13
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The ceiling and lantern of Ely Cathedral, an Anglican church in Cambridgeshire, England. First built in 1083, it is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The central octagon, described by Nikolaus Pevsner as Ely's "greatest individual achievement of architectural genius", was built in the 14th century following the collapse of the Norman central crossing tower. The central lantern, which is also octagonal in form, has panels which can be opened to allow access from the octagon roof-space. Photograph: David Iliff
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September 14
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The lesser whistling duck (Dendrocygna javanica) is a species of whistling duck that breeds in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are nocturnal feeders and during the day may be found in flocks around lakes and wet paddy fields. They can perch on trees and sometimes build their nest in the hollow of a tree. This brown and long-necked duck has broad wings that are visible in flight and produces a loud two-note wheezy call. Photograph: JJ Harrison
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September 15
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Flaming June is a painting by Sir Frederic Leighton created in 1895. Painted with oil paints on a 47-by-47-inch (1,200 mm × 1,200 mm) square canvas, it is considered to be Leighton's magnum opus, showing his classicist nature. It has been interpreted as alluding to the figures of sleeping nymphs and naiads, with the toxic oleander branch in the top right symbolizing the fragile link between sleep and death. The painting is held by the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Painting: Frederic Leighton
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September 16
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Samuel D. Ingham (1779–1860) was a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Andrew Jackson. Born near New Hope, Pennsylvania, Ingham was a paper maker by trade. Ingham entered politics as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1806 to 1808, eventually being made United States Secretary of the Treasury in 1829. Controversy over the Second Bank of the United States overshadowed his term, and much of Ingham's time was spent unsuccessfully attempting to resolve conflict between President Jackson and the Bank's president, Nicholas Biddle. In 1831 Ingham resigned in protest during the Petticoat affair. Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew Shiva
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September 17
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Lilium bulbiferum is a herbaceous European lily with underground bulbs, belonging to the Liliaceae. It reaches an average height of 20–90 centimetres (7.9–35.4 in), with bulbs that can reach about 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) of diameter. L. bulbiferum has two varieties, L. bulbiferum var. croceum and L. bulbiferum var. bulbiferum; only the latter always produces secondary aerial bulbs. Photograph: Uoaei1
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September 18
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Bothriechis schlegelii is a venomous pit viper species found in Central and South America. Small and arboreal, these snakes are characterized by their wide array of color variations, as well as the superciliary scales over the eyes. They are the most common of the palm-pitvipers and are often present in zoological exhibits. The specific name schlegelii honors the German ornithologist, Hermann Schlegel. No subspecies are currently recognized. Photograph: Geoff Gallice
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September 19
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Sunita Williams (b. 1965) is an American astronaut and United States Navy officer of Indian-Slovenian descent. Born in Euclid, Ohio, Williams joined the Navy in 1987 and was designated a naval aviator two years later. Before being selected for astronaut training in 1998, she was deployed to the Gulf War and in hurricane relief efforts. Williams was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33. Since 2015 she has been involved in the Commercial Crew Development program. Williams holds the records for total spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes). Photograph: NASA
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September 20
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Woman Holding a Balance is an oil painting by Dutch Baroque artist Johannes Vermeer. Opinions on the theme and symbolism of the painting differ, with the woman alternatively viewed as a symbol of holiness or earthliness. The woman's actions have likewise been interpreted in several ways; at one time the painting, completed 1662–63, was known as Woman Weighing Gold, but closer evaluation has determined that the balance in her hand is empty. The painting is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Painting: Johannes Vermeer
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September 21
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The Lambert conformal conic projection is a conic map projection used for aeronautical charts, portions of the State Plane Coordinate System, and many national and regional mapping systems. It is one of seven projections introduced by Johann Heinrich Lambert in 1772. Conceptually, the projection seats a cone over the sphere of the Earth and projects the surface conformally onto the cone. The cone is unrolled, and the parallel that was touching the sphere is assigned unit scale. By scaling the resulting map, two parallels can be assigned unit scale, with scale decreasing between them and increasing outside them. Unlike other conic projections, no true secant form of this projection exists. Map: Strebe, using Geocart
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September 22
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Card money, printed on plain cardboard or playing cards, was issued from the 17th to the 19th century to supplement the supply of money in several countries and colonies. This playing card from Dutch Guiana (now Suriname), dated 1801, has a face value of one guilder. In that colony, card money was first issued in 1761, initially backed by bills of exchange from the Netherlands; but later it was released unsecured, and inflation was an issue for much of the currency's lifetime, with the value fluctuating wildly until it was replaced with paper money in 1826 and formally discontinued two years later. Card: Government of Dutch Guiana; image courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection
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September 23
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Henri Frenay (1905–1988) was a French military officer and French Resistance member. Born in Lyon, Frenay joined the Army and reached the rank of captain in 1934. In World War II, after being captured by and escaping Nazi German forces, he formed the French Resistance group Mouvement de Libération Nationale. Before the end of the war, Frenay edited underground newspapers, helped establish the Combat group, and participated in the forming of the Conseil National de la Résistance. Photograph: Maurice Frink/Psychological Warfare Branch; restoration: Christoph Braun
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September 24
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The Monroe Street Bridge is a deck arch bridge that spans the Spokane River in Spokane, Washington. It was built in 1911 by the city of Spokane and designed by John Chester Ralston, with ornamentation provided by the firm of Kirtland Kelsey Cutter and Karl Malmgren. At the time of completion, it was the largest concrete-arch bridge in the United States and the third longest in the world. Photograph: W.O. Reed; restoration: Lise Broer
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September 25
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A front view of a Sony α 77 II A-mount camera fitted with a Sony DT 16-50mm F2.8 SSM kit lens and photographed using low-key lighting. The Sony α77 II is an interchangeable-lens camera aimed at advanced amateur photographers. It replaced the Sony Alpha 77 model, with which it shares many design features, in June 2014. The camera features a SLT transparent mirror, an electronic viewfinder, in-body image stabilization, and a resolution of 24 megapixels. Photograph: Colin
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A rear view of a Sony α 77 II A-mount camera photographed using low-key lighting. The Sony α77 II is an interchangeable-lens camera aimed at advanced amateur photographers. It replaced the Sony Alpha 77 model, with which it shares many design features, in June 2014. The camera features a SLT transparent mirror, an electronic viewfinder, in-body image stabilization, and a resolution of 24 megapixels. Photograph: Colin
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A top view of a Sony α 77 II A-mount camera fitted with a Sony DT 16-50mm F2.8 SSM kit lens and photographed using low-key lighting. The Sony α77 II is an interchangeable-lens camera aimed at advanced amateur photographers. It replaced the Sony Alpha 77 model, with which it shares many design features, in June 2014. The camera features a SLT transparent mirror, an electronic viewfinder, in-body image stabilization, and a resolution of 24 megapixels. Photograph: Colin
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September 26
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Daniel in the Lions' Den is a 1615 painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Based on Daniel 6:1–28, it depicts the Biblical figure Daniel trapped in a den of lions by King Darius the Mede. Rubens modelled the lions on a Moroccan species, examples of which were then in the Spanish governor's menagerie in Brussels. Painting: Peter Paul Rubens
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September 27
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The Mystery of the Leaping Fish is a 1916 American short silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love, and Alma Rubens. Directed by John Emerson, the story – a comedy which focused on "Coke Ennyday", a cocaine-using detective who is a parody of Sherlock Holmes – was written by Tod Browning with intertitles by Anita Loos. A 35 mm print of the film exists in its entirety and is in the public domain. Film: John Emerson
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September 28
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The Biham–Middleton–Levine traffic model for a 144 x 89 lattice, with a traffic density of 39%. The model has self-organized to a disordered intermediate phase. The red cars and blue cars take turns to move; the red ones only move rightwards, and the blue ones move downwards. Every time, all the cars of the same colour try to move one step if there is no car in front. This video has been sped up such that only one in four frames is shown. See the periodic intermediate phase Film: Dllu
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The Biham–Middleton–Levine traffic model for a 144 x 89 lattice, with a traffic density of 38%. The model has self-organized to a periodic intermediate phase. The red cars and blue cars take turns to move; the red ones only move rightwards, and the blue ones move downwards. Every time, all the cars of the same colour try to move one step if there is no car in front. This video has been sped up such that only one in four frames is shown. See the disordered intermediate phase Film: Dllu
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September 29
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Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine. It is also home to the Dôme des Invalides, a large church where some of France's war heroes, including Napoleon Bonaparte, are buried. Photograph: DXR |
September 30
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Laura is a painting completed by the Italian Renaissance master Giorgione in c. 1506. It has been variously identified as a young bride or a courtesan. The painting hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. Painting: Giorgione
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