A monthly archive of the English Wikipedia's pictures of the day
These featured pictures have previously appeared (or will appear) as picture of the day (POTD) on the Main Page, as scheduled below. You can add the automatically updating picture of the day to your userpage or talk page using {{Pic of the day}}
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- December 1
 | The black-chested snake eagle (Circaetus pectoralis) is a large African bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and Beaudouin's snake eagles, to which it is closely related. As well as feeding on snakes, which may be swallowed while still alive, it feeds on lizards, small mammals, frogs and insects. It typically perches in an elevated position ready to swoop silently to capture its prey, before returning to its perch to eat. This picture shows a black-chested snake eagle swallowing a snake, photographed in Awash National Park, Ethiopia. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp |
- December 2
 | Golden Summer, Eaglemont, is an 1889 oil-on-canvas landscape painting by Australian artist Arthur Streeton. Painted en plein air at the height of a summer drought, it depicts a sunlit, undulating plain, stretching away to the distant blue Dandenong Ranges, outside Melbourne. In 1892, it became the first painting by an Australian-born artist to be exhibited at London's Royal Academy of Arts. Regarded as a masterpiece of Australian impressionism, it is currently on display at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, which acquired the painting in 1995 for A$3.5 million, a record price for an Australian painting at that time. Painting credit: Arthur Streeton |
- December 3
- December 4
 | The Creaking Pagoda or Chinese Summer-House is located in Tsarskoye Selo, outside Saint Petersburg, Russia, between two ponds on the boundary separating the Catherine Park of the Baroque Catherine Palace and the New Garden of the neoclassical Alexander Palace's Alexander Park. The pagoda, designed by Georg von Veldten, is a folly that resulted from the 18th-century taste for Chinoiserie. The walls are decorated with figures of dragons and other stylized Chinese motifs. Construction lasted from 1778 to 1786, and the structure was restored from 1954 to 1956. The name of the structure refers to a characteristic sound produced by a metal weathervane, shaped like a banner, on the top of the structure, which creaks when it is turned by the wind. Photograph credit: Andrew Shiva |
- December 5
 |
The Hunting of the Snark is a nonsense poem written by English writer Lewis Carroll between 1874 and 1876. The poem describes a ship with a crew of ten trying to find the Snark, an animal which may turn out to be a highly dangerous Boojum. Among the hunters is a lace-making beaver, and a butcher, whose only skill is in butchering beavers. This picture, the third of Henry Holiday's original illustrations for the poem, accompanies the following stanza: Yet still, ever after that sorrowful day, Whenever the Butcher was by, The Beaver kept looking the opposite way, And appeared unaccountably shy.
Illustration credit: Henry Holiday; restored by Adam Cuerden |
- December 6
 | Calliphora vicina is a species in the family Calliphoridae, the blow flies. The species is particularly important in the field of forensic entomology due to its consistent time of arrival and colonization of the body following death. This picture is a macro photograph of the head of a C. vicina fly. The head is dominated by a pair of large compound eyes, each composed of several thousand light-receiving units known as ommatidia, arranged in a hexagonal pattern. The ommatidia are elongated and rod-shaped, and are oriented perpendicular to the surface of the eye; each has its own lens and photoreceptor cells. The brain combines the points of light from each of the ommatidia to form a mosaic image. Also visible in the picture are various bristles, pedipalps and mouthparts. Photograph credit: USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Laboratory |
- December 7
 |
Khor Virap is a monastery of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located on the Ararat Plain in Armenia, near the closed border with Turkey, and about 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of the city of Artashat, within the territory of ancient Artaxata. Shown here with Mount Ararat in the background, it is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Armenia. Its fame is attributed to the fact that Gregory the Illuminator, the religious leader who converted Armenia from paganism to Christianity in 301, was imprisoned in the location for fourteen years by King Tiridates III. A chapel was initially built in 642 by Nerses III the Builder as a mark of veneration for Saint Gregory. Over the centuries, the monastery was repeatedly rebuilt; the current buildings date from 1662. Photograph credit: Diego Delso |
- December 8
- December 9
 | The Savage State is the first in a series of five paintings entitled The Course of Empire, created by American artist Thomas Cole between 1833 and 1836. The series depicts the growth and fall of an imaginary city, situated on the lower end of a river valley. This first painting shows the scenery before the civilizing influence of men change the landscape. A hunter clad in skins runs through the wilderness pursuing a fleeing deer, canoes paddle up the river and a few tipis cluster around a campfire. The visual references are those of aboriginal North American life, and the painting depicts the ideal state of the natural world, serene and unspoiled by humanity. Painting credit: Thomas Cole |
- December 10
 | The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is a small member of the heron family, Ardeidae, native to the Americas, where it has a widespread distribution. The bird forages for fish, frogs, crustaceans, insects and worms in marshes and shallow water habitats, applying various techniques to persuade the prey to reveal itself. A sociable species, it often forages in mixed species groups, and nests in the company of other herons and egrets. The bill is specially adapted for probing and stabbing. This picture shows a snowy egret photographed at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds, near San Rafael, California. Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg |
- December 11
- December 12
 | Laura Dekker (born 1995) is a New Zealand–born Dutch sailor who completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 12.4-metre (41-foot) two-masted ketch from 2010 to 2012. Dekker was fourteen years old when she set off from Gibraltar rather than the Netherlands, because the Dutch shipping regulations did not permit anyone under the age of sixteen to skipper a boat of that size in Dutch waters. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, she started her record-breaking attempt from Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, passing through the Panama Canal and traversing the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans before completing her circumnavigation back at Sint Maarten. This picture shows Dekker attending the 2011 Hiswa Boat Show in Amsterdam. Photograph credit: Savyasachi, retouched by ukexpat |
- December 13
 | The marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name is due to its habitat: marshy, damp wetlands and grasslands. The larval stage lasts seven to eight months and includes a period of hibernation over the winter. The larvae are dependent on the host plant, Succisa pratensis, not only for food but also for shelter during the hibernation stage. Females lay eggs in batches on the host plant and are, like other batch-layers, selective about location because offspring survivorship levels for batch-layers are highly dependent on location selection. This picture shows the underside of a female marsh fritillary, photographed near the English village of Lydlinch, Dorset. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp |
- December 14
 | Alabama, in the southeastern United States, was admitted as the 22nd state of the union in 1819. This picture is a historical depiction of the coat of arms of the state, as illustrated by American engraver Henry Mitchell in State Arms of the Union, published in 1876 by Louis Prang. The coat of arms is derived from the seal of Alabama, which was adopted on 29 December 1868. It depicts a bald eagle with wings raised, alighting on a national shield with the Stars and Stripes. The eagle's foot grasps three arrows and its beak holds a streamer with the motto "Here we rest", a reference to the state being known as "The land of rest". Illustration: Henry Mitchell; restoration: Andrew Shiva |
- December 15
- December 16
 | Duke Humfrey's Library is the oldest reading room in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. It is named after Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, a connoisseur of literature, who donated his collection of 281 books to the University of Oxford at his death in 1447. Books were hand-written at the time and his legacy was considered an extraordinarily generous donation since the university previously had only 20 books. Only three books from the original donation remain, the rest having been removed in 1550 and probably burnt during the Reformation. The library was restored and restocked by Thomas Bodley from 1598 onwards. The books in the oldest part of the library are accommodated in oak bookcases which are at right angles to the walls on either side, with integral readers' desks. The ceiling consists of panels painted with the arms of the university. Photograph: David Iliff |
- December 17
 | Maria I (born 17 December 1734) was Queen of Portugal from 1777 until her death in 1816, the first undisputed queen regnant of the country. The portrait shows the queen in her boudoir. It was painted in 1783, in oil on canvas, and is usually attributed to Giuseppe Troni, the Italian court painter to the House of Braganza. It hangs in the Palace of Queluz, which became the official and full-time residence of the queen and her court from 1794. At that time the queen was becoming increasingly deranged. In 1807, after Napoleon's conquests in Europe, under the direction of her son, the Prince Regent João, her court moved to Brazil. The Portuguese colony was then elevated to the rank of kingdom, with the consequent formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, of which she was the first monarch. Painting: Attributed to Giuseppe Troni |
- December 18
 | The Karin bubble-nest frog (Raorchestes parvulus) is a small bush frog native to tropical southeastern Asia. The male is seen here calling by inflating his vocal sac. Although the reproductive strategy of this species has not been studied, members of the family typically make a foam nest while mating in vegetation overhanging a stream. They create the foam by beating their legs, and the eggs are deposited into the nest and covered with seminal fluid before the foam hardens into a protective casing. When the eggs hatch, the young push their way out of the nest and fall into the water below. Photograph: Rushenb |
- December 19
 | Minnie Maddern Fiske (December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932) was a celebrated American actress, producer, director and playwright. She started her acting career at the age of three, was taking on leading roles at sixteen, and was widely considered the most important actress on the American stage in the first quarter of the 20th century. She married the journalist and newspaper-owner Harrison Grey Fiske in March 1890, and he directed almost all her plays thereafter. She is seen here in the leading role of Love Finds the Way, which opened on Broadway on April 11, 1898; she played an unhappy young woman alienated from her family, who sought romance. Photograph credit: Zaida Ben-Yusuf; restored by Adam Cuerden |
- December 20
- December 21
 | The shadow of a black hole as captured on 11 April 2017 by the Event Horizon Telescope, a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes, a collaborative effort by scientists from over 20 countries. This image is from the black hole in the elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87), in the constellation Virgo. As a black hole is a completely dark object from which no light escapes, the shadow of a black hole is the next best thing to an image of the black hole itself. The hole’s boundary, the event horizon from which the telescope takes its name, is around 2.5 times smaller than the shadow it casts and measures just under 40 billion kilometres (25 billion miles) across. Photograph credit: Event Horizon Telescope |
- December 22
 | Teresa Carreño (December 22, 1853 – June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, soprano and composer. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was a child, and she made her debut in a piano recital at Irving Hall, New York at the age of eight. After giving concerts across the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States, she travelled to Europe with her family in 1866, and performed in France, Spain and Britain, occasionally taking on operatic roles. During her later career she performed at many venues around Europe and North America, and made concert tours to Australia and New Zealand. She composed approximately 75 works for solo piano, voice and piano, choir and orchestra, and instrumental ensembles. This photograph is part of the George Grantham Bain Collection, held at the Library of Congress. Photograph: George Grantham Bain Restoration: Adam Cuerden |
- December 23
 | Skibobbing is a winter sport involving a bicycle-type frame attached to skis. Although originally a form of transportation in the Alps, skibobbing is now a competitive sport with speeds of over 100 mi (160 km) per hour being achieved. This photograph shows the Italian Sarah Gruber, from club ASKÖ SBC Linz, taking part in the giant slalom at the 2018 Austrian National Championships. Photograph credit: Isiwal |
- December 24
 | Aida is a grand opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its premiere there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today, the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world; at New York's Metropolitan Opera alone, Aida has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. This picture is the set design for Act 1, Scene 2, of the opera's 1871 premiere, depicting the portico of the Temple of Vulcan, designed by Philippe Chaperon. The drawing is in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Drawing credit: Philippe Chaperon; restored by Adam Cuerden |
- December 25
- December 26
 | James Russell Lowell (1819 – 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He was involved in the movement to abolish slavery and used his poetry to express his anti-slavery views. He was the first editor of what was to become The Atlantic and taught at Harvard University for twenty years. In 1877 he was appointed Minister (ambassador) to the court of Spain, and three years later accepted a similar role as Minister to England. This head-and-shoulders portrait was engraved in 1894 by John A. J. Wilcox, from an original drawing made in 1855 by Samuel W. Rowse. Engraving credit: John Angel James Wilcox, Restoration: Adam Cuerden |
- December 27
- The featured picture for this day has not yet been chosen.
- In general, pictures of the day are scheduled in order of promotion to featured status. See Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Guidelines for full guidelines.
- December 28
- The featured picture for this day has not yet been chosen.
- In general, pictures of the day are scheduled in order of promotion to featured status. See Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Guidelines for full guidelines.
- December 29
- December 30
- The featured picture for this day has not yet been chosen.
- In general, pictures of the day are scheduled in order of promotion to featured status. See Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Guidelines for full guidelines.
- December 31
- The featured picture for this day has not yet been chosen.
- In general, pictures of the day are scheduled in order of promotion to featured status. See Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Guidelines for full guidelines.
Picture of the day archive