Wikipedia:Picture of the day/June 2010
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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 June 2010. 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/June 2010#1]] for June 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
June 1
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A female Thomisus onustus crab spider catches a honey bee as its prey. The spider, like many other members of the Thomisus genus, is camouflaged against its preferred waiting location, in this case a Yellow Chamomile flower. Thomisus spiders are found worldwide, with the notable exception of most of South America. Photo: Joaquim Alves Gaspar
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June 2
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The Jerusalem Railway Station c. 1900. The locomotive on the turntable is "Ramleh" (J&J No. 3), a Baldwin 2-6-0. The station was the terminus of the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway until its closure in 1998. Today, the station is abandoned and suffering from neglect and vandalism, although it is one of 110 buildings selected for preservation in Jerusalem. Photo: American Colony; Restoration: Michel Vuijlsteke
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June 3
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The flower of a Feijoa plant, a perennial evergreen tree that bears fruit commonly known as "pineapple guava" or "guavasteen". It is native to central South America, but has been introduced to a number of locations around the world, most notably New Zealand, where the fruit is especially popular. Photo: Noodle snacks
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June 4
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A male bedbug (Cimex lectularius) traumatically inseminates a female bedbug. The female's ventral carapace is visibly cracked around the point of insemination. Bedbugs reproduce solely by this process, in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his penis and injects his sperm through the wound. Photo: Rickard Ignell, SLU
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June 5
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A portrait of Isaac Massa (1586–1643), a Dutch grain trader, traveller and envoy to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and his wife Beatrix van der Laen. Massa first went to Moscow in 1601 for business, wherein he witnessed the Time of Troubles, and his memoirs of that time are considered the least biased of contemporary sources. This painting is considered unique in composition for the period; the novel composition was probably Massa's own design. Artist: Frans Hals
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June 6
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Damage to Richmond, Virginia, at the end of the American Civil War. Being the capital of the Confederacy and a vital source of materiel and manpower, Richmond was the target of numerous attacks by the Union Army during the war. When the city's capture became imminent, the Confederate Army abandoned the city, setting fire to its military stores as they retreated. Photo: Andrew J. Russell; Restoration: Lise Broer |
June 7
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A scene from an 1886 edition of Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor, originally published in 1819. Although fictional, the story is based on an actual incident of the family of James Dalrymple: Dalrymple's daughter Janet was betrothed to one man in an arranged marriage, but in love with another. On her wedding night, Janet stabbed her husband. She was judged to be insane and died within a month. The book is part of Scott's Tales of My Landlord series and is the basis for Gaetano Donizetti's 1835 opera Lucia di Lammermoor. Artist: Charles Robert Leslie; Engraver: J. Cooper |
June 8
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A 'Kensington Pride' mango fruit and the cross-section of another. Worldwide, hundreds of mango cultivars exist. In mango orchards, multiple cultivars are often grown together to improve cross-pollination. Photo: Fir0002 |
June 9
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An illustration of a Victorian production of Act V, scene vii, from William Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John, a history play that dramatises the reign of King John of England. King John was once one of Shakespeare's most frequently staged plays, but its popularity has decreased over the years and stagings of it today are very rare. Image: The Illustrated London News
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June 10
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Belém Tower is a fortified tower located in the Belém district of Lisbon, Portugal. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with the nearby Jerónimos Monastery) because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime exploits of the era of the Age of Discovery. The tower was built in the early 16th century and is composed of a bastion and the 30 m (98 ft) tall tower. It is dedicated to the patron saint of Lisbon, St Vincent, and commemorates the expedition of Vasco de Gama. Photo: Joaquim Alves Gaspar
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June 11
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A Currier and Ives lithograph depicting fishermen trolling for bluefish, a technique consisting of one or more fishing lines being drawn through the water, whether in a moving boat or from a static position. Trolling is used to catch pelagic fish such as salmon, mackerel and billfish. It should not be confused with trawling, another fishing technique that requires a net. Artist: Frances F. Palmer; Restoration: Lise Broer
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June 12
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A Lilium longiflorum flower, which is typical of all Lilium (lily) species. Labeled parts are: Lilies flower in the summer, and come in a range of colours ranging through whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots, brush strokes and picotees. Photo: Noodle snacks
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June 13
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A panoramic view of Bluewater, a shopping centre located in Greenhithe, Kent. With a sales floor area of 154,000 m2 (1,600,000 ft2) over two levels, it is the second largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom, and the fourth largest overall in Europe. Photo: David Iliff
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June 14
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A Macroxiphus species katydid nymph on a leaf. Nymphs of this genus mimic ants to avoid predation. Mimicry occurs when a group of organisms, the mimics, evolve to share common perceived characteristics with another group, the models. The evolution is driven by the selective action of a signal-receiver, or dupe. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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June 15
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A man climbs a statue of a Buddhist idol at Borobudur, a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, in this 1895 hand-tinted lantern slide. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following the 14th-century decline of Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam. The monument is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the most popular tourist attraction in the country. Photo: William Henry Jackson; Restoration: Lise Broer
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June 16
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The Atlantic coast at Porto Covo, a civil parish in the municipality of Sines, Portugal. Well known for its beaches, it is located on the western coast of Portugal, about 170 km (110 mi) south of Lisbon. The name "Porto Covo" probably means Port of the covos, where a covo is a kind of fishing net for capturing lobsters and crabs. Photo: Joaquim Alves Gaspar
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June 17
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A macro shot of the chelicerae of an engorged Ixodes ricinus species of tick, which is a vector for Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis in humans and louping ill in sheep. Photo: Richard Bartz
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June 18
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An animation of the phases of the Moon. As the Moon revolves around the Earth, the Sun lights the Moon from a different side, creating the different phases. In the image, the Moon appears to get bigger as well as "wobble" slightly. Tidal locking synchronizes the Moon's rotation period on its axis to match its orbital period around the earth. These two periods nearly cancel each other out, except that the Moon's orbit is elliptical. This causes its orbital motion to speed up when closer to the Earth, and slow down when farther away, causing the Moon's apparent diameter to change, as well as the wobbling motion observed. Image: Tom Ruen
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June 19
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In this scene from Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Uncle Toby's colonel invents a device for firing multiple miniature cannons at once, based on a hookah. Unfortunately, he and Toby find the puffing on the hookah pipe so enjoyable that they keep setting the cannons off. The novel was published in nine volumes over ten years, starting in 1759. Although it was not always held in high esteem by other writers, its bawdy humour was popular with London society, and it has come to be seen as one of the greatest comic novels in English, as well as a forerunner for many modern narrative devices and styles. Illustration: George Cruikshank; Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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June 20
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A panoramic view of the municipality of Bad Hindelang, located in the Oberallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany, in the Northern Limestone Alps along the border with Austria. Photo: Jürgen Matern
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June 21
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The prickles of a rose plant. Prickles, which are needle-like extensions of the cortex and epidermis, are often confused with thorns, which are modified branches or stems, and spines, which are modified leaves. All three are hard structures with sharp, pointy ends, which are generally used by plants to protect themselves from herbivores. Thorns likely first evolved as a defense mechanism in plants growing in sandy environments which provided inadequate resources for fast regeneration. Photo: Noodle snacks
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June 22
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The Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti is a large palazzo along the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, next to the Ponte dell'Accademia. It is an example of Venetian Gothic architecture and is well known to tourists for the flags hanging down its facade. Since 1999 it has been the seat of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere e Arti, and frequently houses cultural events. Photo: Massimo Catarinella
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June 23
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A 1933 view of the GE Building, one of the most famous skyscrapers in New York City, as seen from the DuMont Building. At 850 feet (260 m) tall, the 70-story building is the 9th tallest building in the city and the 32nd tallest in the United States. It was completed in 1933 as part of the Rockefeller Center and was designed in the Art Deco style by a team of architects led by Raymond Hood. Known as the "RCA Building" until 1988, it is most famous for housing the headquarters of the television network NBC, and many shows are produced there, including Saturday Night Live, the NBC Nightly News and 30 Rock (the last also being a nickname of the building). Photo: Samuel H. Gottscho; Restoration: Michel Vuijlsteke
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June 24
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Architect George R. Mann's design for the Arkansas State Capitol, located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. The image is labeled as the Montana State Capitol because it was the winning entrant in the first design competition for that building. It was never actually built, and Mann resubmitted it for the Arkansas building. Restoration: Jake Wartenberg
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June 25
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A Carson Helicopters S-61N Fire King being fueled during helitack (firefighting using helicopters) operations in Southern River, Western Australia. The word "helitack", a portmanteau of helicopter and attack, first appeared in a 1956 Los Angeles Times article describing a series of tests by the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD). Helicopters had been used in combating wildfires in California as early as 1947, and the LACoFD established the first helitack crew in 1957. Photo: Gnangarra
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June 26
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A juvenile House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) has a pink bill and nestling gape flanges on both sides of its face where the upper part of the beak is connected to the lower part. In juvenile altricial birds, brightly colored gapes help the parents determine how to distribute food among their chicks. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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June 27
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A male Eupeodes corollae hoverfly. Male hoverflies are easily recognized by the holoptic eyes, touching at the top of the head, and males of this species have different abdomen markings than females. This species is very common in Europe, where it has been used experimentally to control the population of aphids and other scale insects. Photo: Joaquim Alves Gaspar
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June 28
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An 1886 advertisement for a hosiery firm that depicts its factory floor with workers using knitting machines. Knitting machines produce various types of knitted fabrics, usually either flat or tubular, and of varying degrees of complexity. There are numerous types of knitting machines, ranging from the simple, non-mechanical, to the highly complex and electronic. Pattern stitches can be selected by hand manipulation of the needles, or with push-buttons and dials, mechanical punch cards, or electronic pattern-reading devices and computers. Image: Cooper, Wells & Co.; Restoration: Lise Broer
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June 29
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One of Sandro Botticelli's masterworks The Birth of Venus (ca. 1485), which depicts the goddess Venus, having emerged from the sea as a full grown woman. Venus in the painting is very similar to Praxiteles' sculpture of Aphrodite, and the pose resembles the Venus de' Medici, a marble sculpture from classical antiquity in the Medici collection which Botticelli had opportunity to study.
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June 30
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Cortinarius archeri is a truffle-like species of mushroom found in southern Australia, New Zealand, and California in the United States. It is common in eucalypt or mixed forests and is mycorrhizal, forming a close relationship with the roots of eucalypts or closely related trees. Although considered solitary, the mushroom can commonly be found in groups of two or three. The species has no common name. Photo: Noodle snacks
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