Wikipedia:Picture of the day/April 2016

A circa 1783 self-portrait of the French painter Joseph Ducreux (1735–1802) in the middle of a large yawn. Ducreux attempted to break free from the constraints of traditional portraiture in his depictions of subjects; another self-portrait, painted some ten years later, depicts him pointing at the viewer and laughing.

Painting: Joseph Ducreux

The

The Eckert IV projection is an equal-area pseudocylindrical map projection. The length of polar lines are half that of the equator, and lines of longitude are semiellipses, or portions of ellipses. It was first described by Max Eckert in 1906.

Map: Strebe, using Geocart

The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It was first discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, and communicated to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries. This image, released on February 28, 2006, is composed of 51 individual exposures, as well as some extra ground-based photos. At the time of its release, it was the largest and most detailed image of a galaxy by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Photograph: European Space Agency and NASA

A view of the

James Watson (b. 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist, best known for discovering the double helix structure of DNA in 1953 jointly with Francis Crick. Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material". Educated at the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson met Crick at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England, where they were still working when they deduced the structure. Watson wrote of the discovery in his book, The Double Helix (1968), and promoted further study of molecular biology while serving as director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) on Long Island, New York.

Photograph: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; edit: Jan Arkesteijn

The

The Aqueduct of Segovia is a Roman aqueduct located in Segovia, Spain that transports water from the Rio Frio. It is thought to have been constructed during the 1st century CE. One of the most significant and best-preserved ancient monuments left on the Iberian Peninsula, the aqueduct is considered a symbol of Segovia and is present on the city's coat of arms.

Photograph: Bernard Gagnon

Balzhinima Tsyrempilov is a World Cup-winning and former world number-one archer from Russia. He has competed in both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, though he has not medalled.

Photograph: Аркадий Зарубин

Helmut Flieg (1913–2001) was a German writer best-known by the pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States (or served in its army abroad) between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to his native Germany. He published works in English and German at home and abroad, including Nazis in the U.S.A. (1938), Goldsborough (1953), and Five Days in June (1977).

Photograph: Marcel Antonisse / Anefo

Shearing the Rams is an 1890 oil painting on canvas by Australian artist Tom Roberts. It depicts sheep shearers plying their trade in a timber shearing shed. One of Australia's best-known paintings, it and other Australian Impressionist works gave visual expression to an emerging sense of national identity. The painting is held at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

Painting: Tom Roberts

The

The

A female Balearic green toad (Bufo balearicus), a lowland species of toad native to Italy.

Photograph: Richard Bartz

An illustration from

The

On April 20, 2010, the

An illustration from 1896 edition of James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans. Set during the French and Indian War, the novel details the transport of two young women to Fort William Henry. Among the caravan guarding the women are the frontiersman Natty Bumppo, the Major Duncan Heyward, and the Indians Chingachgook and Uncas. In this scene, Bumppo (disguised as a bear) fights against the novel's villain, Magua, as two of his compatriots look on.

Illustration: Frank T. Merrill; restoration: Chris Woodrich

A banknote for two Massachusetts

Banknote: Province of Massachusetts Bay; image courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution

Survivors of the

Photograph: Anonymous; restoration: Adam Cuerden

On the tram network of Melbourne, Australia, the C-class trams are 36 three-section Citadis 202 trams built by Alstom, France. Delivered in 2001–02, they were the first low-floor trams in Melbourne. They replaced the Z-class trams after the tram network was privatised.

Photograph: David Iliff