Wikipedia:Picture of the day/August 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 August 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/August 2010#1]]
for August 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
August 1
The Photo: Fir0002
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August 2
A view of the interior of the water lily greenhouse at the Royal Botanic Gardens, located between Richmond and Kew, in southwest London, England. Covering an area of 121 hectares (300 acres), the gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contain four Grade I and 36 Grade II listed buildings. Photo: David Iliff
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August 3
A photograph of a Mercedes-Benz C-Class driven by Paul di Resta during a 2009 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race, demonstrating the technique called panning, in which a camera is horizontally moved in order to keep a moving subject in the same portion of the frame. In still photography, panning is used to suggest fast motion, and to bring out foreground from background. Photo: AngMoKio
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August 4
Landscape Arch is the longest of the many natural rock arches located in the Arches National Park in the U.S. state of Utah. The arch is among many in the area known as Devil's Garden in the north area of the park. It was named by Frank Beckwith, leader of the Arches National Monument Scientific Expedition, who explored the area in the winter of 1933–34. Photo: Cacophony
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August 5
Immature (left) and mature (right) flowers of the Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata), a species of tree or woody shrub native to southeastern Australia. It reaches up to 8 m (26 ft) tall and its inflorescences are a palish yellow, cylindrical up to about 10 cm (3.9 in) tall. Flowering occurs from February to June. Photo:
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August 6
A panoramic view of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the site of the first atomic bomb to be used in warfare on August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II. Over 70,000 people were killed immediately, and another 70,000 suffered fatal injuries from the radiation, after the U.S. Army Air Force bomber Enola Gay dropped the bomb, codenamed "Little Boy". The Genbaku ("A-bomb") Dome (center) was directly beneath the blast, but managed to survive mostly intact. Photo credit: Dean S. Pemberton
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August 7
A c. 1884 poster for an American production of William Shakespeare's Richard III, a history play depicting the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. It is the second-longest of Shakespeare's plays (after Hamlet) and is rarely performed unabridged. It is believed to have been written c. 1591, making it one of his earliest plays, and concludes his first tetralogy (also containing Henry VI parts 1–3). It is widely considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, and contains the famous line, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" Lithography: W.J. Morgan & Co.; Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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August 8
Malacosoma californicum is a species of tent caterpillar, so named because they build conspicuous silk tents in the branches of host trees. They are often considered as pests due to their habit of defoliating trees. They are among the most social of all caterpillars, and the tents facilitate aggregation and serve as focal sites of thermal regulatory behavior. Photo: Mila Zinkova
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August 9
The Photo: David Iliff
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August 10
The Artist: Willem van de Velde the Elder
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August 11
The Photo: Fir0002
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August 12
Rhodotus palmatus is an uncommon fungus species found throughout the Circumboreal Region. A detritivore, it is typically found growing on the stumps and logs of rotting hardwoods. Mature specimens may usually be identified by the pinkish color and the distinctive ridged and veined surface of their rubbery caps. Photo: Dan Molter
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August 13
A Moshi, the capital of the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania situated on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa (seen in background). Moshi is home to the Chaga and Maasai tribes and lies on the road connecting Arusha and Mombasa, Kenya .
Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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August 14
Photo: Bain News Service; Restoration: Lise Broer
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August 15
"Le Noir Faineant in the Hermit's Cell", an illustration from an 1886 edition of Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel Ivanhoe. Here, we see Le Noir Faineant, or the Black Knight (Richard the Lionheart in disguise) with Friar Tuck. Scott was an early pioneer in the development of the modern novel, and largely created the genre of historical fiction by weaving together legends and characters into his own creations. Ivanhoe, the story of one of the remaining Saxon noble families at a time when the English nobility was overwhelmingly Norman, was greatly influential on the modern view of the English folk hero Robin Hood, and has inspired many adaptations around the world in theatre, opera, film, and television. Engraver: J. Cooper; Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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August 16
The flower and fruit of a Pink Tea Tree (Leptospermum squarrosum) plant, a dense and erect shrub native to New South Wales, Australia. Growing to 2.5 to 3 m (8.2 to 9.8 ft) tall, the flowers are approximately 16 mm (0.63 in) in diameter have five pink petals. Flowering occurs from autumn to late winter. Photo:
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August 17
The , with a bright metallic blue abdomen. Photo:
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August 18
A whole mango (Mangifera indica) fruit and the cross-section of a second. Mango trees have been cultivated on the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years, and many cultivars are now grown throughout the world in tropical and subtropical climates. The fruit may be eaten raw or cooked and may be ritually used, along with the leaves, as floral decorations at weddings, public celebrations and religious ceremonies. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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August 19
invasion of Normandy as well. Bulkeley retired from the Navy in 1988, after 55 years of service.
Photo credit: Robert Lucier, USN
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August 20
The Photo: Fir0002
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August 21
A panoramic view of Hobart, the largest city and capital of the Australian island state of Tasmania. It is Australia's second oldest state capital, after Sydney. Founded as a penal colony in 1803 on the eastern side of the River Derwent, it was moved in 1804 to its present location at Sullivans Cove. Hobart incorporated on 21 August 1842. Photo: Flying Freddy
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August 22
A view of sand dunes in Rub' al Khali, a vast desert encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The image, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard NASA's Terra satellite, shows dunes as brown with gray regions being the underlying gravel plains. The distance between parallel dunes, which can reach 330 metres (1,080 ft) tall, is roughly 1.5 to 2.5 km (0.9 to 1.6 mi). The area is neither inhabited nor traversed by humans, although plants, arachnids, and rodents call the region home. Photo: NASA
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August 23
A proclamation board labelled "Governor Davey's Proclamation" painted in bushranging and encouraged the proper treatment of aborigines. However, the proclamation board, which was distributed through the country during the height of the Black War by being nailed on trees, incorrectly depicted a policy of friendship and equal justice which simply did not exist at the time.
Image: Government of Van Diemen's Land from a concept by Surveyor General George Frankland
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August 24
In the evening hours of August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces attacked Washington, D.C., setting fire to the White House and the unfinished Capitol Building (damage to latter shown here), among other buildings. This was the second and last time in United States history that a foreign power has captured and occupied the United States capital. Artist: George Munger; Restoration: Lise Broer |
August 25
A Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) carries pollen back to its hive in the pollen basket (the yellow area on its leg). A honey bee moistens the forelegs with a protruding tongue and brushes the pollen that has collected on head, body and forward appendages to the hind legs. In the hive, pollen is used as a protein source necessary during brood-rearing. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
August 26
The Punishment of Loki by Louis Huard illustrates an event in the trickster god, works both with and against the other gods. However, when he engineers the death of the god Baldr, the gods finally decide he has gone too far, and bind him to a rock with a serpent dripping venom above him. His wife Sigyn stayed with him and tried to catch the venom in a bowl, but when she left to empty it, as here, his writhing from the pain of the venom created earthquakes .
Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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August 27
A 360° view from the middle of Striding Edge near the summit of Photo: David Iliff
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August 28
A specimen of cinnabar, the common ore of mercury, atop a larger sample of dolomite. Cinnabar is generally found in a massive, granular or earthy form and is bright scarlet to brick-red in color. It generally occurs as a vein-filling mineral associated with recent volcanic activity and alkaline hot springs. Photo:
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August 29
Photo: Piotr Zarobkiewicz
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August 30
The Photo:
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August 31
Cirrus clouds are characterized by thin, wisplike strands, often accompanied by tufts. They are formed when water vapor freezes into ice crystals at altitudes above 8,000 metres (26,247 ft). Due to the sparse moisture at a high altitude, they tend to be very thin. Cirrus clouds cover up to 30% of the Earth and have a net heating effect. They efficiently absorb outgoing infrared radiation (heat) beneath them (greenhouse effect), while only marginally reflecting incoming sunlight (albedo). Photo: Fir0002
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