Wikipedia:Picture of the day/December 2004

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Picture of the day archives

2004: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2006: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2009: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2010: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2011: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2012: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2013: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2015: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2016: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2017: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2018: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2019: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2020: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2021: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2022: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2023: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2024: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2025: January February March April May June July August September October November December

These featured pictures, as scheduled below, appeared as the picture of the day (POTD) on the English Wikipedia's Main Page in December 2004.

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

December 1

Picture of the day

Icicles

Liquid water is most dense at 4 °C and becomes less dense as the water molecules begin to form the

molecules less efficiently (in terms of volume) when water is frozen. The result is that ice floats on liquid water, an important factor in Earth's climate
.

Photo credit: Barfooz

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December 2

Picture of the day

Formula One

Modern Formula One must be constructed by the racing teams themselves and are required to be powered by 3.0-litre, ten-cylinder naturally aspirated engines. Estimates put the best engines at or about 900 bhp at 19,000 rpm.

Photo credit:

Rick Dikeman

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December 3

Picture of the day

Common blue damselfly

The Damselfly (suborder Zygoptera) is an insect in the order Odonata. They are similar to a dragonfly, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact their wings are held along the body when at rest. They are also usually smaller, and weaker fliers than dragonflies, and the eyes are separated.

Photo credit: Fir0002

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December 4

Picture of the day

Ko Samui

The island

rubber. It even has its own international airport, with flights daily to Bangkok and other major airports in Southeast Asia
. It has not forgotten its roots, however, and the people are still by-and-large the same easygoing island folk they were before the world landed on their doorstep.

Photo credit: Tsui

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December 5

Picture of the day

Icefish

The

erythrocytes. Their metabolism relies only on the oxygen
dissolved in the liquid blood, which is believed to be absorbed directly through the skin from the water. This works, because water can dissolve the most oxygen when it is coldest.

Photo credit: Uwe Kils

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December 6

Picture of the day

Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika is situated within the Western Rift of the Great Rift Valley and is confined by the mountainous walls of the valley. It is the largest rift lake in Africa and the second largest lake by surface area on the continent. It is the deepest lake in Africa and holds the greatest volume of fresh water.

Photo credit: Worldtraveller

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December 7

Picture of the day

Zabriskie Point at sunrise in Death Valley

badlands due to its difficult-to-traverse topography. The area is composed of sediment from Lake Zabriskie, which dried-up 9 million years ago - long before Death Valley existed. Zabriskie Point is named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie of Wyoming Territory
.

Photo credit:

Daniel Mayer

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December 8

Picture of the day

Macro photograph of coca-cola bubbles

Historically, the first soda waters were prepared by adding sodium bicarbonate to lemonade. A chemical reaction between sodium bicarbonate and citric acid occurred to create carbon dioxide. The person who is usually credited with first successfully creating carbonated water is Joseph Priestley in 1796.

Photo credit: Spiff

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December 9

Picture of the day

Gun-type Nuclear weapon

Although used occasionally in later experimental devices, this nuclear weapon design was used only once as a weapon, in Little Boy, because of the extreme danger of a misfire. A simple crash could drive the "bullet" into the "target" and release lethal radiation doses or even a full nuclear detonation.

Photo credit: Fastfission

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December 10

Picture of the day

Wolf spider

The

prey
down.

Photo credit: Fir0002

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December 11

Picture of the day

Abbey of Senanque

Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess
, who serve as the spiritual father or mother of the community.

Photo credit: Greudin

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December 12

Picture of the day

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales , Australia. Situated on Bennelong Point at Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th-century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world.

Photo credit: Chmouel

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December 13

Picture of the day

Gallium

Crystals of 99.999%

poor metal. It occurs in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. Gallium is notable for its stunning silvery color and its solid metal fractures conchoidally like glass
.

Photo credit: Foobar

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December 14

Picture of the day

Ejector seat

The first

ejector seats were developed during the war by Heinkel. Early models were powered by compressed air and the first aircraft to be fitted with such a system was the Heinkel He 280 prototype jet fighter in 1941. One of the He 280 test pilots, Helmut Schenk, became the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejector seat on January 13 1942 after his control surfaces iced up and became inoperable. By December 2003
, Martin-Baker ejector seats had saved 7028 lives. The total figure for all types of seat is unknown but must be considerably higher.

Photo credit:

U.S. Air Force

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December 15

Picture of the day

Vitruvian Man

The

Da Vinci and others is considered one of the great achievements leading to the Italian Renaissance
.

Photo credit: Leonardo da Vinci

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December 16

Picture of the day

Io moon

Jupiter. It is named after Io, one of Zeus's many love interests in Greek mythology
.

Photo credit: NASA

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December 17

Picture of the day

Darlingtonia

monotypic
.

Photo credit: Daniel Keshet

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December 18

Wikipedia:Picture of the day/December 18, 2004 Text version ( view - edit - talk - history ) - Condensed version ( view - edit )

December 19

Wikipedia:Picture of the day/December 19, 2004 Text version ( view - edit - talk - history ) - Condensed version ( view - edit )

December 20

Wikipedia:Picture of the day/December 20, 2004 Text version ( view - edit - talk - history ) - Condensed version ( view - edit )

December 21

Picture of the day

Mount Cook

United Nations World Heritage Parks
in 1953.

Photo credit: Dynabee

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December 22

Picture of the day

Mackerel sky

A mackerel sky is an indicator of moisture and instability at high levels. If the lower atmosphere is stable and no moist air moves in, the weather will most likely remain dry. However, moisture at lower levels combined with temperature instability can lead to spectacular thunderstorms should the rising moist air reach this layer. In weather lore, a mackerel sky portends changeable weather.

Photo credit: Denni Windrim

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December 23

Picture of the day

National Gallery

The National Gallery at night, illuminated for an event to promote the launch of a

National Gallery in London is an art gallery designed by William Wilkins. It holds part of the National Collection, particularly Western European art from 1250 to 1900
. The collection of 2300 paintings belongs to the British public.

Photo credit: Michael Reeve

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December 24

Picture of the day

Winter storm at Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park is distinctive due to its unique geological structures, called hoodoos. In winter, most birds in the park migrate, but jays, ravens, nuthatches, eagles, and owls stay. The Mule Deer, Mountain Lion, and coyotes will migrate to lower elevations. Ground squirrels and marmots pass the winter in hibernation.

Photo credit: National Park Service

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December 25

Picture of the day

Emperor penguins

The

incubate an egg in its brood pouch for 65 days without food by surviving on his fat
reserves.

Photo credit: Josh Landis

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December 26

Picture of the day

Saint Joan of Arc

Sainte Jeanne d'Arc Church at night.

Art nouveau
.

Photo credit: Ericd

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December 27

Picture of the day

USS Akron over Manhattan

The

2 November 1931
, but crashed less than two years later.

Photo credit:

U.S. Naval Historical Center

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December 28

Picture of the day

Saint Joan

The blue ice covering Lake Fryxell in the Transantarctic Mountains, a mountain range in Antarctica, comes from glacial meltwater from the Canada Glacier and other smaller glaciers. The freshwater stays on top of the lake and freezes, sealing in briny water below.

Photo credit: Joe Mastroianni

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December 29

Picture of the day

Veined leaf

A plant's leaves are the primary sites for photosynthesis. The green colour is from chlorophyll, a pigment that absorbs the energy from sunlight falling on the leaf. The veins are the vascular tissue of the leaf, moving water into the leaf and the sap produced by photosynthesis back out.

Photo credit: PDPhoto.org

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December 30

Picture of the day

Antarctica

algal
species.

Photo credit: NASA

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December 31

Picture of the day

18C Persian Astrolabe

An 18th century

Persian Astrolabe. During the age of sail, the astrolabe was the chief instrument for navigation. It is a precursor of the modern planisphere — the back plate, or mater is engraved with coordinate lines of the celestial sphere in stereographic projection, the points of the curved spikes on the front rete plate, mark the positions of the brightest stars
.

Photo credit: Solipsist

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Picture of the day archives and future dates

2004: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2006: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2009: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2010: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2011: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2012: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2013: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2014: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2015: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2016: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2017: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2018: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2019: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2020: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2021: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2022: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2023: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2024: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2025: January February March April May June July August September October November December