Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Archive
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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 the last 30 days.
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.
November 8
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The Indian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the family Monarchidae, the monarch flycatchers. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, with resident and breeding populations in most of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, as well as parts of Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The bird has a length of 20 to 50 centimetres (7.9 to 19.7 inches) from beak to tail. Males have elongated central tail feathers, and a black and rufous plumage in some populations, while others have white plumage. Females are short-tailed with rufous wings and a black head. The Indian paradise flycatcher feeds on insects, including grasshoppers, butterflies and praying mantises, as well as flies. It typically captures prey in the air, kills it by hitting it on a rock, and then extracts the inner parts. This Indian paradise flycatcher in flight was photographed in Pilibhit in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Photograph credit: Prasan Shrestha
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November 7
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The Fraunhofer lines are a set of spectral absorption lines. They are dark absorption lines, seen in the optical spectrum of the Sun, and are formed when atoms in the solar atmosphere absorb light being emitted by the solar photosphere. The lines are named after the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer, who observed them in 1814. This image shows the solar spectral irradiance measured with a calibrated optical spectrometer, as viewed on a sunny day in Switzerland in 2022. Some of the characteristic Fraunhofer lines and their corresponding elements are indicated for the extended visible spectrum – the highlighted area of the graph. Graph credit: Cyamahat
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November 6
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Mordançage is an alternative photographic technique developed in the 1960s that alters gelatin silver prints to give them a degraded effect. The mordançage solution works in two ways: it chemically bleaches the print so that it can be redeveloped, and it lifts the black areas of the emulsion away from the paper, giving the appearance of veils. Once the emulsion is lifted, it can then be removed or manipulated depending on the desired outcome. Areas where the emulsion was removed appear to be in relief. These prints can become oxidized during their creation, further altering the tonality of the image. This self-portrait shows an example of mordançage applied to a photographic print. Artwork credit: Stacey Svendsen
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November 5
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The eastern amberwing (Perithemis tenera) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is very small, reaching a total length of no more than 25 millimetres (0.98 in). Males have orange or amber wings, and both sexes have a red pterostigma. The species is found in eastern North America, from northern Mexico northwards to south-eastern Canada. The eastern amberwing is one of the only types of dragonfly that actively mimics a wasp; the yellow and brown stripes on its abdomen encourage predators to stay away. This male eastern amberwing was photographed in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York City. Photograph credit: Rhododendrites
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November 4
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Linaria vulgaris, also known as the common toadflax, yellow toadflax, or butter-and-eggs, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae, native to Europe, Siberia and Central Asia. It has also been introduced to and is now common in North America. It is a perennial plant with short spreading roots, a stem height of 15 to 90 centimetres (6 to 35 inches), and fine glaucous blue-green leaves. The flowers are pale yellow with an orange lower tip, borne in dense terminal racemes from mid-summer to mid-autumn, and visited mostly by bumblebees. Its fruit is a globose capsule containing numerous small seeds. The species is most commonly found as a wildflower, toadflax, but is sometimes cultivated as a cut flower or in children's gardens. These L. vulgaris flowers were photographed in Keila, Estonia. This picture was focus-stacked from 30 separate images. Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
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November 3
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"Dewey Defeats Truman" was an erroneous banner headline on the front page of the earliest edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune on November 3, 1948, the day after incumbent U.S. president Harry S. Truman won an upset victory over his opponent, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, in the 1948 presidential election. The Chicago Daily Tribune, which had once referred to Democratic candidate Truman as a "nincompoop", was a famously Republican-leaning paper. For about a year before the 1948 election, the printers who operated the linotype machines at the Tribune and other Chicago papers had been on strike in protest of the Taft–Hartley Act. Around the same time, the Tribune had switched to a method by which copy was composed on typewriters, photographed, then engraved onto printing plates. This required the paper to go to press several hours earlier than had been usual. On November 4, as Truman passed through St. Louis Union Station in Missouri on the way to Washington, he stepped onto the rear platform of his train car, the Ferdinand Magellan, and was handed a copy of the erroneous Tribune edition of November 3. Happy to exult in the paper's error, he held it up for the photographers gathered at the station, as seen in this press photograph. Truman reportedly smiled and said, "That ain't the way I heard it!" Photograph credit: Byron H. Rollins
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November 2
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The black-throated green warbler (Setophaga virens) is a small songbird in the New World warbler family, Parulidae. It breeds in coniferous, mixed forests and sometimes cypress swamps in eastern North America and western Canada, with migration to southern Florida, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and occasionally northern South America. It has a length of around 11 to 12 centimetres (4.3 to 4.7 inches), with an olive-green crown, yellow face and olive markings. Adult males have a black throat and upper breast; females and immature males have a pale throat and black markings on their breast. The bird's song is a buzzed zee-zee-zee-zooo-zeet or similar, while the call is a sharp tsip. This male black-throated green warbler was photographed in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York City. Photograph credit: Rhododendrites
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November 1
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The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is an oil-on-panel painting by Leonardo da Vinci, painted around 1501 to 1519. It depicts Saint Anne, her daughter the Virgin Mary, and the infant Jesus. Christ is shown grappling with a sacrificial lamb on the edge of a precipice, symbolizing his Passion. It is likely that the painting was commissioned by King Louis XII of France following the birth of his daughter Claude in 1499, but it was never delivered to him. Leonardo explored incorporating these figures together through preparatory works including the Burlington House Cartoon, now in the National Gallery, London, and a drawing which resides in the Louvre, Paris. The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is also in the Louvre. Painting credit: Leonardo da Vinci
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October 31
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Nosferatu is a 1922 silent German expressionist horror vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife (Greta Schröder) of his estate agent (Gustav von Wangenheim) and brings the plague to their town. Nosferatu was produced by Prana Film and is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. Various names and other details were changed from the novel, including Count Dracula being renamed Orlok. Although those changes are often represented as a defense against accusations of copyright infringement, the original German intertitles acknowledged Dracula as the source. Even with several details altered, Stoker's widow Florence sued over the adaptation's copyright violation, and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, several prints of Nosferatu survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema and the horror genre. Film credit: F. W. Murnau
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October 30
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Oxybelis aeneus, commonly known as the Mexican vine snake or the brown vine snake, is a species in the family Colubridae, the colubrid snakes. It is endemic to the Americas, being found from the mountains of southern Arizona in the United States south through Mexico to northern South America and Trinidad and Tobago. The species is usually encountered in trees or shrubs on open, steep, and grassy slopes, but is also associated with wooded canyons, especially those with abundant vegetation. Its diet consists mainly of lizards (mostly anoles), but it also eats frogs, small rodents and birds. This O. aeneus snake was photographed by the Gulf of Mexico coast in the El Palmar State Reserve, near Sisal in the Mexican state of Yucatán. Photograph credit: The Cosmonaut
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October 29
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Le droit d'aînesse ("The Birthright") is an opéra bouffe composed by Francis Chassaigne. The original French libretto was written by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo, with an English-language version titled Falka translated and adapted by Henry Brougham Farnie. The story concerns an arranged marriage intended to make a governor's heir, his nephew, an aristocrat. Through a series of mishaps that place the governor's nephew and his niece each in danger, the niece, Falka, becomes the noble heir. Falka was first produced at the Comedy Theatre in London on 29 October 1883, the same year as the French premiere, with Violet Cameron in the title role of Falka, running for 157 performances. It was revived at the Avenue Theatre in 1885, still starring Cameron, and also enjoyed successful productions in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, including productions in 1884 and 1900 on Broadway. This poster for Falka was produced for a production at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in 1885. Poster credit: David Allen & Sons Ltd.; restored by Adam Cuerden
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October 28
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Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan, is the southernmost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The area is the historical birthplace of New York City and in the 17th and 18th centuries composed the entirety of the city. Lower Manhattan serves as the seat of government of both Manhattan and the city as a whole. Lower Manhattan's central business district forms the core of the area below Chambers Street and includes the Financial District and the World Trade Center site. At the island's southern tip is Battery Park. This view of the Lower Manhattan skyline was taken from Governors Island in New York Harbor. Photograph credit: Rhododendrites
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October 27
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Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York politics, including serving as the state's 33rd governor for two years. He served as the 25th vice president under President William McKinley for six months in 1901, assuming the presidency after McKinley's assassination at the age of 42, making him the youngest person to assume the position. As president, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive Era policies. Polls of historians and political scientists rank him as one of the greatest American presidents. This photograph by the Pach Brothers shows Roosevelt in 1904. Photograph credit: Pach Brothers; restored by Adam Cuerden
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October 26
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The grey-breasted partridge (Arborophila orientalis) is a bird species in the family Phasianidae. It is endemic to highland forest in the eastern salient of Java, Indonesia. Measuring 28 cm (11 in), the species is a stocky, short-legged bird. Its mostly grey plumage is barred on the lower back and tail. It has a black crown and nape, and conspicuous white forehead, cheeks and throat. The bare skin around the eyes is red, as are the legs, while the bill is black. This grey-breasted partridge was photographed in a nature preserve near the volcanic crater of Ijen in Banyuwangi Regency, Java. Photograph credit: JJ Harrison
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October 25
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Human gaits are the various ways in which humans can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training. In general, a gait is a manner of limb movements made by animals during locomotion. Human gaits can be classified in various ways, according to whether the person remains in continuous contact with the ground, with each gait categorized as either natural (one that humans use instinctively) or trained (a non-instinctive gait learned via training). Examples of the latter include hand walking and specialized gaits used in martial arts. One variable in assessing gait is which part of the foot connects with the ground first. Typically this is one of forefoot strike, mid-foot strike or heel strike. This photograph shows a heel strike in a runner at the 2024 Ljubljana Marathon. In this gait the heel of the foot lands, then the plantar flexes to ball. Photograph credit: Petar Milošević
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October 24
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The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt, produced around 1661–62. It depicts an episode from Tacitus's Histories of the Batavian rebellion (AD 69–70), led by the one-eyed chieftain Claudius Civilis. The painting was commissioned by the city council of Amsterdam for the Town Hall, and was originally Rembrandt's largest-ever painting. It was placed briefly in the town hall but eventually returned to Rembrandt, who may never have been paid for the work. In financial difficulties, he was forced to cut the painting down in size and partly repaint it, after which it was sold. After passing between various private owners, it was eventually deposited in the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, and is now in the collection of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Painting credit: Rembrandt
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October 23
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Pachygrapsus marmoratus, also known as the marbled crab, is a species in the family Grapsidae, the marsh crabs. The species is found in southern Europe and northern Africa, in the waters of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a dark violet-brown crab, with yellow marbling, and with a body up to 36 millimetres (1.4 inches) long. A semiaquatic omnivore, it feeds on algae and various animals including mussels and limpets. This P. marmoratus crab was photographed near the shore of Butrint Lagoon in Butrint National Park, southern Albania, near the coast of the Ionian Sea. The picture has been focus-stacked from 12 separate images. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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October 22
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Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group. Discovered by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project in 1999, it is named after Bennu, a bird of Egyptian mythology associated with the Sun, creation, and rebirth. Bennu has a mean diameter of 490 metres (1,610 ft) and has been observed extensively by the Arecibo Observatory planetary radar, the NASA Deep Space Network, and OSIRIS-REx, a NASA mission that landed on and has returned samples of the asteroid to Earth. Bennu is classed as a potentially hazardous object, with a cumulative 1-in-1,750 chance of impacting Earth between 2178 and 2290. This mosaic image was produced in 2020 from photographs based on two years of close observation of Bennu by OSIRIS-REx. Photograph credit: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center / University of Arizona
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October 21
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Tihar is a five-day Hindu festival of lights, celebrated in Nepal and parts of India (Sikkim, Darjeeling and Assam) by the Nepalese and Indian Gorkha people. The festival coincides and shares similarities with Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus across the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere, but also has some distinct features, such as the celebration of animals associated with the Hindu deity Yama. Today (21 October 2025) is the third day of the festival, Lakshmi Puja, representing the cow, and is considered the most important day of Tihar. This photograph shows a woman lighting diyas for Tihar, in the Telgha area of Nepal. Photograph credit: Mithun Kunwar
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October 20
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The crescent-faced antpitta (Grallaricula lineifrons) is a species of bird in the antpitta family, Grallariidae. It is found in scattered locations in the Andes, from southern Ecuador through to Colombia's Quindío Department. It inhabits the tiny undergrowth of hot forest, both cloudforest and elfin forest near but not past the treeline. Recent studies show that its range is almost entirely above 2,900 metres (9,500 ft) in altitude and it reaches at least 3,700 metres (12,100 ft) in places. It is 11 to 12 centimetres (4.3 to 4.7 in) long with a mass between 17 and 22 grams (0.60 and 0.78 oz). Both sexes have the same plumage, with adults featuring the eponymous white crescent from the crown through the lores and almost to the throat and a small white spot behind the eye. The crescent-faced antpitta's crown and nape are dark sooty gray, its face is black, its upperparts are brownish olive and the wings and tail a browner shade. It forages singly or in pairs as well as eating regularly from artificial feeding stations at viewing points, its diet consisting of earthworms, insects, spiders, and other arthropods. This crescent-faced antpitta was photographed at Hacienda El Bosque near Manizales, Colombia. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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October 19
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Christ Church Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of England in Oxford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Oxford and the principal church of the Diocese of Oxford. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, one of the colleges of the University of Oxford; this dual role is unique in the Church of England. The first church on the site was a nunnery and parish church that was burnt during the St Brice's Day massacre in 1002; it was re-founded as a priory of Augustinian canons by 1122. This was suppressed in 1524 by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who intended to demolish the church in order to found a new college on the site. After Wolsey fell from favour in 1529, the project was taken over by Henry VIII, who preserved the church. When the Diocese of Oxford was created in 1542, its cathedral was the former Osney Abbey, which was supplanted by Christ Church in 1546. This picture shows the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, looking east towards the altar. Photograph credit: David Iliff
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October 18
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The Window is a song cycle composed by Arthur Sullivan with words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Written in 1867 and published in 1871, the cycle consists of twelve poems by Tennyson, eleven of which were set to music by Sullivan, as well as this one illustration, titled "A Reverie", drawn in 1868 by John Everett Millais and depicting a female figure looking pensively out of a window. Tennyson had a draft of the text by February 1867, but he was dissatisfied with his work and reluctant to publish it. In August 1867, Tennyson had revised the words, but he refused to allow publication until November 1870. By this time, however, Millais had disposed of all the drawings he had prepared for the publication except for "A Reverie", and he was too busy to work any further on the project. Drawing credit: John Everett Millais; restored by Adam Cuerden
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October 17
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Parazoanthus axinellae, commonly known as the yellow cluster anemone, is a species of zoanthid coral in the family Parazoanthidae. It is found on rocky substrates around the southern Atlantic coasts of Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea, at depths between 23 and 45 metres (75 and 148 ft). Zoanthids differ from true sea anemones in having a different internal anatomy and in forming true colonies in which the individual animals (polyps) are connected by a common tissue, called the coenenchyme. Parazoanthus axinellae is yellow or orange in colour, each polyp featuring 24 to 36 tentacles and having a diameter of 5 millimetres (0.20 in) with a height of 20 millimetres (0.79 in). In the Mediterranean Sea, it frequently forms dense agglomerations, often in association with the soft coral Alcyonium acaule. This P. axinellae cluster was photographed in Arrábida Natural Park, Portugal. Photograph credit: Diego Delso
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October 16
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Kaʻiulani (Hawaiian pronunciation: [kə'ʔi.u.'lɐni]; Victoria Kawēkiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn; October 16, 1875 – March 6, 1899) was the only child of Princess Miriam Likelike, and the last heir apparent to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom. She was the niece of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani. After the death of her mother, Princess Kaʻiulani was sent to Europe at age 13 to complete her education under the guardianship of British businessman and Hawaiian sugar investor Theo H. Davies. She had not yet reached her eighteenth birthday when the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom altered her life. The Provisional Government of Hawaii rejected pleas from both her father Archibald Scott Cleghorn, and provisional president Sanford B. Dole, to seat Kaʻiulani on the throne, conditional upon the abdication of Liliʻuokalani. The Queen thought the Kingdom's best chance at justice was to relinquish her power temporarily to the United States. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Mark Miller
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October 15
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Helen Hunt Jackson (October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885) was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of the improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. She described the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor (1881). Her popular novel Ramona (1884) dramatized the federal government's mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California after the Mexican–American War and attracted considerable attention to her cause. Commercially successful, it was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times, with readers liking its romantic and picturesque qualities more than its political content. The novel was so popular that it attracted many tourists to Southern California who wanted to see places from the book. This full-length seated portrait of Jackson was taken around 1884, and this albumen print is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution. Photograph credit: Charles F. Conly; restored by Adam Cuerden
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October 14
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Devonshire Lodge, also known as the Low–Martin House, is a mansion located in the Walkerville neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Commissioned by the rum-runner Harry Low in 1927 and designed by George Lawton, likely with input from Low, the mansion and its accompanying coach house were built in the style of a Cotswold cottage and completed in 1928. After Low defaulted on his mortgage, the building was sold in 1938 and in 1949. In 1961, it was purchased by Paul Martin Sr., a local Member of Parliament, who lived there until his death. By 2008, the Lodge required extensive renovations, which were ultimately undertaken over a two-year period by Vern Myslichuk after he purchased it in 2012. The Devonshire Lodge was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2008. Photograph credit: Chris Woodrich
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October 13
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Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico is a black-and-white photograph taken by American landscape photographer Ansel Adams, late in the afternoon on November 1, 1941, from a shoulder of the highway US 84 / US 285, in the unincorporated community of Hernandez, New Mexico, United States. The photograph shows the Moon rising in a dominating black sky with low clouds above a collection of modest dwellings, a church and a cross-filled graveyard, with snow-covered mountains in the background. Adams captured a single image, with the sunset lighting the white crosses and buildings. Because Adams did not date the image, attempts have been made to determine a date from astronomical information in the photograph. It is one of Adams's most popular works. Photograph credit: Ansel Adams
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October 12
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The little owl (Athene noctua) is a bird in the family Strigidae, the true owls. It inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic realm east to Korea, and North Africa. The species is mainly nocturnal and is found in a range of habitats, including farmland, woodland fringes, steppes and semi-deserts. It is around 22 centimetres (8.7 inches) long, and cryptically coloured. The little owl typically feeds on insects, earthworms, other invertebrates and small vertebrates. Males hold territories that they defend against intruders. It is a cavity nester, and a clutch of about four eggs is laid in spring. The female does the incubation and the male brings food to the nest, first for the female and later for the newly hatched young. As the chicks grow, both parents hunt and bring them food, and the chicks leave the nest at about seven weeks of age. This little owl was photographed in Zhabaiushkan, a wildlife sanctuary in Mangystau Region, Kazakhstan. Photograph credit: Maksat Bisengaziev
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October 11
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Emily Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was a suffragette who fought for votes for women in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century. Davison grew up in a middle-class family and studied at Royal Holloway College, London, and St Hugh's College, Oxford, before taking jobs as a teacher and governess. A staunch feminist and passionate Christian, she deemed socialism to be a moral and political force for good. She became an officer of the Women's Social and Political Union and a chief steward during its marches. Her tactics included breaking windows, throwing stones, setting fire to postboxes, and, on three occasions, hiding overnight in the Palace of Westminster – including on the night of the 1911 census. Davison was arrested nine times, went on hunger strike seven times, and was force fed on forty-nine occasions. She died after being hit by King George V's horse Anmer at the 1913 Epsom Derby when she walked onto the track during the race. This studio portrait, showing Davison wearing her Hunger Strike Medal and Holloway brooch, was taken in the early 1910s. Photograph credit: Andrew William Dron; restored by Adam Cuerden
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October 10
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The Australian Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. It meets at Parliament House in the national capital, Canberra. There are 76 senators, elected through single transferable vote in state-wide and territory-wide elections. Each of the six Australian states elects 12 senators, while the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory elect 2 each. The role of the Senate is defined in the constitution of Australia and it has almost equal powers to the lower house. In contrast to other countries with a Westminster system of government, the Australian Senate plays an active role in legislation, although in practice most legislation is initiated by the government, which controls the lower house. This photograph shows the chamber where the Senate meets. Photograph credit: JJ Harrison
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