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.
April 2
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Junonia coenia, the common buckeye, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found as a resident or vagrant across much of North and Central America, as well as parts of northern South America, and likely originated from African ancestors that later diversified in Asia. The species typically inhabits open, sunny terrains such as fields, dunes and scrub, up to 1,300 meters (4,300 ft) in elevation. J. coenia adults are mostly brown with prominent black eyespots, while the caterpillars are spiny with complex color patterns. The caterpillars feed on plants rich in iridoid glycosides, such as Plantago lanceolata, which also influence female oviposition, while adults prefer nectar from yellow flowers. Some individuals migrate seasonally, and the species faces threats from predators, parasites, and a specific densovirus. This common buckeye butterfly was photographed in Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis, United States. Photograph credit: Rhododendrites
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April 1
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Sir Nils Olav, colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian Army's King's Guard, inspects his troops in 2008. Olav was inducted into the army in 1972 with the rank of lance corporal, and has received a series of promotions since then as well as a knighthood. Since 2023 he has held the rank of major general. The name Nils Olav, and its associated ranks, have been used by three king penguins over the years, all resident at Edinburgh Zoo. The animal pictured is the second. His military insignia is attached to his flipper. Photograph credit: Mark Owens
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March 31
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The Grimsel Pass is a mountain pass in Switzerland that crosses the Bernese Alps at an elevation of 2,164 metres (7,100 ft). It connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with the upper valley of the Rhône. A 38-kilometre (24 mi) paved road between Gletsch and Meiringen follows the pass; owing to high snowfall, this road is generally closed between October and May. This panoramic photograph of the Grimsel Pass was taken in June 2011. The two lakes visible in the image are the Grimselsee (foreground) and the Räterichsbodensee (background). Photograph credit: Heinrich Pniok
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March 30
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St. Louis Woman is a 1946 American musical by Arna Bontemps and Countee Cullen, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It is based on the novel God Sends Sunday by African-American writer Arna Bontemps. The musical opened at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York on March 30, 1946, and ran for 113 performances. The original cast included Robert Pope (Badfoot), Harold Nicholas (Little Augie), Fayard Nicholas (Barney), June Hawkins (Lilli), Pearl Bailey (Butterfly), Ruby Hill (Della Green), Rex Ingram (Biglow Brown), and Milton J. Williams (Mississippi). The production's scenic designer and costume designer was Lemuel Ayers. This photographic portrait, taken in 1946 by Carl Van Vechten, shows Pearl Bailey posing in costume as Butterfly in St. Louis Woman. Photograph credit: Carl Van Vechten; restored by Adam Cuerden
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March 29
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The Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis fulva) is a medium-sized migratory plover. It breeds in the Arctic tundra from northernmost Asia into western Alaska and winters in south Asia and Australasia. Photograph: JJ Harrison
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March 28
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The Lagoon Nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region. Discovered by Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654, it is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes. While appearing pink in long-exposure photographs, it typically appears gray when viewed through binoculars or telescopes due to the human eye's limited color sensitivity in low-light conditions. In the foreground is the open cluster NGC 6530. Photograph: European Southern Observatory / VLT Survey Telescope team
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March 27
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The Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae) is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. It is native to eastern and central South America, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Uruguay, where it inhabits forests, savannas, and semi-deserts. It is the largest known tegu lizard, with males sometimes growing up to 4.5 feet (140 cm) in length. An omnivore, the Argentine black and white tegu feeds on invertebrates, fruit, eggs, and small vertebrates. It is notable for its intelligence, popularity in the pet trade, and seasonal brumation. It is the only known non-avian reptile to show partial endothermy during the breeding season. The species is sometimes kept as a pet, and has also become invasive in parts of the United States, threatening native wildlife by preying on eggs and small animals. This male Argentine black and white tegu was photographed in the Vicente López Ecological Reserve in La Lucila, Argentina. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 26
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Erica Jong (born March 26, 1942) is an American novelist, satirist and poet. She is known particularly for her 1973 novel Fear of Flying, which became controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality and figured prominently in the development of second-wave feminism. This photograph of Jong, taken by Bernard Gotfryd in 1969, is part of a collection of photographs by Gotfryd in the Library of Congress. Photograph credit: Bernard Gotfryd; restored by Blameless
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March 25
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The Van der Grinten projection is a compromise map projection that is neither equal-area nor conformal. It projects the entire Earth into a circle, though the polar regions are subject to extreme distortion. The projection was proposed by Alphons J. van der Grinten in 1904, and, unlike perspective projections, is an arbitrary geometric construction on the plane. It was adopted as the National Geographic Society's reference map of the world from 1922 until 1988. Map credit: Strebe, using Geocart
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March 24
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The hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) is a parrot in the family Psittacidae, native to central and eastern South America. With a length of around 1 metre (3.3 ft), it is longer than any other species of parrot. It is also the largest macaw and the largest flying parrot species. The hyacinth macaw mostly nests in manduvi trees; these trees rely on the toco toucan for the majority of their distribution of seeds, but that bird also feeds on a sizeable proportion of the hyacinth macaw's eggs. Habitat loss and the trapping of wild birds for the pet trade have taken a heavy toll on their population in the wild, so the species is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. This hyacinth macaw in flight was photographed in the Pantanal near the town of Poconé, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 23
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Mary I (1516–1558) was the queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. The only child of Henry VIII with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Mary is remembered for her restoration of Roman Catholicism after the short-lived Protestant reign of her half-brother, Edward VI. During her five-year reign, she had more than 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions. After her death, Mary gained the posthumous sobriquet "Bloody Mary", and Protestantism was re-established by her successor Elizabeth I. This oil portrait on panel of Mary was painted by the Dutch artist Antonis Mor in 1554, and is in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. Painting credit: Antonis Mor
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March 22
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Zhuhai Fisher Girl is a granite statue in Zhuhai, China, designed by Pan He and completed between 1979 and 1982. Standing 8.7 metres (29 ft) tall in Xianglu Bay and weighing about 10 tonnes, the statue is of a fisherwoman holding a pearl high in the air, inspired by a local legend recorded in various versions. Commissioned during the development of the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone, the statue was cited by supporters as enabling the city to establish its own cultural identity, though its cost and depiction sparked some controversy at the time. Since its installation, it has become part of Zhuhai's growing tourism industry. Zhuhai Fisher Girl was designated a cultural relic in 2014, and later plans have proposed expanding the surrounding area into a larger recreational and tourist site. This photograph of the statue was taken in 2024, with part of the Zhuhai skyline in the background. Statue credit: Pan He; photographed by Daniel Lawrence Lu
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March 21
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The arc-eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cirrhitidae, the hawkfishes. It is found across the tropical Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to the central Pacific (including the Hawaiian and Pitcairn Islands), and from Japan south to Australia. The arc-eye hawkfish inhabits lagoons and seaward coral reefs, often resting motionless among coral heads at depths of 1 to 30 metres (3 to 100 ft). With a length of up to 20 centimetres (8 in), it has variable colouration, typically pale pinkish-brown. The species feeds on crustaceans and small fishes, is usually solitary, and spawns in pairs. It is also collected for the aquarium trade. This arc-eye hawkfish was photographed off the coast of Zanzibar in Tanzania. Photograph credit: Diego Delso
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March 20
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The Chesme Church is a small Russian Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Built by the Russian court architect Yury Felten in 1780, at the direction of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, it was erected to commemorate the anniversary of Russia's 1770 victory over Turkish forces at the Battle of Chesma, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774. The church and the adjoining Chesme Palace were the earliest Neo-Gothic constructions in the St Petersburg area. Considered by some to be Saint Petersburg's single most impressive church, it is a rare example of very early Gothic Revival influence in Russian church architecture. This photograph shows the facade of the Chesme Church in 2012. Photograph credit: Alexander Savin
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March 19
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The magpie goose (Anseranas semipalmata) is a species of waterfowl found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. The only living species of the family Anseranatidae, it inhabits open wetlands and is not truly migratory, although it sometimes travels long distances to find food and water. The magpie goose has black-and-white plumage in both sexes, with a long neck and legs and a long hooked bill, and is typically 75 to 90 centimetres (30 to 35 in) long. It feeds on vegetation, both in water and on land, and breeds colonially, often forming large flocks and laying five to fourteen eggs. Populations remain plentiful overall, although reduced from their historical range. The species was formerly widespread in southern Australia but declined there after wetlands used for breeding were drained. The magpie goose is important to Aboriginal Australians as a seasonal food source and for recreational hunting and tourism. This pair of magpie geese was photographed at East Point, a suburb of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. Photograph credit: JJ Harrison
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March 18
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The Zumwalt-class destroyer is a class of large guided-missile destroyers of the United States Navy. First commissioned in 2016, the ships have a distinctive appearance, with an inward-sloping tumblehome hull designed to reduce their radar cross section. The Zumwalt class uses an integrated electric propulsion system that can distribute electricity from turbo-generators to drive motors or other ship systems and weapons. With a research-and-development cost of $9.6 billion, the ships were designed to require a smaller crew and to be less expensive to operate than comparable warships. The program was originally planned to include thirty-two ships, but cost overruns led to successive reductions and only three vessels were ultimately built. This photograph shows the lead ship of the class, USS Zumwalt, transiting the Atlantic Ocean in 2016 during acceptance trials with United States Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. Photograph credit: United States Navy
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March 17
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Burst of Joy is a photograph taken on March 17, 1973, by Associated Press photographer Slava "Sal" Veder. It shows Robert L. Stirm (1933–2025), a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, meeting his family after five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Photographed at Travis Air Force Base in California, Burst of Joy captures the moment when Stirm's daughter runs toward him with her arms outstretched, followed by other family members, as he returns home after the repatriation of American prisoners following the Paris Peace Accords. The image was widely published in newspapers and magazines and became one of the most recognizable photographs of the war's human aftermath, winning the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. Photograph credit: Slava "Sal" Veder
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March 16
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The dunnock (Prunella modularis) is a small passerine bird in the accentor family, Prunellidae. It is native to much of temperate Europe and parts of southwest Asia, including the Caucasus, northern Iran and Lebanon, and is also widely distributed in New Zealand after being introduced there in the 19th century. The dunnock inhabits lowland environments such as woodlands, shrubs, hedgerows and gardens, where it usually feeds on the ground. About 14 centimetres (5.5 in) long, it has a streaked brown back and grey head, a fine pointed bill, and produces a thin, tinkling song and a shrill tseep call. Dunnocks build nests low in bushes or conifers and typically lay three to five unspotted blue eggs. Their breeding system is variable, with different combinations of males and females sometimes sharing parental care. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 15
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Lauren Bacall (1924–2014) was an American actress. One of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, she was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute, and received an Academy Honorary Award in 2009 in recognition of her contribution to the Golden Age of motion pictures. Bacall made her acting debut on Broadway in 1942 at the age of 17, and her final role was as a guest voice appearance in 2014. During her long career, she won seven major awards: one Oscar, one Critics' Choice Award, two Golden Globes, one Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Tony Awards. This photograph, taken by Bernard Gotfryd circa 1979, shows Bacall with the manuscript of her first autobiography, Lauren Bacall by Myself, at the offices of the publishing house Alfred A. Knopf. Photograph credit: Bernard Gotfryd
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March 14
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Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. It had a population of 905,748 at the 2020 census, making it the 14th most populous city in the United States, and a metropolitan area population of around 2.2 million. The city is the county seat of Franklin County and also extends into Delaware and Fairfield counties. Columbus was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers and was named after Christopher Columbus. It became the state capital in 1816 and grew during the nineteenth century as a transportation and industrial hub linked by the National Road, canals and railroads. Columbus is now a center for high-tech manufacturing with plants operated by Intel, Honda and LG Energy Solution and is home to Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in the country. This photograph shows Downtown Columbus and the Scioto Mile, viewed from the southwest. Photograph credit: Paul Wasneski
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March 13
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Scoliidae, or the scoliid wasps, is a family of around 300 described species of wasps found worldwide. They are solitary parasitoids whose larvae develop on the larvae of other insects, most commonly the scarab beetle. Females search for hosts in soil or rotting wood, sometimes following tunnels created by the beetle larvae. After locating a host, the female stings and paralyses it and may move it into a chamber before laying a single egg on the immobilised grub. Because many scarab beetles are agricultural pests, scoliid wasps can act as important biological control agents. Adult wasps often visit flowers and may function as minor pollinators. In some species, orchid flowers mimic female wasps and attract males, which attempt to mate with the flowers and thereby pollinate them. This male scoliid wasp of the species Megascolia bidens was photographed near Soliman on Cape Bon, a peninsula in northeastern Tunisia. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 12
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Milk Drop Coronet is a high-speed photograph taken in 1957 by the American engineer and photographer Harold "Doc" Edgerton. It shows a drop of milk striking a surface and forming a crown-shaped splash, captured using Edgerton's stroboscope-based flash photography techniques. A professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Edgerton had pioneered the use of extremely short flashes of light to photograph the motion of electric motors, later applying the technique to phenomena such as flying insects, bullets, and splashing liquids. He had experimented with milk-drop images since 1932 and produced a similar photograph in 1936. Milk Drop Coronet became one of the best-known examples of high-speed photography, widely exhibited in museums and included in Time's list of the 100 most influential photographs. Photograph credit: Harold Edgerton
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March 11
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Mobile radar observation of tornadoes, or mobile Doppler weather radar, is a technique developed in the late 20th century to study rapidly evolving atmospheric phenomena such as tornadoes and severe convective storms. This is an improvement over earlier ground-based observation networks such as mesonets, which are often too slow to capture detailed measurements of short-lived events. Early innovations include the 1993 ELDORA airborne radar system, mounted on a Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft to observe large storms at high resolution, and the 1994–95 Doppler on Wheels (DOW), which was deployed during the VORTEX1 project. Later developments improved scanning speed and detail: in 2011, the RaXPol mobile radar was created to rapidly observe storms and hurricanes, and in 2023 the University of Oklahoma and the National Severe Storms Laboratory deployed HORUS, the first fully digital mobile phased array weather radar. This DOW radar loop shows the hook echo and the associated mesocyclone of the 2009 Goshen County tornado in Wyoming. The animation spans a duration of about 24 minutes, and is colored according to reflectivity data on the left and velocity data on the right. Animation credit: Joshua Wurman / Center for Severe Weather Research
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March 10
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The plumed whistling duck (Dendrocygna eytoni), is a species of bird in the whistling duck subfamily of the family Anatidae. It is resident and breeds in Australia, in a broad arc covering the northern half and most of the eastern third of the continent. There are also non-breeding and seasonally uncertain populations in New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is a predominantly brown-coloured duck with a long neck and characteristic plumes arising from its flanks. The sexes are similar in appearance. This plumed whistling duck was photographed in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 9
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The Game.com is a fifth-generation handheld video game console manufactured by Tiger Electronics. Designed as a competitor to Nintendo's Game Boy series, it was released in September 1997. It sold less than 300,000 units and was discontinued in 2000 as a commercial failure. Photograph credit: Evan Amos
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March 8
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Lilly Walleni (1875–1920) is the stage name of Swedish mezzo-soprano Sanna Klara Vallentin. Known for her powerful voice and dramatic stage presence, she performed major Wagnerian roles – including Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre – at leading opera houses in Germany and at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. From 1911 to 1916 she was engaged by the Court Opera in Hanover, where she received cultural honours from the principalities of Lippe and Schaumburg-Lippe. This photograph shows Walleni in the title role of the opera Daria at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1907. Photograph credit: Anton Blomberg; restored by Adam Cuerden
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March 7
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The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) is a subspecies of the leopard and part of the cat family, Felidae. It is widely distributed across much of Sub-Saharan Africa, although its historical range has become increasingly fragmented due to habitat loss and human activity. It has also been recorded in North Africa. It inhabits various habitats including mountainous forests, grasslands and savannahs. The African leopard's coat colour varies from pale yellow to deep gold, tawny or black, and is patterned with black rosettes while the head, lower limbs and belly are spotted with solid black. Male leopards are larger than females, averaging 58 kg (128 lb), while females weigh about 37.5 kg (83 lb) on average. The African leopard has a very broad diet, with prey ranging from dung beetles and other arthropods to rodents, birds, antelopes, hyraxes, hares, and even large ungulates such as elands. Leopards typically concentrate their hunting on locally abundant medium-sized ungulates but opportunistically take a wide variety of other prey. This African leopard was photographed in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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March 6
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Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal emperor Humayun, located in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Bega Begum, Humayun's first wife and chief consort, in 1558, and was designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and his son Sayyid Muhammad, Persian architects chosen by Bega. Inspired by Persian architecture, it was the first Indian building to use the Persian double dome on a high neck drum, the dome being white in colour. The rest of the building is largely red sandstone, with white and black marble and yellow sandstone detailing. It reaches a height of 47 metres (154 ft) with a plinth 91 metres (299 ft) wide. A cenotaph is situated directly underneath the dome, while Humayun's actual burial place is in an underground chamber below that. The tomb is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and several smaller monuments and other tombs are located nearby. This photograph shows the western facade of Humayun's tomb as seen in 2012. Photograph credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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March 5
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The toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) is a species of bird in the toucan family, Ramphastidae. It is the largest species of toucan and has a distinctive appearance, with a black body, a white throat, chest and uppertail coverts, and red undertail coverts. Its most conspicuous feature is its huge beak, which is yellow-orange with a black base and a large spot on the tip. It is endemic to South America, where it has a wide distribution from the Guianas south to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and its range has recently been expanding southwards. Unlike other toucans, which inhabit continuous forests, the toco toucan inhabits a variety of semi-open habitats at altitudes of up to 1,750 metres (5,740 ft). It feeds mainly on fleshy fruits, but can also supplement its diet with insects, eggs, and the nestlings of other birds. This toco toucan was photographed near Poconé in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Photograph credit: Bernard Dupont
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March 4
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Tancredo Neves (4 March 1910 – 21 April 1985) was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and entrepreneur. He served as Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs from 1953 to 1954, President of the Council of Ministers from 1961 to 1962, and Minister of Finance in 1962. Neves also served in the Federal Senate from 1979 to 1983, and was Governor of Minas Gerais from 1983 to 1984. He was elected President of Brazil in 1985, but died before taking office. Neves was one of the most important Brazilian politicians in the 20th century and one of the major statesmen in the history of Brazil. In July 2012, he was chosen one of the 100 greatest Brazilians of all time in a competition organized by Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão. This photograph shows Neves during his time in the Federal Senate. Photograph credit: Federal Senate; restored by Adam Cuerden
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