21 Jun 2017

Alexander J. Dallas

Alexander J. Dallas (1759–1817) was an American statesman who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under PresidentJames Madison between 1814 and 1816. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Dallas was raised in Great Britain but migrated to Philadelphia in 1783. There he was admitted to the bar and edited several publications. From 1791 to 1800, he served as the first reporter of decisions for the Supreme Court of the United States. He also served as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1791–1801), and acted as United States Secretary of War and Secretary of State (both in 1815).

13 Jun 2017

Commone Clam Worm

The common clam worm (Alitta succinea) is a widely distributed species of marine polychaete worm. The photograph shows an epitoke specimen, the worm having turned into a form capable of reproduction. After releasing its sperm or eggs, the animal will die.

12 Jun 2017

A Young Girl Reading

A Young Girl Reading is an 18th-century oil painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. It depicts a young girl, reading from a small book held in her right hand, in profile. She is dressed in a lemon yellow dress, with her hair tied in a chignon. The painting was purchased by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1961 using funds donated by Ailsa Mellon Bruce, the daughter of Andrew W. Mellon, following her father's death.

22 May 2017

Wells Cathedral

Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. The seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, it is the mother church of the diocese and contains the bishop's throne (cathedra). It was built between 1175 and 1490, replacing an earlier church built on the same site in 705. The cathedral's architecture is entirely Gothic and mostly in the Early English style of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.

20 May 2017

The Shrapnel Shell

A photograph of British soldiers loading a shrapnel shell during World War I. Published in The Illustrated War News, this image was captioned:
"Our illustration gives an interior view, so to speak, of a gun-position, in the British lines at the front, screened by head-cover to escape observation by German airmen. The overhead covering is seen with its deceptive thatch, apparently of straw, and the gunners are shown in action loading the gun. The man to the left is setting the time-fuse of a shrapnel shell."

25 Apr 2017

Charolais Bull

A feral Charolais bull in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, Venezuela. This breed of taurine beef cattle comes from the Charolais area in eastern France. Domestic Charolais are raised for meat, and may be crossed with other breeds, including Angus and Hereford cattle.

16 Mar 2017

Vertumnus

Vertumnus is a painting completed by the Mannerist painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo in Milan c. 1590–1591. It depicts the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumnus, the Roman god of metamorphoses in nature and life. The fruits and vegetables symbolize the abundance of the Golden Age that had returned under the Emperor's rule. The painting is now held at Skokloster Castle.

22 Feb 2017

Lufthansa Airbus

Lufthansa Airbus A320-211 taking off at Stuttgart Airport, Germany. The Airbus A320 family, consisting of the A318A319, A320, and A321, pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems and side-stick controls in commercial aircraft. Since the 1980s, a total of 7,442 Airbus A320-family aircraft have been delivered, of which 7,122 are in service. The largest A320 fleet is that of American Airlines, with 380 aircraft.

27 Jan 2017

Kingdom of Mysore

Mysore Palace, the official residence and seat of the Wodeyars – the rulers of the Kingdom of Mysore. Located in southern India, the kingdom is traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 as a vassal state to the Vijayanagara Empire before becoming independent in the 16th century.

3 Jan 2017

Paulus Moreelse

Paulus Moreelse (1571–1638) was a Dutch painter and architect. Born in Utrecht, he studied under Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt and spent some time in Italy in the late 16th century before returning to his hometown. Receiving commissions from throughout the Dutch Republic, Moreelse was mainly active painting portraits. This self-portrait, completed in c. 1635, is held at the Mauritshuis in The Hague.

23 Dec 2016

Gravel Pit

A panoramic view of the gravel pit near Kongensbro, Denmark, which is operated by BG Stone. Gravel pits are open-pit mines for extraction of gravel and often lie in river valleys where the water table is high. As such, pits may naturally fill with water, and abandoned ones are often used as nature reserves or as amenity areas for water sports, landfills and walking.

Nuremberg

Nuremberg is a census-designated place in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 434 at the 2010 census. It occupies a total area of 0.58 square miles (1.5 km2).

13 Dec 2016

European Robin

The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) is a small insectivorous passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. Around 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) in length, the male and female are similar in colouration, with an orange breast and face lined with grey, brown upperparts and a whitish belly. It is found across Europe, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa; it is sedentary in most of its range except the far north.

11 Dec 2016

Mass Grave

mass grave of 26 Republican victims killed by Nationalists in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. This grave was excavated in EstéparBurgos, in 2014.
Generally speaking, mass graves contain multiple bodies that may or may not be identified prior to burial. They may be seen after violent conflict or be dug for sanitation reasons after a major famineepidemic, or natural disaster.

17 Nov 2016

Cymon and Iphigenia

Cymon and Iphigenia is an oil on canvas painting by Frederic Leighton, that was first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1884. Based on the story of Iphigenia and her transformation of the lout Cymon into a veritable polymath, the painting has been described as emphasizing "the transforming power of beauty." The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, purchased this painting at a Christie's auction in 1976.

7 Nov 2016

Canadian Coast Guard

A rescue exercise being undertaken by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Coast Guard. Formed in 1962, the Canadian Coast Guard is a Special Operating Agencywithin Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Unlike some other coast guardorganizations, it does not have naval or law enforcement responsibilities.

5 Sept 2016

Plum Park in Kameido

Plum Park in Kameido is a woodblock print in the ukiyo-e genre by the Japanese artist Hiroshige. It was published in 1857 as the thirtieth print in the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo series and depicts Prunus mume trees in bloom. Popular prints such as Plum Park in Kameido were produced in the tens of thousands at a low individual cost. After the opening up of Japan in 1853, they found a following in Europe, where they had a significant influence on the Impressionist artists, and onPost-Impressionists such as Vincent van Gogh.

3 Sept 2016

The Great Day of His Wrath

The Great Day of His Wrath is an 1851–1853 oil painting on canvas by the English painter John Martin. It has variously been described as showing the "destruction of Babylon and the material world by natural cataclysm" (as a response to the emerging industrial scene of London), "the collapse of Edinburgh in Scotland", and a portion of the Biblical Book of Revelation. The painting is held by Tate Britain in London.

20 Aug 2016

Morpho Didius

A ventral view of Morpho didius, a Neotropical butterfly belonging to the subfamily Morphinae of familyNymphalidae. With a wingspan reaching 150 mm (5.9 in), it is one of the largest of Morpho species.

12 Aug 2016

Hughes Medal

The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded with a gift of £1000. The medal was first awarded in 1902 to J. J. Thomson (pictured) "for his numerous contributions to electric science, especially in reference to the phenomena of electric discharge in gases", and has since been awarded over one hundred times. Unlike other Royal Society medals, the Hughes Medal has never been awarded to the same individual more than once. The medal has on occasion been awarded to multiple people at a time; in 1938 it was won by John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, in 1981 byPeter Higgs and Tom Kibble, in 1982 by Drummond Matthews and Frederick Vine and in 1988 by Archibald Howie and M.J. Whelan.