Humans have been decorating eggs for Easter for centuries, but decorated ostrich eggs have been found from as far back as 60,000 years ago, long before the Christian festival began. The Easter egg has long been a symbol of fertility and rebirth, but exactly why people started decorating them is unclear. One theory is that, because animal products were not eaten during the religious Lenten season, people would hard-boil the eggs and decorate them with dye and wax, until they could be eaten at Easter. A more opulent type of decorated egg, Fabergé eggs, were famously created as bejeweled Easter gifts to the Russian imperial family. Our homepage image shows eggs from Lithuania, where people use traditional methods to paint patterns with wax using sharp objects or etch patterns into dyed eggs.
Happy Easter!
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Replica of a Viking home in Dublin National Botanic Gardens, Ireland
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A ‘city’ within Valencia
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International Polar Bear Day
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Polar bear season in Manitoba
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Sunbeams across Tartu County, Estonia
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A night on the (ghost) town
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It s International Jazz Day
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American Wetlands Month
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Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
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National Fossil Day
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Four little birds sitting in a tree…
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National Lighthouse Day
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The mighty, mighty mushroom
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Mekong River Delta, Long An, Vietnam
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Freeloaders of the avian world
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A wassailing we go
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Take this for a spin...
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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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Fall comes to the Last Frontier
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Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Arkansas
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A step toward freedom
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From the mind of Frank Gehry
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Atolls in the Maldives
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A city, a cliff, a canyon…and cheese
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World Migratory Bird Day
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A big place to shop small
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Albion Falls, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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River otters at Acadia National Park, Maine
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Midsummer in Sweden
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Here s looking at you