In honor of Penguin Awareness Day, we’re featuring the big daddy of the penguin world–the emperor penguin. At about 4 feet tall and weighing up to 100 pounds, it’s both the tallest and heaviest penguin species. The emperor is found only in Antarctica, where it endures wind chills colder than -75 degrees F and blizzard winds of more than 120 mph. It survives these harsh weather conditions by storing lots of fat underneath four layers of feathers. But the emperor penguin truly rules underwater, where it spends roughly half of its life. Studies show that an emperor can dive more than 1,700 feet below the surface, holding its breath more than 15 minutes at a time. It goes to such great depths in search of food, often for its babies back on shore.
It’s Penguin Awareness Day
Today in History
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Heavens Gate Cave, Tianmen Mountain National Park, China
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Poinsettia Day
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World Elephant Day
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It’s National Dolphin Day!
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Lucian Blaga National Theater, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Via Krupp, Capri, Italy
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Craig Goch Dam in the Elan Valley of Wales
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Holidays in the Venetian Lagoon
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The Cathedral of Florence, Italy
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Yarn bombing in the village of Gurnard, England
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Happy Star Wars Day!
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Blink and you ll miss it
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Haghartsin Monastery, Armenia
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World Art Day
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A Flag Day tradition
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Marine Day in Japan
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Behold the perfect cone
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Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
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Badlands National Park turns 44
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Today is World Refugee Day
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Happy Halloween!
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Bridge of Hillsborough County
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Chapel on the rock
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Arbor Day
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Light show at the skatepark
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Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC
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The Feathers at Frenchman Coulee near Vantage, Washington
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Have you turned off your electronic device?
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Autumn in the Prosecco Hills
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We did not invent this, honest