Bing Wallpaper Gallery

BIng Images 2019/06

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  2019-06-01Hiking the High Trestle Trail

  The unique 130-foot-tall bridge you see here is just a small part of a longer 25-mile trail that connects five small towns in central Iowa. The High Trestle Trail is a rail trail—a decommissioned railroad track that’s been turned into a multiuse trail—and it follows the path of an old Union Pacific Railroad freight line. The rail-to-trail movement began in the 1960s when many railroad tracks began to be removed and people noted that the relatively flat rail corridors were perfect for hiking and biking trails. We can now enjoy thousands of miles of rail trails throughout the US. So today, on National Trails Day, find a trail near you and get outside to celebrate.

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  2019-06-02An island for the birds

  Those white specks scattered around the surface of the Bass Rock are northern gannets—seabirds that spend their springtime breeding and nesting season on the islands and shores of the North Atlantic. At the height of the birds’ nesting season, roughly 150,000 gannets arrive on the Bass to rear their chicks, making this location the largest gannet colony on Earth. There are no human inhabitants on the Bass—the lighthouse is automated. The tiny volcanic plug island is just over a mile off the coast of the Lothian region of eastern Scotland in the Firth of Forth.

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  2019-06-03Oh, happy day!

  This baby harbor seal is happily ensconced on a beach on the German island of Düne in the North Sea archipelago of Heligoland. Throngs of seal watchers come here every May and June to watch these cute pups spend their first few weeks of life lolling about the beach.

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  2019-06-04Breaking the fast for Eid

  Here in the Draa River Valley, farmers grow date palms in the oasis town of Zagora, which for many is the last stop before a long journey into the Sahara. Today the Muslim population of Zagora will join billions of Muslims around the world to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. The food-filled holiday marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

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  2019-06-05Happy trees = Clean air

  We’re gazing up at the tree canopy in the Tambopata National Reserve of the Peruvian Amazon. The Amazon rainforest covers 60 percent of Peru’s total landmass, stretching over 37,000 square miles.

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  2019-06-06Engineering an artificial harbor in Normandy

  For the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the end of WWII, we’re focusing on the remains of a Mulberry harbour—one of the most impressive military engineering feats of the war. Knowing that the ability to land huge numbers of men, vehicles, and supplies would be crucial to the Allies’ success in the invasion of Normandy, Winston Churchill challenged his forces to come up with artificial harbors that could be towed into place and operational within days of the initial landings.

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  2019-06-07Holey moley–it’s National Doughnut Day!

  Observed annually on the first Friday in June, National Doughnut Day isn’t a marketing ploy by the American Bakers Association. It actually commemorates the women of the Salvation Army who cared for soldiers serving on the front lines of World War I in Montiers-sur-Saulx, France. After several weeks of inclement weather, the demoralized soldiers’ spirits were lifted by a taste from home. The Doughnut Lassies, as the Salvation Army women became known, are often credited with popularizing the doughnut after soldiers returned home after the war. Later, during the depths of the Great Depression in 1938, Chicago’s Salvation Army began National Doughnut Day as a fundraiser to help those in need. The Salvation Army celebrates National Doughnut Day these days by delivering thousands of doughnuts around the country.

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  2019-06-08Diving into World Oceans Day

  Humans have been trying to construct artificial coral reefs since at least the 1950s, with only marginal success. But in 1979, German scientist and inventor Wolf Hilbertz created ‘Biorock,’ also known as ‘Seacrete.’ Hilbertz found that by directing a low-voltage charge to a metal frame submerged in seawater, calcium and other minerals in the water would build up on the frame. This mineral coating is so similar to the mineral composition of natural reef substrate that it creates a good habitat for the growth of corals. After the minerals have begun to coat the surface, divers transplant coral fragments from other reefs, attaching them to the structure’s frame. These coral pieces begin to bond to the accreted mineral substrate and start to grow, typically faster than in natural environments. Eventually the reef looks and functions like a natural reef ecosystem rather than an artificial one.

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  2019-06-09Crown Fountain by Jume Plensa at Millennium Park in Chicago

  Welcome to Chicago, the undisputed home of the blues. If you’re a fan of blues music, make your way here to Millennium Park this weekend for the 36th annual Chicago Blues Festival. Blues music is considered one of America’s greatest contributions to world culture and the progenitor of jazz, R&B, and rock & roll.

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  2019-06-10Ponta da Piedade rock formations in Portugal

  Today we’re featuring the Ponta da Piedade rock formations in the Algarve region as a nod to Portugal Day, a celebration of the Portuguese nation and its people. Observed throughout the Portuguese diaspora, the main festivities are military ceremonies, exhibitions, concerts, pageants, and parades on June 10, the anniversary of the death of Portuguese poet Luís de Camões. Camões was an incredibly colorful character whose poem ‘Os Lusíadas’ chronicled the discovery of the sea route to India by Portuguese explorers and the development of the Portuguese Empire. It is regarded as the national epic poem, much like Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ was to the ancient Romans, and his influence is so great that Portuguese is often referred to as “the language of Camões.”

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  2019-06-11Installation art turns heads

  If you ever encounter a giant plastic snail in the city or an army of rainbow-colored meerkats holding sentry outside a historic building, it’s likely an art installation from the Cracking Art collective. The group uses recyclable plastic to craft vivid representations of meerkats, elephants, snails, and other natural creatures for traveling art installations in unexpected locations. The collective’s use of plastic is meant to call attention to the sometimes blurry connection between natural and artificial reality, inviting viewers to reexamine the world around them. The meerkat exhibit on our homepage took place in 2015 at Le Mans Cathedral in Le Mans, France.

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  2019-06-12A big birthday for Big Bend

  Seventy-five years ago today, on June 12, 1944, Big Bend officially became a US national park. The park covers more than 800,000 acres in West Texas along the Mexico border. The vast protected area contains mountain, river, and desert ecosystems, including the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States. But the ‘big’ doesn"t stop there. Big Bend is home to 1,200 species of plants, over 450 species of birds, 75 species of mammals, and 56 species of reptiles. (We"re not sure how many of those are snakes, if you"re wondering.) Because of its remote location, Big Bend also has among the darkest skies ever measured in the contiguous US. So tonight, the only light you"ll likely see is the glow from 75 birthday candles—and a few million stars.

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  2019-06-13A unique elephant encounter in Nantes

  Created by François Delarozière, Pierre Orefice, and their team of artists and engineers at La Machine Company workshop, the Grand Éléphant was the first of three artworks/attractions constructed for the Machines de l’île (Machines of the Isle) in Nantes. The elephant is a mechanical sculpture that’s so big it can take up to 49 passengers for a 45-minute walk. After unveiling the elephant in 2007 and the Carrousel des Mondes Marins (Marine World Carousel) in 2012, they"re now working on an ambitious third project, L’Arbre aux Hérons (Tree of Herons), scheduled for 2022. The efforts of these visionary creators have turned a shuttered industrial shipyard on the Loire River into a unique place where art, architecture, tourism, and urban planning come together to delight all who visit.

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  2019-06-14A perfect day to fly your flag

  We"re at Chimney Rock State Park, about 25 miles southeast of Asheville, North Carolina, for Flag Day. The 6,807-acre park gets its name from the 315-foot spire that offers expansive views of Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. If you"re wondering how this sizable flag made it up to the summit, we don"t know the answer to that. But there is an elevator inside the mountain that can zip you to the top in 32 seconds. The other option is to hike up the 499 steps to the viewpoint.

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  2019-06-15Pasadena Chalk Festival supports local arts education

  Since 1993, the Pasadena-based nonprofit Light Bringer Project has supported arts education in the Los Angeles area by helping produce the annual Pasadena Chalk Festival. Hundreds of artists spend the weekend creating unique chalk artworks on the sidewalks of historic downtown Pasadena for this free event. Funds are raised through donations from festival attendees and proceeds from sales of artwork and a silent auction.