A photographer happened to catch these brown bear cubs in the act of stealing a boat. Patiently, he watched from afar, snapping photo after photo. Realizing what the cubs were doing, he knew he should document this event. Intent on getting the boat into the water, the cubs worked like they’d done this before. Lighting out onto the lake, the bears seemed to enjoy the ride.
The books shown on our homepage are a selection of works by the 19th-century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. His birthday today is the inspiration for International Children’s Book Day. Since 1967, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has used the occasion of Andersen’s birthday to encourage readers young and old to make time for reading. Hans Christian Andersen made time for writing: By some estimates, he crafted more than 3,000 fairy tales—some based on stories he was told as a child. He also wrote poetry, novels, and even travel books. What childhood favorite inspired your love of literature?
We’re celebrating International Dark-Sky Week with an image from a corner of New Mexico that’s one of the best places to stargaze in the continental United States. Dark-Sky Week is observed during the first new moon of April, when stars shine more brightly because the moon isn’t visible. The event was created to bring attention to the harmful effects of artificial light on the natural world, and to remind us of the beauty of an unadulterated night sky. Light pollution not only impacts our ability to see the stars and to sleep soundly, but also creates challenges for many nocturnal species, migrating birds, and even baby sea turtles. So, turn out those lights, look up, and be amazed at the sky that your great-great-grandparents saw.
For Earth Month, we’re highlighting the power of trees, which help to clean our air and watersheds while providing habitat for myriad species, including our own. In urban areas, trees provide unique benefits by cooling area temperatures, producing oxygen, increasing property values, and generally improving the scenery.
Today, places like this nature path in Longyan, China, will be full of families. A springtime walk with loved ones is often part of the Qingming Festival happening today. Qingming translates as ‘Pure Brightness,’ though it’s also called Tomb-Sweeping Day. It’s a time to honor your deceased ancestors, often by cleaning and decorating their graves, and gathering the family together to share happy memories of those relatives. The solemnity is balanced by the arrival of spring, so some Qingming observances include spending time outdoors with family.
Happy Robotics Week! Every April, people across the country come together to educate and inspire students about the importance of robotics, which can now be found just about everywhere, contributing to almost every industry. Many people now have robots in their homes to help with simple housekeeping tasks, but robots are also capable of incredibly complex and delicate work. For example, robotic surgery allows doctors to make more precise movements than possible by a human hand. Reconnaissance robots are used by police to gather intel in situations that are too dangerous for humans. And robots are experts at rote tasks that we humans find boring, like repetitive assembly work.
For International Beaver Day, we take a peek at one of nature"s most prolific engineers, the beaver. This sleek swimmer is at Schwabacher’s Landing, a boat landing along the east shore of the Snake River in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Beavers build dams to help keep their lodges and litters safe, but the positive impacts ripple through the environment: restoring wetlands, combating climate change, and removing fertilizer runoff. If we protect their habitat, beavers will pay it forward by creating the wetlands so many threatened or endangered species rely on.
In honor of National Library Week, we’re visiting Seattle Public Library’s Central Library. With its innovative glass and steel design, you could say we’ve come a long way from the world’s first libraries that housed archives of clay tablets and papyrus scrolls. Downtown Seattle’s 11-story flagship public library has lots of open spaces like this one that allow patrons to meet, study, search the web, or read in comfortable, light-filled rooms. It can house more than 1.5 million books, many of which are stored in an innovative "Books Spiral," which displays the volumes in a continuous helix of bookshelves over 3.5 stories without breaking the Dewey Decimal System onto different floors or sections. The library, designed by architect Rem Koolhaas, moves all those books around by using a sorting system that resembles an airport’s luggage conveyor belt. How’s that for high-tech?
From April through September, a type of algae commonly called ‘sea sparkle’ blooms along the coast of all 36 islands in the Matsu archipelago off the coast of Taiwan. An enzyme reaction in the algae’s single-cellular bodies creates the light-emitting chemical reaction. Locals call the natural light show ‘blue tears.’ Stranger still is that when the water is disturbed, the algae light up even brighter. If you want to see the blue tears of the Matsu Islands, there’s still time to book a trip—the bioluminescent effect is more common and more intense during the hot summer months.
It"s Siblings Day, "a day to honor, celebrate and memorialize all brothers and sisters, and the bond that is forever a special gift," according to the Siblings Day Foundation. Though it"s not a federal holiday in the US, 49 states have issued proclamations recognizing Siblings Day (come on, California!). Relationships between siblings can, of course, be complicated, whether you"re looking as far back as Cain and Abel or as recently as the Kardashians" latest spat. But siblings also share a unique bond. These male lion cubs in Kenya"s Samburu National Reserve embody both sides of the relationship as they playfully wrestle. Chasing and tackling each other, they"re also developing strength, coordination, and mental and social skills—just like you and your siblings might have.
With tulip fields in bloom across the Netherlands, like this one in the Duin- en Bollenstreek (Dune and Bulb) region, we"re flinging ourselves into spring for the month-long Amsterdam Tulip Festival. Since the days of ‘tulip mania’ in the 1600s, the Dutch have remained wild about the colorful perennial, which was first cultivated in Persia in the 10th century. Visitors to the Amsterdam Tulip Festival this month can see the blooms at more than 85 locations throughout the region. The biggest and most famous displays will be at Keukenhof outside Amsterdam, which this year is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its public tulip beds. This "Garden of Europe" is one of the world"s largest flower gardens with 800 varieties of tulips and more than 7 million flowering spring bulbs each year. But don"t tarry, while the flower power is strong here, tulip season doesn"t last long.
The extreme weather atop New Hampshire’s Mount Washington is a combination of the peak’s 6,288-foot elevation and its position between three storm fronts, from the Atlantic, the Gulf region, and the Pacific Northwest. Our photo today shows the Mount Washington Observatory, a private, non-profit weather and climate research facility at the summit. Two crews of scientists alternate living here every other week. For most of the winter, rime ice covers the observatory, as sub-zero water droplets instantly freeze on contact with the building façade. Not only is it cold up here; the winds can be ferocious. It was on this day in 1934 that instruments at the observatory clocked a wind speed of 231 mph. That was the fastest recorded wind speed in the world, until the record was broken in 1996 by Cyclone Olivia on Barrow Island, off the coast of Western Australia.
Record stores are more than just places to buy music. They create communities where music fans can browse titles, discover new sounds, and connect with each other. Record Store Day started in 2008 to celebrate the culture of independently owned record stores and the people behind them. Since then it’s grown into an international event with special vinyl and CD releases, live performances, and a designated artist ambassador. This year"s ambassador is Pearl Jam, and the hundreds of special releases include a picture disc of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" soundtrack. Visit your local record store and see what you can discover—today or any day.
The tiny island of Gaztelugatxe is connected to the mainland of northern Spain in Basque Country by a manmade bridge and this winding, ancient stone footpath. Two hundred and forty-one steps lead up to a small church, originally dating from the 10th century. The church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times—its current incarnation was built from scratch in the late 1800s.
On World Art Day, we"re looking at Yayoi Kusama"s sculptural installation "With All My Love for The Tulips, I Pray Forever (2011)." Kusama is a Japanese artist who spent several years in New York, where this exhibition was held in 2017. She’s known for combining the organic and the artificial, as she does with these oversized polka-dotted tulips that blend into their background.
A century ago, in April 1919, Walter Gropius outlined his vision for art and design in the "Manifesto of the Staatliches Bauhaus." A goal of the Bauhaus movement was for artists and craftspeople to collaborate on the creation of functional, simplified works that could be mass produced—applying the process to all forms: architecture, textiles, fine art, furniture, typography, and much more. Berlin"s Bauhaus Archive, the building featured in today"s image, is dedicated to collecting documents and works created by the movement"s teachers, alumni, and adherents.
Let"s raise a pint to the Peak. Sixty-eight years ago today, on April 17, 1951, the UK officially created Peak District National Park, the country"s first. The aim was to ensure public access to the open countryside in northern England and protect it from inappropriate development. The 555-square-mile park, located mainly within the county of Derbyshire, has a mix of private and public lands. Within the park boundaries, you"ll find towns, villages, historical sites, and herds of cattle and sheep grazing in the lush hills. About 1,800 miles of hiking trails in the park traverse rolling hills, pastures, and moors. Bonus for the thirsty hiker: The trails also pass by some of the best pubs in England.
Since its opening in 2013, the Miracle Garden in Dubai has been setting records at a breakneck speed. At 780,000 square feet, the sheer size of this attraction makes it the world’s largest flower garden. With the addition of the Airbus A380 that appears in today"s image, the garden added ‘world"s largest floral installation’ to its achievements in 2016. Most recently, a 59-foot-tall Mickey Mouse helped them nab the tallest supported topiary sculpture record.
If you’re looking for a piece of paradise that’s off the beaten path, consider Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, a destination in the Cerrado, a vast tropical savannah in central Brazil. Located on a towering plateau that’s estimated to be 1.8 billion years old, it’s home to many rare and beautiful species, including these delicate flowers, paepalanthus. Waterfalls are plentiful here. Ranging from 250 to nearly 400 feet tall, they cascade down among some of the oldest rock formations on the planet. Quartz crystals dot the landscape, and their reflections reportedly make the region shine when viewed from space.
The Cove of Spires in Kenai Fjords National Park is just one of the dramatic glacial landscapes that you can experience in the park. Located near Seward, Alaska, the park is home to 38 glaciers which cover over half of the area in ice—though climate change has reduced that drastically over the last decades. We"re here to celebrate the beginning of National Park Week, a nine-day celebration of the 61 national parks in the US. Parks around the country will be holding special programs and events throughout the week, and today, April 20, is free admission day. So, put on your hiking shoes and start exploring our national treasures.
It sure looks to us like this bunny has found a great place to hide brightly colored eggs. German Lutherans created the character of the ‘Easter hare’ that is the basis for the modern-day Easter Bunny. Their version of the bunny judged whether children had been good or bad during the Eastertide season—with well-behaved kids getting a treat. But rabbits and hares have long been associated with springtime, rebirth, and fertility, so perhaps the leap from gentle backyard visitor to keeper of spring’s ‘naughty or nice’ list was inevitable for these fuzzy critters.
Earth Day brings us to Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, where this fuzzy Laysan albatross chick is taking in its surroundings. The chick’s home, unfortunately, has a plastic problem. Midway Atoll is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, not far from the giant gyre of marine debris known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It’s been estimated that some 100 pounds of plastic wash up on Midway Atoll each week, and most of the albatross population has ingested it (they confuse the brightly colored pieces with marine life). For chicks, eating the plastic often proves fatal. But one resilient Laysan albatross named Wisdom has become a symbol of hope. At 68 years old, Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in the world–and as of 2018 she was still laying eggs. Sounds like a perfect Earth Day mascot.
To celebrate Sant Jordi’s Day today, we’re studying the intricate façade of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. The holiday is the Catalan celebration of Saint George’s Day, which is observed throughout Europe. According to legend, Jordi (Catalan for ‘George’) saved a princess from the clutches of a terrible dragon. After rescuing her, the knight gave the damsel a red rose, which has become an important symbol of the holiday in Catalonia. As it happens, Spaniards also celebrate April 23 as Book Day, marking the anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, the famous 16th- and 17th-century Spanish writer. So here in Barcelona, both roses and books are given to loved ones on Sant Jordi’s Day, while music and dancing fill the streets. We might pause in our revelry to spend some time taking in Casa Batlló, designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. The building is heavily inspired by Sant Jordi’s legend, with red roses on the balconies, and a roof made to look like dragon scales.
The Quinault Rainforest is in one of four lushly forested valleys on western Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Lying within both Olympic National Park and the Olympic National Forest, this temperate rainforest gets anywhere from 12 to 14 feet of rain per year. All that water means the Quinault bursts with greenery, especially in spring as mountain snow melts and the river begins to flow with gusto.
It’s the first day of summer in Iceland. Known as ‘sumardagurinn fyrsti,’ this national holiday has been celebrated on the first Thursday after April 18 for centuries. The first settlers on Iceland used the Old Norse calendar, which divided the year into just two seasons. So, summer starts earlier and lasts longer in Iceland than in other countries. But then, so does winter. Today’s a cold start to summer, with temperatures in late April rarely getting above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but conditions are good for the ice cave we’re featuring today, in Vatnajökull National Park. The Vatnajökull glacier is the largest ice cap in Europe by volume, and rests atop multiple active volcanoes. Gleðilegt sumar, Icelanders!
A Chinese proverb advises, ‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.’ That’s especially true today. It’s National Arbor Day in the US and we’re featuring this dramatic photo of coast redwoods to remind you of the incredible power and importance of trees. The very first recorded Arbor Day took place in 1594 in the little village of Mondoñedo in Spain, organized by its mayor. The first US Arbor Day was observed in Nebraska City, Nebraska, on April 10, 1872. It was organized by journalist and politician Julius Sterling Morton, who’d moved to Nebraska from Michigan, and called his adopted state a ‘treeless prairie.’ He rallied celebrants at that first US Arbor Day to plant an estimated 1 million trees.
The bright flowers of these aloe plants offer a striking contrast to their more recognizable green, spiky stems. Native to Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula, aloes—including the well-known aloe vera species—are now grown outdoors in many locations that boast mild winter climates. They can bloom at any time throughout the year. And yes, even indoor potted aloes can be encouraged to bloom with the right amount of sunlight, water, and fertilizer.
At the close of National Park Week, we arrive at Badlands in South Dakota. Our photo today shows a view from Castle Trail—at 10 miles round trip, it’s the longest marked hike in the park. Spring rain has revived the grasses across the prairie as the sun illuminates the pinnacle rock formations in the distance. Soon, grazing animals such as bison and pronghorn will begin feasting on the fresh crop of grasses. This is also a good time of year to spot some of the dozens of different butterfly species that live in the park and provide a delicate contrast to the park’s rugged landscape.
Spring means more than just April showers and May flowers. It"s also the season when many baby animals are born. The rainy, warmer days bring new plant growth, which means nursing and foraging moms can provide their newborns with larger amounts of higher-quality food. It also maximizes the "growing season" for spring babies, giving them time to increase in size and put on fat before winter arrives.
We’re joining the rest of the world in celebrating International Jazz Day with this 1959 image of the legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Jazz music has its roots in Armstrong’s hometown of New Orleans, but it quickly spread throughout the United States before developing an international appeal and influence. April 30 is designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as International Jazz Day to highlight the music and its role in cultures around the world.
