Roughly 5,000 years ago, ancient inhabitants of the British Isles somehow dragged as many as 40 giant stones—the heaviest weighing an estimated 16 tons—onto this grassy plateau in what is now England"s Lake District National Park in Cumbria. They then grouped them into the stone circle at Castlerigg, seen here casting shadows from the low winter sun. Archeologists believe stone circles were arranged to align with solar and lunar positions. They were used in elaborate rituals to celebrate occasions like today"s winter solstice, the shortest day (and longest night) of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
Shadows on the solstice
Today in History
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Best. Holiday. Ever.
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Groundhog Day
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Big dreams require a big sleigh
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Summer’s in home stretch
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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Lake Magadi, Kenya
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Frozen beauty
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Happy World Laughter Day
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Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
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Merry and bright
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Womens History Month
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Mount Sopris, Colorado
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Black History Month
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Birds of the Drömling
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Muniellos Nature Reserve
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Black grouses lekking
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International Roller Coaster Day
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Montreux, Switzerland, and all that jazz
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World Octopus Day
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International Whale Shark Day
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A festival of colors
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Celebrating freedom
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Río Negro, Amazon basin, Brazil
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The ‘Living Forest’ in Biscay, Spain
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World Meteorological Day
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Porcupine
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And they’re off!
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Infrared Jupiter, erupting Io
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Indigenous Peoples Day
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Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand