Celebrating a young girl s age-old discovery Oct 13, 2021

Celebrating a young girl s age-old discovery

When 12-year-old Mary Anning uncovered the complete skeleton of a fish-like creature near her home on England"s southern coast in 1811, extinction was a shaky idea in science. Fossils were nothing new—everything dies and leaves remains, after all. But could an entire species really die off? Were more of these 17-foot sea monsters lurking in the depths of the English Channel?

© Christopher Jones/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Oct 13, 2018‘Hello’ from zero degrees longitude
Oct 13, 2019Acadia transformed
Oct 13, 2020Where can you find a red fox?
Oct 13, 2022Alaska moose
Oct 13, 2023Vieste, Apulia, Italy
Oct 13, 2024Royal Alcázar of Seville, Spain
Oct 13, 2025Cedar Mesa, Utah, for Indigenous Peoples Day

More Desktop Wallpapers:

May 2, 2024Craters of the Moon centennial
Feb 22, 2025Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri
May 8, 2018Raise your hand for Teacher Appreciation Day
Dec 27, 2022Blue Lagoon spa, Grindavík, Iceland
Jul 19, 2022National Bison Month
Nov 16, 202250 years of World Heritage Sites
Dec 4, 2019Protecting endangered giants
Dec 26, 2020Happy Boxing Day!
May 22, 2022International Day for Biological Diversity
Oct 30, 2024Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
Nov 6, 2025Celebrating Yi Peng
Jul 31, 2025Ring-tailed lemur
Jul 18, 2020The moth wonderful time of the year
Dec 27, 2023Kirkjufell, Iceland
Sep 17, 2023Cuban tody, Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, Cuba
Jul 20, 2021Fly me to the moon
Apr 20, 2019Glacial spires in the fog
Jul 9, 2018Gauchos showcase Argentina’s independent spirit
Apr 3, 2018The village of Castelluccio above the Piano Grande, Umbria, Italy
May 1, 2024Lei Day
Jul 16, 2019Hemingway’s Keys
Nov 2, 2019A national icon
Jun 16, 2020In the footsteps of Leopold Bloom
Apr 27, 2025Halemaumau Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Nov 7, 2023Kirkilai lakes, Biržai Regional Park, Lithuania
Feb 5, 2026Salt evaporation ponds on the island of Gozo, Malta
Jun 20, 2020 Beyond Walls for World Refugee Day
Jun 11, 2024Southern gemsbok in the savannah, Botswana
Nov 26, 2018A little bit of Wonderland in New York City
Sep 5, 2023Mount Segla, Senja Island, Norway