The Land of Fire and Ice earns its nickname from the unique landscape of volcanoes and glaciers here, but Iceland"s white-hot celebrations in the dead of the Nordic midwinter also evoke the phrase. The tradition of New Year"s Eve bonfires in Iceland is said to date from the 18th century, when a group of schoolboys heralded the new year by scrounging up and torching a huge pile of wood scraps. The unruly teenagers" celebration sparked the general public"s interest, and annual fires—like this one in Reykjavik—became an internationally noted tradition for Icelanders. Huddle up to the fire and raise a toasty-warm toast to the new year!
New Year s Eve
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Gemsbok in Namibian sand dunes
-
Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand
-
Ahh-tumn
-
Cable car station, Graubünden, Switzerland
-
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
-
Diwali lights in Guwahati, India
-
Champaka Sarasi, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India
-
Pont dArcole over the Seine river, Paris, France
-
Bluebells in Hertfordshire, England
-
Flooded crypt, Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna, Italy
-
Maybe we should be looking up
-
It s National Camera Day. Get the picture?
-
Keep watching the skies
-
Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany
-
Who s there? The largest owl in the world
-
High tide at the walled city
-
International Chameleon Day
-
Seville celebrates first world tour
-
Eastern grey kangaroos in Australia’s Kosciuszko National Park
-
National Bird Day
-
Hey neighbor, it s World Space Week!
-
Terraced fields of green
-
A meerkat stands alone
-
Castellfollit de la Roca, Catalonia, Spain
-
World Dolphin Day
-
World Space Week
-
A young jaguar on a riverbank, Pantanal, Brazil
-
Arches National Park, Utah
-
Commemorating the life of a famous railroad conductor
-
A peek behind the royal curtain
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

