International Kissing Day Jul 6, 2023

International Kissing Day

This photograph captures a heartwarming moment between two southern rockhopper penguins, the perfect image for International Kissing Day. Why do we kiss? Well, dozens of cultures don"t kiss on the lips at all. For those that do, theories range widely, from the chemical reactions in the brain, to ancient ancestral parents chewing food for their children, to simply smelling each other. Of course, no scientific explanation can capture the magic of a shared kiss. Perhaps that"s why artists including Prince, Faith Hill, and Hall & Oates have all had chart-toppers about lip-locking; they have found a way to put an indescribable feeling into words.

© Tony Beck/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Jul 6, 2018Pandas pucker up for International Kissing Day
Jul 6, 2019Racers pushing past sunflowers in the 2018 Tour de France
Jul 6, 2020Welcome to the Ring of Fire
Jul 6, 2021The most Instagrammable bird?
Jul 6, 2022Kissing Day
Jul 6, 2025Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park, California

More Desktop Wallpapers:

May 25, 2025Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
Jun 13, 2020A gorge-ous mill in the Causses
Jul 28, 2022Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park
May 12, 2024Happy Mothers Day!
Sep 28, 2018Southern right whales sail home to South Africa
Mar 24, 2023Wild garlic in bloom at Hainich National Park, Germany
Nov 30, 2024Saint Andrews Day
Oct 14, 2020In praise of the old…the very old
Apr 17, 2019Happy birthday to the Peak!
Sep 7, 2018An historic forest
Mar 12, 2019The otherworldly red river
Jun 1, 2019Hiking the High Trestle Trail
Nov 24, 2021Chocolate Hills
Aug 26, 2024Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Aug 12, 2022World Elephant Day
Jan 25, 2023Burns Night
Oct 9, 2022Earth Science Week
Aug 29, 2020Big wheels on a big mountain
Jun 13, 2025Vila Franca Islet, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal
Aug 5, 2019A ‘Superior’ paddle
Jan 5, 2019Art abounds at the Palais Garnier
Apr 2, 2021White dunes, blue lagoons
Dec 22, 2019You ve never seen anything like this
Apr 8, 2020Santorini through the clouds
Feb 15, 2019Snow aglow in central Japan
Feb 14, 2021An oceanic valentine
Aug 5, 2021A swim in the sky
Feb 21, 2020Carnival comes to Olinda
Jul 28, 2025World Nature Conservation Day
Sep 2, 2023National Hummingbird Day