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World Elephant Day
World Elephant Day
Today is World Elephant Day, when we focus on these remarkable creatures and pledge to protect them. African elephants, like those shown here, are the largest living land animals, with bull elephants standing a whopping 13 feet tall at the shoulder. Their distinctive trunks and big, flapping ears make them one of the first animals every child can recognize. Adults marvel at the close family bonds they create and the way a herd rallies to protect its members, grieving when one dies. They form a strong, social community over their life span of about 60 to 75 years.Desktop Version
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
In the mood for a quiet canoe ride? If so, consider a trip to Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northeast Minnesota. The Boundary Waters wilderness stretches for 150 miles along the US-Canada border within Superior National Forest. Known by those seeking solitude, Boundary Waters is one of America"s most beautiful and remote locations. Formed long ago from the scraping and gouging of glaciers, the area is distinct with its rugged cliffs, canyons, and thousands of lakes and streams. More than 1,200 miles of canoe routes are enjoyed by thousands of people every year.Desktop Version
World Lizard Day
World Lizard Day
Do you hold a warm spot in your heart for these cold-blooded creatures? Lizard lovers celebrate the scaly squamates on this day each year. This camouflaged panther chameleon is one of a multitude of lizards that inhabit the island of Madagascar, many of which are found nowhere else. More than 50% of chameleon species are found only on the island, including the world"s smallest known chameleon, the recently discovered Brookesia nana, which is smaller than your fingernail.Desktop Version
Indian Independence Day
Indian Independence Day
At 8 miles in circumference, the Chittorgarh Fort is one of the largest forts in India, a nation with scores of ancient and medieval fortresses. For starters there are seven massive gates from which to enter. Inside you"ll find four palaces and 19 temples. At one time there were almost 100 bodies of water, most of them ponds fed by natural catchment and rainfall, although now there are only 20. Chittorgarh ("garh" means "fort," so it"s also known as Chittor Fort) is so old, no one is sure exactly when it was built, although reports of its earliest capture go back to the 8th century. It is one of six large forts in the northwestern state of Rajasthan referred to as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan, all of them collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We"re featuring this important and ancient complex on India"s 75th Independence Day, one of India"s three national holidays.Desktop Version
National Roller Coaster Day
National Roller Coaster Day
To really get the feel for today"s photo, stop what you"re doing, put your hands in the air, and imagine yourself plunging downhill at 50 miles an hour. Screaming is optional. It"s National Roller Coaster Day and we"re waiting in line at Morey"s Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey, for our ride on the Great White. A hybrid wooden and steel coaster, it"s been in operation since 1996 and reaches its highest point 110 feet above the ground. Coaster enthusiasts point out the ride"s dip under the pier shortly after the start as one of its highlights. It"s also noted for a portion of the ride swinging out over the nearby beach.Desktop Version
Freshwater plants in Aquário Natural, Brazil
Freshwater plants in Aquário Natural, Brazil
Aquário Natural (Natural Aquarium, naturally) is the pristine, crystal-clear source of the Baía Bonita River and a highlight of the Baía Bonita Ecological Reserve. This remote inland region near the town of Bonito, Brazil, is a popular spot for ecotourism. A tour of the Aquário Natural offers a hike through the jungle followed by snorkeling with over 30 varieties of fish and gorgeous vegetation to marvel at. Other popular activities of the area include swimming in the Rio da Prata (Silver River), rappelling 236 feet down into the waters of the Anhumas Abyss, and walking through the treetops on the suspended steel walkway of the Circuito Arvorismo (Trees Circuit).Desktop Version
Surströmming Day
Surströmming Day
Get your clothespins ready, it"s Surströmming Day! For the uninitiated, that means we"re in Sweden and cracking open this year"s surströmming harvest to enjoy its putrid wonder. Surströmming is Baltic herring that"s been caught in April and May, then lightly salted and allowed to ferment. Beginning in the 1940s, a royal ordinance forbade the selling of Surströmming before the third Thursday in August to prevent incompletely fermented fish from being sold. The ordinance is no longer on the books, but the tradition holds.Desktop Version
National Aviation Day
National Aviation Day
In the summer of 2016, an experimental solar-powered airplane called Solar Impulse 2 completed a 26,000-mile multi-stage trip around the world without using a single drop of jet fuel. The remarkable feat took longer than a year and made the slow-flying plane part of aviation history. We are remembering this seminal flight today to mark National Aviation Day, established in 1939 by President Franklin Roosevelt as a day to celebrate the advancement of flight. August 19 was chosen because it is the birthdate of Orville Wright, who in 1903, with his brother Wilbur Wright, became the first to achieve powered, controlled flight on the hills of Kitty Hawk on North Carolina"s Outer Banks.Desktop Version
World Honey Bee Day
World Honey Bee Day
Today we"re celebrating World Honey Bee Day, honoring the humble bee"s role in pollinating our crops and sharing honey goodness with us. It"s remarkable to consider that there are around 20,000 different species of bees in the world, but just eight species of honey bees. And it"s sobering to realize how fragile their existence is. Billions of honey bees have disappeared over the last 15 years in what"s known as colony collapse disorder. There"s no definitive explanation for the die-off, though scientists believe pesticides, loss of habitat, climate change, mite infestation, and disease are contributing factors. Now we need to reintroduce bees and other pollinators to safeguard our food system.Desktop Version
International Lighthouse Weekend
International Lighthouse Weekend
This solemn beacon set atop a rocky outcropping is in a country usually associated with sand and sun, making this a side of Spain many do not often see. We"re looking out at the sea on the Costa da Morte, or Coast of Death, a nasty name for an equally nasty (but beautiful!) stretch of Galician coastline in the extreme northwest of Spain. We"re featuring Costa da Morte during International Lighthouse Weekend because mariners are never happier to see a lighthouse than when they"re sailing this coast, known as the Bermuda Triangle of the Eastern Atlantic.Desktop Version
Burrowing owls
Burrowing owls
Forget looking up in the trees to find these guys. They are burrowing owls, which means that they live on the ground or under it. In fact, they often take advantage of the hard work of tunnelers such as prairie dogs or gophers by building their nests in the burrows they dug and abandoned. Think of burrowing owls as squatters of the avian world. You"ll find these 7½- to 11-inch birds in North and South America, especially in grasslands, farming areas, or dry expanses with vegetation that is close to the ground.Desktop Version
Menton, France
Menton, France
Anchoring the eastern end of the French Riviera near the Italian border is Menton, the so-called Pearl of France. It"s prized for its beauty and incredible weather that features an average of 316 days a year with full or partial sun. That climate enables Menton to enjoy amazing lemon yields that have given rise to the annual Fête du Citron, or Menton Lemon Festival, a 17-day extravaganza in February featuring floats and sculptures created out of lemons and oranges. More than 200,000 visitors marvel at the nearly 150 tons of fruit used in the festival.Desktop Version
Ukrainian Independence Day
Ukrainian Independence Day
Ukrainian Independence Day takes on a greater meaning this year, as Russian troops occupy its eastern provinces and the invaders" shells rain down on its citizens. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began with Russia"s annexation of Crimea in 2014. NATO and Europe have rallied to Ukraine"s cause, and a war that many expected to last weeks has stretched into months, with the Western-backed Ukrainian forces thwarting Putin"s ambitions and not showing any signs of relenting.Desktop Version
National Park Service Founders Day
National Park Service Founders Day
While most of us play in our vast system of 63 national parks, others work there. Today, on National Park Service Founders Day, we recognize their efforts and the priceless gift of our country"s national parks. The NPS protects and maintains these parks as well as hundreds of national monuments and other natural, historical, and recreational properties. They include some of our most stunning natural landscapes, like North Cascades National Park in Washington state, featured here. This image, of the Triplets and Cascade Peak, is taken from atop Forbidden Peak.Desktop Version
Kiteboarding and windsurfing in Croatia
Kiteboarding and windsurfing in Croatia
Of the many ways people have invented to ride boards of one kind or another, the sport of kiteboarding (aka kitesurfing) is one of the newest. It owes a debt to all the board sports that came before it, borrowing a little bit from snowboarding, water skiing, wakeboarding, and of course windsurfing. Like snowboarders and skiers, windsurfers and kiteboarders often share play space, as they are doing here off the Pelješac Peninsula in Croatia. They can count on a stiff afternoon breeze to fill their sails in the summer months, when the land heats up and draws in the cool air over the Adriatic.Desktop Version
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington
We"re standing on the Boundary Trail at Johnston Ridge in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. This view of the volcano shows how the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, ripped apart the once-conical summit, forever changing the Washington landscape. Forty years ago today, 110,000 acres within Gifford Pinchot National Forest were set aside to memorialize the deadliest and most destructive volcanic eruption in the United States.Desktop Version
Bearded reedlings in Flevoland
Bearded reedlings in Flevoland
Flevoland, the 12th and newest province in the Netherlands, has only been around since 1986. Not only was it not established until this late date, but before the mid-20th century, much of the land here simply didn"t exist. Flevoland was created through vast land reclamation projects in the 1950s and "60s. While the Dutch had been reforming their landscape to meet their changing needs for hundreds of years, the 20th century would see their most dramatic and ambitious projects realized. The province"s anthem is the fitting "Waar Wij Steden Doen Verrijzen" ("Where We Let Cities Arise"). It"s an ode to pushing back the sea and creating a "province that"s not bad, youngest part of the Netherlands. Where it is nice to live, my beloved Flevoland!"Desktop Version
Baltic Sea, Estonia
Baltic Sea, Estonia
The Baltic Sea in northeast Europe is a peculiar body of water, combining the characteristics of a sea with those of a lake and an estuary, too. Strictly speaking, it is in fact a sea and thus appropriately named, joined to the Atlantic Ocean through three straits in Denmark: the Öresund, Great Belt, and Little Belt. Technically, the Baltic is classified as a brackish sea, meaning it is not entirely fresh and not entirely saline. The Baltic Sea isn"t landlocked, but it does border many countries, including Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—and it"s the Estonian coast featured in today"s image.Desktop Version
Regional Park of Migliarino, San Rossore, Massaciuccoli, Italy
Regional Park of Migliarino, San Rossore, Massaciuccoli, Italy
This idyllic road is a path to one of Italy"s magnificent natural gifts. Just outside of the ancient city of Pisa in Tuscany is the Regional Park of Migliarino, San Rossore, Massaciuccoli. This immense and diverse park boasts numerous distinct environments. A visitor will discover, by turns, seaside sand dunes, marshlands, and vast forests of pine, oak, and elm. A wide array of birds can also be found in the park, along with ample wild boar, rabbits, red foxes, and the impressively antlered fallow deer. It"s even been suggested that there are wolves living in the deep reaches of the woods.Desktop Version
Blue linckia sea stars in Papua New Guinea
Blue linckia sea stars in Papua New Guinea
In shallow areas of the tropical Indo-Pacific, you"ll come across the blue linckia sea star. Oftentimes it"s found anchored to or hiding under rocks. This duo was spotted near the coast of New Ireland, an island in Papua New Guinea. Even though "blue" is in the name, this species of sea star has also been observed in purple, pink, or orange. The vibrant colors make the linckia popular in the seashell trade, unfortunately, and intensive poaching has diminished their populations. But new research could lead to calls for their protection: Scientists have studied potential anti-tumor and antibacterial properties inherent to the blue linckia.Desktop Version
Wildlife crossing, Wierden, Netherlands
Wildlife crossing, Wierden, Netherlands
It"s not just chickens that cross the road. Wild creatures from frogs to elk roll the dice with death when they need to traverse the thousands of highways humans have threaded through wildlife habitat. Sadly, the dice don"t fall favorably for millions of animals each year, and collisions with vehicles often cause fatalities for both them and the drivers who hit them.Desktop Version
Seitan Limania Beach, Crete
Seitan Limania Beach, Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of all the Greek islands, and also the farthest from the mainland (in fact, it"s just about halfway to Turkey). This big little island is small enough to drive across in a few hours but full of wonders, from mountain ranges to gorges to beautiful beaches. Take this jewel box of turquoise water near the port city of Chania, for example. Set on the easternmost of three peninsulas that stick out like horns from the northwest shoreline of Crete, Seitan Limania is one of the most photographed beaches on the island.Desktop Version
Skyscraper Day
Skyscraper Day
The Petronas Twin Towers are the unmistakable calling card of the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur, affectionately called KL. The 88-story, 1,483-foot cylindrical towers were the tallest buildings in the world when they were completed in 1996, until 2004 when Taiwan"s Taipei 101 topped them by almost 200 feet. Still the tallest twin skyscrapers in the world, they"re our perfect inspiration today on Skyscraper Day, set aside to appreciate such engineering and architectural feats.Desktop Version
Arambol Beach, Goa, India
Arambol Beach, Goa, India
Known for its immense, densely populated cities, India also has a seemingly endless coastline. And no part of it is more languid and lovely than Arambol, in the small and special state of Goa on the southwestern coast. Arambol is a popular holiday town with the vibe of a sleepy fishing village—which it was once was. Now visitors from around the world are drawn to its tropical climate, rainforest valleys, historic architecture, and sandy beaches.Desktop Version
1934 Labor Day parade, Gastonia, North Carolina
1934 Labor Day parade, Gastonia, North Carolina
Our historical Labor Day photo shows striking textile workers taking to the streets of Gastonia, North Carolina, voicing their grievances and seeking support for their cause. By the time of this 1934 strike, the textile industry had been struggling for years to keep pace with the economic times, and workers were struggling as their wages were cut while their workloads increased. Things came to a head after the National Industrial Recovery Act became law in 1933, leading to the formation of the Textile Industry Committee meant to represent the interests of business owners, consumers, and workers—but this only led to shortened workweeks, effectively reducing wages by 25%. Workers rushed to join the United Textile Workers union to get their voices heard and demand improved conditions.Desktop Version