Wikipedia:Picture of the day/August 2022
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These featured pictures, as scheduled below, appeared as the picture of the day (POTD) on the English Wikipedia's Main Page in August 2022. Individual sections for each day on this page can be linked to with the day number as the anchor name (e.g. [[Wikipedia:Picture of the day/August 2022#1]] for August 1).
You can add an automatically updating POTD template to your user page using {{Pic of the day}} (version with blurb) or {{POTD}} (version without blurb). For instructions on how to make custom POTD layouts, see Wikipedia:Picture of the day.Purge server cache
August 1
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The painted buttonquail (Turnix varius) is a species of buttonquail, the family Turnicidae, which resemble, but are unrelated to, the quails of Phasianidae. The painted buttonquail is native to Australia. Its range extends from Queensland southwards to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. A separate population is present in the southwestern part of Western Australia. The subspecies T. v. scintillans is endemic to the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of islands off the west coast of Australia. This painted buttonquail was photographed in the Castlereagh Nature Reserve near Sydney, New South Wales. Photograph credit: John Harrison
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August 2
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Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard (2 August 1802 – 28 April 1872) was a French inventor, photographer and publisher of photographs. He was a cloth merchant by trade, developing an interest in photography in the 1840s, focusing on the technical and economic issues of the mass production of photographic prints. Blanquart-Evrard captured this seated self-portrait in 1869, processed as an albumen print, a technique that he had developed himself in 1847. This photograph is in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Photograph credit: Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard; restored by Jebulon
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August 3
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The Dakota Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. This is the Dakota Territory's historical coat of arms, illustrated by Henry Mitchell in State Arms of the Union, published by Louis Prang in 1876. The design is based on the great seal of the territory, which was officially described as follows:
Illustration credit: Henry Mitchell; restored by Andrew Shiva
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August 4
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The white-headed pigeon (Columba leucomela) is a species of pigeon native to the east coast of Australia, belonging to the same genus as the common pigeon. It builds a nest generally consisting of scanty twigs, usually placed high in the canopy up to 18 metres (59 ft) above the ground, and tends to lay one cream-white egg. Breeding takes place mostly from October to December. The species is often found alone, in pairs or in small flocks. They are very quiet and elusive, and their flight is swift and direct. Its call is loud and gruff, sounding like a whoo followed by a gruff inhalation like uk (repeated three times). Sometimes the call is a low oom. This male white-headed pigeon was photographed near Brunkerville in New South Wales. Photograph credit: John Harrison
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August 5
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Oecophylla smaragdina is a species of arboreal weaver ant found in tropical Asia and Australia. It forms colonies with multiple nests in trees, each nest being made of leaves stitched together using the silk produced by the ant larvae. The species is organized into three castes: workers, major workers, and queens. Workers are 5 to 6 millimetres (0.20 to 0.24 in) long; they look after larvae and farm scale insects for honeydew. Major workers are 8 to 10 millimetres (0.3 to 0.4 in) long, with long strong legs and large mandibles. They forage, assemble and expand the nest. Both types of workers are orange in color. Queens are typically 20 to 25 millimetres (0.8 to 1.0 in) long, and normally greenish-brown, giving the species its name smaragdina (Latin for 'emerald'). This video depicts an army of O. smaragdina worker ants carrying a dead gecko in Laos. Video credit: Basile Morin
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August 6
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Edith Roosevelt (August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt, serving as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1901 to 1909, and previously as Second Lady of the United States in 1901 while her husband was Vice President. She was the first to employ a full-time, salaried social secretary as First Lady. Her tenure resulted in the creation of an official staff, and her formal dinners and ceremonial processions served to elevate the position. This photographic portrait of Roosevelt was taken by the American photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston. Photograph credit: Frances Benjamin Johnston; restored by Adam Cuerden
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August 7
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The livre (French for 'pound') was the currency of the Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre referred to both units of account and coins. The last banknotes and coins of the livre were issued in Year II of the revolutionary French First Republic (1794). In 1795, the franc was introduced, and the first one-franc coin was struck in 1803. The word livre survived; until the middle of the 19th century it was indifferently used alongside the word franc, especially to express large amounts and transactions linked with property (such as real estate, property incomes, or cattle). This 24-livre coin was minted in Lille in 1793, under the First Republic, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. The obverse features a depiction of a winged genius by the French sculptor Augustin Dupré. Coin design credit: Paris Mint and Augustin Dupré; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection
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August 8
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St Cyprian's, Clarence Gate, is a parish church of the Church of England in the district of Marylebone in London. The church was consecrated in 1903, but the parish was founded in 1866. It is dedicated to Saint Cyprian, a third-century martyr and bishop of Carthage, and is located near the Clarence Gate Gardens entrance to Regent's Park, off Baker Street. The parish was formed by the efforts of the noted "slum priest" Charles Gutch, who wanted a church of his own in London. Gutch negotiated for a small portion of the parish of St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, to be transferred to a new mission district where church attendance was in any case poor. The district was about one-tenth the area of the parish, but it was densely populated due to the overcrowded slums that at that time occupied much of it. This photograph depicts the rood screen of St Cyprian's, Clarence Gate, designed by Ninian Comper in the Gothic Revival style along with the rest of the church. Photograph credit: David Iliff
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August 9
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The black-faced monarch (Monarcha melanopsis) is a passerine bird in the family Monarchidae found along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and also New Guinea where most birds migrate to during the austral winter (May to August). It was originally described by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1818 from a specimen collected in New South Wales. This black-faced monarch was photographed near Brunkerville. Photograph credit: John Harrison
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August 10
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The Basilica and Convent of San Francisco, Quito, is a large Catholic basilica that stands in the middle of the historic center of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, in front of the square of the same name. The church is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that covers the city center. This photograph is an elevated view of the richly decorated main nave of the basilica, looking towards the apse and the altar in the background. Photograph credit: Diego Delso
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August 11
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The white-naped honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus) is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to eastern Australia. It dwells in dry eucalypt woodland with long periods of dryness and heat, with a diet consisting of nectar from various flowers, and it also feeds on insects. The species is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This white-naped honeyeater was photographed in Glen Davis, New South Wales. Photograph credit: John Harrison
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August 12
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Heart Mountain Relocation Center, located in Park County, Wyoming, was one of ten concentration camps used for the internment of Japanese Americans in the United States evicted during World War II from their local communities. The first inmates arrived in Heart Mountain on August 12, 1942. This 1943 photograph depicts the Japanese-American writer and journalist Bill Hosokawa in his barracks at Heart Mountain, accompanied by his wife Alice and their son Mike, and three members of staff. Hosakawa edited the internment camp's newspaper, The Heart Mountain Sentinel. Photograph credit: Tom Parker; restored by Adam Cuerden
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August 13
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Nell Mercer (August 13, 1893 – September 30, 1979) was an American suffragist. Born in North Landing, Virginia, she grew up in Norfolk, becoming a member of the local branch of the National Woman's Party. As a member of the Silent Sentinels, she picketed Woodrow Wilson's White House in support of women's suffrage in the United States. As a businesswoman, she purchased the Brunswick Hotel in Copley Square, Boston, and was its final owner before the property was sold to IBM. This photograph of Mercer, from the archives of the National Woman's Party, was taken in the 1910s. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden |
August 14
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The ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana) is a species of bird in the bunting family, Emberizidae. A native of most European countries and western Asia, it reaches as far north as Scandinavia and beyond the Arctic Circle, frequenting cornfields and their neighbourhoods. It is an uncommon vagrant in spring, and particularly in autumn, to the British Isles. Seeds are the bird's natural diet, but beetles and other insects are taken when feeding their young. The ortolan is served in French cuisine, typically cooked and eaten whole. Traditionally diners cover their heads with their napkin or a towel while eating the delicacy. The species is so widely used that its French populations dropped dangerously low, leading to laws restricting its use in 1999. In September 2007, the French government announced its intent to enforce long-ignored laws protecting the bird. This ortolan bunting was photographed in the Sierra de Guara, a mountain range in Aragon, Spain. Photograph credit: Pierre Dalous
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August 15
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The Bengal tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies Panthera tigris tigris found in the Indian subcontinent. Ranking among the largest wild cats alive today, it is considered to be one of the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late Pleistocene, for about 12,000 to 16,500 years. Today it is threatened by poaching, and habitat loss and fragmentation, and was estimated to comprise fewer than 2,500 wild individuals by 2011. The tiger is the national animal of India. This female Bengal tiger was photographed in Kanha Tiger Reserve, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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August 16
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The double-barred finch (Stizoptera bichenovii) is a species of estrildid finch found in dry savanna, tropical (lowland) dry grassland, and shrubland habitats in northern and eastern Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Bicheno's finch or the owl finch, the latter owing to the dark ring of feathers around the face. This double-barred finch perching on a branch was photographed in Glen Davis, New South Wales. Photograph credit: John Harrison
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August 17
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The Omega Nebula is an H II region, a type of emission nebula, in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Jean-Philippe Loys de Cheseaux in 1745. Charles Messier catalogued it in 1764 as number 17 in his set of comet-like astronomical objects. The nebula is by some of the richest starfields of the Milky Way, in the northern two-thirds of Sagittarius. This astrophotograph of the Omega Nebula was taken by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), located at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile. Captured by OmegaCAM, the VST's wide-field camera, in 2011, the photograph was the telescope's first image to be released. Photograph credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM
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August 18
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Glyphoglossus molossus is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. Its common names include the blunt-headed burrowing frog and the balloon frog. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, moist savanna, intermittent freshwater marshes, rural gardens, temporary ponds, and heavily degraded former forest in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. This G. molossus frog was photographed in the district of Mueang Loei in northern Thailand. Photograph credit: Rushen
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August 19
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The Hunting of the Snark is a nonsense poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll, telling the story of ten characters who cross the ocean to hunt a mysterious creature known as the Snark. The poem was published in 1876 with illustrations by Henry Holiday. This is the tenth plate from his illustrations, accompanying "Fit the Eighth: The Vanishing", in which things end badly for the Baker, one of the hunters: In the midst of the word he was trying to say Illustration credit: Henry Holiday; restored by Adam Cuerden
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August 20
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The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large species of cat and the only living member of the genus Panthera native to the Americas. With a body length of up to 1.85 metres (6 ft 1 in) and a weight of up to 96 kilograms (212 lb), it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the third-largest in the world. The distinctively marked coat features pale yellow to tan fur covered by spots that transition to rosettes on the sides, although a melanistic black coat appears in some individuals. Its powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain. This male South American jaguar was photographed in the Encontro das Águas State Park, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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August 21
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The Argentine real was the currency of Argentina between 1813 and 1881. From 1822, it was subdivided into ten décimos. The sol was also issued during this period and was equal to the real, while the peso was worth eight reales and the escudo was worth sixteen reales. This 1836 eight-escudo gold coin was issued by the Argentine Confederation, a predecessor state of modern Argentina, featuring a portrait of the Argentine politician and general Juan Manuel de Rosas on the obverse, and a depiction of a mountain with crossed flags and cannons on the reverse. Only six of these coins are known to exist; this one forms part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Coin design credit: Argentine Confederation, photographed by the National Numismatic Collection
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August 22
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Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset. Construction commenced around 1175 on the site of a late-Roman mausoleum and an 8th-century abbey church. The cathedral has been described by the historian John Harvey as Europe's first truly Gothic structure, lacking the Romanesque work that survives in many other cathedrals. It is the seat of the bishop of Bath and Wells. This photograph depicts Wells Cathedral's organ, built from 1909 to 1910 by Harrison & Harrison of Durham with parts retained from the old organ that dated to the 17th century. Photograph credit: David Iliff
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August 23
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The Goldfinch is an oil-on-panel painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Carel Fabritius of a life-sized chained goldfinch. Signed and dated 1654, it is now in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands. The work is a trompe-l'œil painting that was once part of a larger structure, perhaps a window jamb or a protective cover. It is possible that the work was in Fabritius's studio in Delft at the time of a large gunpowder explosion on 12 October 1654 that killed him and destroyed much of the city. A common and colourful bird with a pleasant song, the goldfinch was a popular pet, and could be taught simple tricks including lifting a thimble-sized bucket of water. It was reputedly a bringer of good health, and was used in Italian Renaissance painting as a symbol of Christian redemption and the Passion of Jesus. The Goldfinch is unusual for the Dutch Golden Age painting period in the simplicity of its composition and use of illusionary techniques. Following the death of its creator, it was lost for more than two centuries before its rediscovery in Brussels. Painting credit: Carel Fabritius
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August 24
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Kobe Bryant (1978–2020) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire twenty-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a shooting guard. Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Bryant won five NBA championships and was an eighteen-time NBA All-Star, a fifteen-time member of the All-NBA Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. He was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, and August 24 of that year was commemorated as Kobe Bryant Day in recognition of his jersey numbers, 8 and 24. This photograph depicts Bryant playing for the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors in 2005. Photograph credit: Joseph A. Lee; edited by Kaldari
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August 25
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The citric acid cycle, also known as the TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle) or the Krebs cycle, is a series of chemical reactions to release stored energy through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA derived from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. In addition, the cycle provides precursors of certain amino acids, as well as NADH, a reducing agent, which are used in numerous other reactions. Its central importance to many biochemical pathways suggests that it was one of the earliest components of metabolism and may have originated abiogenically. The German-born British biochemist Hans Krebs received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his identification of the cycle in 1937. The name of this metabolic pathway is derived from citric acid, which is consumed and then regenerated by this sequence of reactions to complete the cycle. The cycle consumes acetate (in the form of acetyl-CoA) and water, and reduces NAD+ to NADH, releasing carbon dioxide. The NADH generated by the cycle is fed into the oxidative phosphorylation (electron transport) pathway. The net result of these two closely linked pathways is the oxidation of nutrients to produce usable chemical energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate. These processes are depicted in this overview diagram of the citric acid cycle. Diagram credit: YassineMrabet; edited by Narayanese and TotoBaggins; vectorized by WikiUserPedia
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August 26
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The white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) is a species of bee-eater widely distributed in sub-equatorial Africa. Like other bee-eaters, it is a richly coloured, slender bird, but with a distinctive black mask, white forehead, square tail, and a bright red throat, with a length of 23 centimetres (9 in). This white-fronted bee-eater was photographed on the Linyanti River in Namibia. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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August 27
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Rhacophorus kio is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. First described from Laos, the species is also known from southern China (Yunnan and Guangxi), northern Thailand, eastern India, Vietnam, and Cambodia. It is an arboreal species that has been recorded from primary and secondary evergreen rainforests with a closed canopy, generally at low elevations. This R. kio frog was photographed in Kui Buri National Park, Thailand. Photograph credit: Rushenb
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August 28
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The Treasury Note (also known as a Coin Note) was a type of representative money issued by the United States government from 1890 until 1893 to individuals selling silver bullion to the Treasury. A distinguishing feature of the 1890 series of Treasury Notes (and one that greatly appeals to collectors) is the extremely ornate designs on the reverse of the banknotes. It was intended to make counterfeiting much more difficult, but opponents argued that the extensive detail would make it more difficult to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit notes. Consequently, the designs for the reverse were simplified on the 1891 series of Treasury Notes, of which a complete set, comprising nine denominations from $1 to $1000, is pictured here. Each bears the engraved signatures of James Fount Tillman (Register of the Treasury) and Daniel N. Morgan (Treasurer of the United States), and a portrait of a different individual, as indicated above. The banknotes are part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Banknote design credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; scanned by Andrew Shiva
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August 29
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Henrietta Rodman (August 29, 1877 – March 21, 1923) was an American educator and feminist who was active in advocating on behalf of married women teachers for their right to promotion and maternity leave. She taught English and was a vocational counselor at Wadleigh High School for Girls in New York City. Opposed to the school board's restrictive policies on married women teachers, she married a psychologist friend, Herman de Fremery, in 1913, and announced it to the press, saying: "If the married state affects a woman's work, the authorities can mark her accordingly. If it does not affect her work, and if she is as good a teacher as she was before, she deserves promotion, if it comes to her." Rodman threw crowded dinner parties in her top-floor apartment; Mary Hunter Austin recalled attending one such dinner, and meeting James Weldon Johnson there. This photograph of Rodman was taken around the early 1910s. Photograph credit: Bain News Service; restored by Adam Cuerden
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August 30
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Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1636–1673) was a French Catholic priest and scientist. His celestial atlas, entitled Globi coelestis in tabulas planas redacti descriptio, comprised six charts of the night sky and was first published in 1674. The atlas uses a gnomonic projection so that the plates make up a cube of the celestial sphere. The constellation figures are drawn from Uranometria, but were carefully reworked and adapted to a broader view of the sky. This is the fifth plate from a 1693 edition of Pardies's atlas, featuring constellations including Lyra, Cygnus, Hercules, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius and Scorpius, Aquila, Delphinus, and Corona Australis, as well as Antinous, an obsolete constellation. All of these are visible in the Northern Hemisphere, though a few cross the boundary from the northern sky into the southern sky. Map credit: Ignace-Gaston Pardies
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August 31
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Coat of arms of the Idaho Territory, an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from 1863 to 1890. Idaho Territory originally covered all of the present-day states of Idaho and Montana, and almost all of the present-day state of Wyoming, omitting only a corner in the state's extreme southwest portion. It was wholly spanned east-to-west by the bustling Oregon Trail and partly by the other emigrant trails, the California Trail and Mormon Trail which since hitting stride in 1847, had been conveying settler wagon trains to the west, and incidentally, across the continental divide into the Snake River Basin, a key gateway into the Idaho and Oregon Country interiors. After several reductions, the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. Credit: Henry Mitchell; restored by Godot13
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