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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 February 2015. 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/February 2015#1]] for February 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
February 1
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Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, and an early leader in the civil rights movement. Born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Wells and her family were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Despite losing her parents to yellow fever when she was sixteen, Wells attended Fisk University and became a teacher. Politically active since her youth, she also became a writer on race issues and campaigned against lynching; in this latter capacity she published two influential pamphlets and traveled throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. Wells also helped establish the National Association of Colored Women and the National Afro-American Council. Photograph: Mary Garrity; restoration: Adam Cuerden
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February 2
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Groundhogs (Marmota monax) are rodents in the family Sciuridae. They belong to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. This lowland creature is widely distributed in North America and common in the northeastern and central United States and Canada. Although considered by farmers to be a nuisance, groundhogs have become part of popular culture through Groundhog Day and the film of the same name. Photograph: Cephas
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February 3
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Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and Her Daughter Rachel is an oil painting on canvas completed by John Singer Sargent in 1903. It depicts Gretchen Osgood Warren, an American actress, singer, and poet, sitting with her daughter Rachel Warren in a manner reminiscent of Renaissance portraits of nobility. The painting, measuring 152.4 × 102.55 cm (60.0 × 40.4 in), has been owned by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, since 1964. Painting: John Singer Sargent
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February 4
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The Namaqua chameleon is a lizard found in the western desert regions of Namibia, South Africa, and southern Angola. This species, which can reach 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in length, is common in the Namib Desert. It has evolved several adaptations which allow it to thrive in hot and arid areas, such as the ability to change color to control temperature. Photograph: Hans Stieglitz
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February 5
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The caridoid escape reaction of an Antarctic krill allows it to escape predators by flexing its abdomen in a swimming stroke that thrusts it backwards away from danger. It is an innate mechanism in marine and freshwater crustaceans such as lobsters, krill, shrimp and crayfish. Animation: Uwe Kils |
February 6
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The Ducati 748 was a Ducati sport bike made in various models from 1994 to 2002. The smaller version of the 916, the 748 was succeeded in 2003 by the 749; a higher horsepower model, the 996, was also produced. Photograph: Stefan Krause |
February 7
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The Old Town of Prague, Czech Republic, is a medieval settlement. The wall and moat that once surrounded it were dismantled in the 14th century; the remains of the moat now lie under several streets. The Old Town is home to Old New Synagogue, Old Town Square (pictured here), the Astronomical Clock, Malá Strana ("Lesser Quarter"), and Josefov. Photograph: David Iliff
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February 8
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Irfan Kolothum Thodi (b. 1990) is an Indian racewalker from Malappuram. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the men's 20 kilometres walk, setting a national record of 1:20:21 and finishing tenth overall. Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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February 9
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The common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush found throughout much of the world, though known under a variety of names. These omnivorous birds eat a wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits. Photograph: Andreas Trepte
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February 10
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Sunset at Montmajour is an oil painting on canvas, depicting a landscape of garrigue with the ruins of Montmajour Abbey in the background, painted by Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh in 1888, when he lived in Arles, France, and inventoried by his brother Theo. It had several owners and was eventually purchased in 1908 by the Norwegian industrialist Christian Nicolai Mustad, who placed it in storage when told it was not actually by van Gogh. It was only reestablished as part of the artist's oeuvre in 2013, the first full-sized Van Gogh painting to be newly confirmed since 1928. Painting: Vincent van Gogh
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February 11
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New Moon is a 1940 musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Based on the operetta The New Moon, this film stars Nelson Eddy as a French nobleman who heads to New Orleans and serves as a bondsman, later leading a revolt against his ship's captain. Poster: Tooker Litho Co.; restoration: Chris Woodrich
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February 12
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Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) was the President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. This 1860 lithograph was completed during that year's presidential elections, in which Lincoln was the Republican candidate. Running against three other men while taking a moderate position regarding the practice of slavery, Lincoln swept the northern states and became president, but southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederacy. Over the remainder of his life President Lincoln used both military action and political means to reunite the nation and abolish slavery. Lincoln has been consistently ranked as among the best American presidents, and his birthday on February 12 is a legal holiday in some states. Lithograph: Thomas Hicks (artist), Leopold Grozelier (lithography); restoration: Adam Cuerden
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February 13
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Dik-diks are antelopes in the genus Madoqua which can be found in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. These herbivores, named for the females' alarm calls, are quite small, measuring only 30–40 cm (12–16 in) at the shoulder, 50–70 cm (20–28 in) in length, and 3–6 kg (7–16 lb) in weight. Photograph: Yathin S Krishnappa
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February 14
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The Werner projection is a pseudoconic equal-area map projection. This cordiform (heart-shaped) projection originated in the 16th century. It is a limiting form of the Bonne projection. Distances along each parallel and along the central meridian are correct, as are all distances from the North Pole. Map: Strebe, using Geocart
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February 15
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The Reading Power Station is a natural gas-fueled power station which supplies electric power to the Tel Aviv District in central Israel. Commissioned in 1938 and named for Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, this power station at the mouth of the Yarkon River was designed by Ed Rosenhak. Photograph: Andrew Shiva
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February 16
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The short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) is a species of seahorse in the family Syngnathidae. Endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the North Atlantic, it is often found in shallow muddy waters, estuaries or seagrass beds. Photograph: Hans Hillewaert
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February 17
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Raden Saleh (1811–1880) was a Romantic painter of Arab-Javanese ethnicity from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Born in Semarang, in 1829 he was sent to the Netherlands to study portraiture and landscape painting under artists such as Cornelis Kruseman and Andreas Schelfhout. Upon returning to Java in 1851, Saleh focused predominantly on the day-to-day lives of the Javanese, although he also completed his magnum opus, The Arrest of Pangeran Diponegoro, in this period. This painting, though long thought to be a self-portrait, is now attributed to Friedrich Carl Albert Schreuel, a German artist whom Saleh knew during his time in Europe. Painting: Friedrich Carl Albert Schreuel
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February 18
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A male (top) and female purple finch (Haemorhous purpureus), photographed in the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area in Quebec. This species, part of the finch family, mainly eats seeds, berries and insects. They breed in the coniferous and mixed forests of Canada and the northeastern United States; birds from the northern part of this species' range will migrate in the winter. Photograph: Simon Pierre Barrette
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February 19
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R. V. C. Bodley (1892–1970) was a British Army officer, author and journalist. After studying at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, in 1911 Bodley was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps and subsequently served with them during the First World War. After witnessing the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, he grew disillusioned with the military and went to live in the Sahara as a nomad for seven years. During the 1930s he was one of few Westerners allowed access to Japan's South Pacific Mandates. These experiences formed the basis of several books, including Algeria from Within (1927) and Wind in the Sahara (1944). Photograph: Unknown; restoration: Adam Cuerden
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February 20
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The Skater is an oil painting on canvas completed by the American artist Gilbert Stuart in 1782, while he was living in London. Stuart's first full-length portrait, it depicts a young Scotsman named William Grant, whom the artist painted from memory after the two went skating together on the Serpentine in Hyde Park. The Skater was widely praised after being displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts, and the artist began to receive numerous prominent commissions. Stuart later said that he had been "suddenly lifted into fame by [this] single picture", which is now held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Painting: Gilbert Stuart
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February 21
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The Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki) is a rare species of toad endemic to Panama. First described by Emmett Reid Dunn in 1933, this species was found close to mountain streams on the eastern side of the Tabasará mountain range in Coclé and Panamá Provinces, but is now critically endangered and possibly extinct in the wild. Photograph: Brian Gratwicke
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February 22
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The Sella Pass is a high mountain pass in Italy which connects the Val Gardena in South Tyrol and Canazei in the Fassa Valley in Trentino. Lying 2,244 metres (7,362 ft) above sea level, together with Pordoi Pass, Gardena Pass, and Campolongo Pass, it forms a quadrangle around the Sella group. Photograph: Dmitry A. Mottl
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February 23
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A panoramic view of the southern part of Shun Lee, an area north of Sau Mau Ping and east of Ngau Chi Wan in Hong Kong. Named after the first public housing estate in the area, it is located in a valley surrounded by hills. Visible from left to right are the ECF Saint Too Canaan College, United Christian College, Shun Lee Fire Station, and the Shun Lee Disciplined Services Quarters. Photograph: Samuel Louie; edit: Chris Woodrich
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February 24
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The Orion molecular cloud complex is a large group of bright nebulae, dark clouds, and young stars located in the constellation of Orion. The cloud itself is between 1,500 and 1,600 light-years away and is hundreds of light-years across. Its brightest stars include the supergiants Rigel (bottom right) and Betelgeuse (top left), as well as Orion's Belt, the asterism of three stars near the center in the image. Photograph: Rogelio Bernal Andreo, edited by Benison P. Baby
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February 25
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The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is a subspecies of the wildcat. It is native to the forests and grasslands of Europe, as well as Turkey and the Caucasus Mountains. Bulkier than both the African wildcat and the domestic cat, the European wildcat is also distinguished by its thick fur and non-tapered tail. Though it is predominantly nocturnal, the European wildcat may be active in the daytime in the absence of humans. Photograph: Luc Viatour
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February 26
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The Goode homolosine projection is a map projection invented by John Paul Goode in 1923 as an alternative to the Mercator projection. This pseudocylindrical, equal-area projection is generally presented with multiple interruptions. The most common form, seen here, interrupts the South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic (separately), the Indian Ocean, and the entire 180th meridian. A composite projection, Goode's homolosine uses the Mollweide projection for higher latitudes and the sinusoidal projection for lower latitudes. Map: Strebe, using Geocart
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February 27
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Loren Pankratz is an American psychologist who has testified across the United States on multiple cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, often defending mothers falsely accused of harming their children. He has also written on a variety of subjects, including the paranormal, magic, and phenomena such as dancing manias and moral panics. Photograph: Susan Gerbic
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February 28
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A Senegalese wrestling match between Mame Balla and Pape Mor Lô during the World African Wrestling world tour in Paris Bercy. This type of folk wrestling is traditionally practiced by the Serer people of Senegal and part of the larger West African form of traditional wrestling, the only such tradition to allow blows with the hands. In this form of wrestling, fighters attempt to throw their opponents to the ground by lifting them up and over, usually outside a given area. Originating as a preparatory exercise among Serer warriors, this form of wrestling is known as njom in Serer; the term is from the Serer principle of Jom and means heart or honor. The sport is a national sport in Senegal and parts of The Gambia. Photograph: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin
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