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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 October 2018. 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/October 2018#1]] for October 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
October 1
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The Trinidad and Tobago dollar is the currency of Trinidad and Tobago. It has its origins in the Spanish dollar (also known as "pieces of eight"), which began circulating in the 16th century. The first bank in the territory was the Colonial Bank, which opened a branch in Trinidad in 1837. An 1838 order-in-council by the government designated the pound sterling as the official currency, but dollars issued by various countries remained legal tender. A government ordinance in 1934 named the dollar the official currency, replacing the system of pounds, shillings and pence at a fixed exchange rate of 1 dollar for every 4 shillings 2 pence. Trinidad and Tobago entered a currency union with other Caribbean nations after World War II, which was replaced by the modern Trinidad and Tobago dollar in 1964, two years after the nation's independence. This is a 1905 one dollar note. A two dollar note was issued at the same time. Banknote: Thomas de la Rue, National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Image: Godot13
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The Trinidad and Tobago dollar is the currency of Trinidad and Tobago. It has its origins in the Spanish dollar (also known as "pieces of eight"), which began circulating in the 16th century. The first bank in the territory was the Colonial Bank, which opened a branch in Trinidad in 1837. An 1838 order-in-council by the government designated the pound sterling as the official currency, but dollars issued by various countries remained legal tender. A government ordinance in 1934 named the dollar the official currency, replacing the system of pounds, shillings and pence at a fixed exchange rate of 1 dollar for every 4 shillings 2 pence. Trinidad and Tobago entered a currency union with other Caribbean nations after World War II, which was replaced by the modern Trinidad and Tobago dollar in 1964, two years after the nation's independence. This is a 1905 two dollar note. A one dollar note was issued at the same time. Banknote: Thomas de la Rue, National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Image: Godot13
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October 2
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L'Absinthe, also known as Dans un Café, was painted between 1875 and 1876 by French artist Edgar Degas. The work portrays the lethargic and lonely figures of a woman and man with a glass of absinthe at La Nouvelle Athènes in Paris. The models are Marcellin Desboutin, a painter and engraver, and Ellen Andrée, an actress who also appeared in Manet's Chez le père Lathuille and Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party. The painting was derided by critics at its first two showings in 1876 and 1892, but sparked even greater controversy in an exhibition at the Grafton Gallery in England in 1893. The people and the absinthe represented in the painting were considered by English critics to be shockingly degraded and uncouth. It hangs in the permanent collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Painting: Edgar Degas
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October 3
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CG 4, also known as "God's Hand", is a star-forming region located in the Puppis constellation, about 1300 light-years from Earth. It is one of several objects referred to as "cometary globules", because its shape is similar to that of a comet. It has a dense head formed of gas and dust, which is around 1.5 light-years in diameter, and an elongated faint tail around 8 light-years in length. CG 4 was discovered in 1976, along with other cometary globules in the Gum Nebula, by the UK Schmidt Telescope in Australia. This photograph was taken by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. Photograph: European Southern Observatory
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October 4
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Four Times of the Day is a series of four paintings by the French landscape painter Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789). They were painted in 1757 in Paris, and are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide. The paintings consist of four separate scenes depicting morning, midday, evening and night, a series which was created by several artists of the era including Vernet and Philip James de Loutherbourg. The painting pictured is the Morning scene. See the other times of day: Midday · Evening · Night Painting: Joseph Vernet
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Four Times of the Day is a series of four paintings by the French landscape painter Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789). They were painted in 1757 in Paris, and are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide. The paintings consist of four separate scenes depicting morning, midday, evening and night, a series which was created by several artists of the era including Vernet and Philip James de Loutherbourg. The painting pictured is the Midday scene. See the other times of day: Morning · Evening · Night Painting: Joseph Vernet
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Four Times of the Day is a series of four paintings by the French landscape painter Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789). They were painted in 1757 in Paris, and are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide. The paintings consist of four separate scenes depicting morning, midday, evening and night, a series which was created by several artists of the era including Vernet and Philip James de Loutherbourg. The painting pictured is the Evening scene. See the other times of day: Morning · Midday · Night Painting: Joseph Vernet
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Four Times of the Day is a series of four paintings by the French landscape painter Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789). They were painted in 1757 in Paris, and are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide. The paintings consist of four separate scenes depicting morning, midday, evening and night, a series which was created by several artists of the era including Vernet and Philip James de Loutherbourg. The painting pictured is the Night scene. See the other times of day: Morning · Midday · Evening Painting: Joseph Vernet
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October 5
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Chester A. Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 21st President of the United States from 1881 to 1885. Born in Vermont and raised in upstate New York, Arthur practiced law in New York City before serving as a quartermaster general in the Civil War. He became active in the Republican party after the war, was elected vice president on the ticket of President James A. Garfield, and assumed the presidency upon Garfield's assassination six months into his presidency. He effected a reform of the civil service during his presidency, as well as navy reform and an act to prohibit immigration by Chinese laborers and deny citizenship to those already in the US. Due to his poor health, Arthur did not seek a second term. Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew Shiva
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October 6
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An automatic watch, also called a self-winding watch, is a mechanical watch in which the natural motion of the wearer provides energy to run the watch, making manual winding unnecessary. The watch contains an oscillating weight that turns on a pivot, which is attached to a ratcheted winding mechanism. The earliest credible evidence for a successful automatic watch is that made by the Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet in late 1776 or early 1777. Photograph: Petar Milošević
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October 7
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Margaret Lee (c. 1506 – c. 1543) was a sister of the poet Thomas Wyatt, and likely a friend of Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of England. She was the daughter of Sir Henry Wyatt and Anne Skinner, and was married to Sir Anthony Lee (died 1549), by whom she had four sons and five daughters. Historians have speculated that she was present during Boleyn's execution. Painting: Workshop of Hans Holbein.
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October 8
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Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford. The site of the cathedral became a place of worship in the 8th century or earlier. However, the oldest part of the current building, the bishop's chapel, dates to the 11th century. The cathedral is dedicated to two saints, Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King. The latter was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in the year 794, and he was buried at the site of the cathedral. The cathedral contains the Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world created in around 1300 by Richard of Holdingham. The map is listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This picture shows the nave of the cathedral, viewed from the west. See also: Nave viewed from the east · Choir · Lady Chapel Photograph: Diliff
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Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford. The site of the cathedral became a place of worship in the 8th century or earlier. However, the oldest part of the current building, the bishop's chapel, dates to the 11th century. The cathedral is dedicated to two saints, Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King. The latter was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in the year 794, and he was buried at the site of the cathedral. The cathedral contains the Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world created in around 1300 by Richard of Holdingham. The map is listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This picture shows the nave of the cathedral, viewed from the east. See also: Nave viewed from the west · Choir · Lady Chapel Photograph: Diliff
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Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford. The site of the cathedral became a place of worship in the 8th century or earlier. However, the oldest part of the current building, the bishop's chapel, dates to the 11th century. The cathedral is dedicated to two saints, Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King. The latter was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in the year 794, and he was buried at the site of the cathedral. The cathedral contains the Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world created in around 1300 by Richard of Holdingham. The map is listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This picture shows the choir of the cathedral. See also: Nave viewed from the west · Nave viewed from the east · Lady Chapel Photograph: Diliff
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Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford. The site of the cathedral became a place of worship in the 8th century or earlier. However, the oldest part of the current building, the bishop's chapel, dates to the 11th century. The cathedral is dedicated to two saints, Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King. The latter was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in the year 794, and he was buried at the site of the cathedral. The cathedral contains the Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world created in around 1300 by Richard of Holdingham. The map is listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This picture shows the Lady Chapel of the cathedral. See also: Nave viewed from the west · Nave viewed from the east · Choir Photograph: Diliff
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October 9
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The Haller Madonna and Lot and His Daughters are a pair of oil paintings on two sides of the same canvas. They were painted by Albrecht Dürer, and date to between 1496 and 1499. They are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The painting on the obverse depicts Mary and an athletic-looking Jesus, with a window looking out to a distant view. This scheme is similar to that of Giovanni Bellini's works, which Dürer had seen in his first sojourn in Venice (1494–95). It features coats of arms in the lower corners, both representing prominent families from Dürer's home town of Nuremberg, Germany. The left-hand arms are those of the house of Haller von Hallerstein, while the right-hand arms are for the Koberger family. The reverse of the painting features a picture known as Lot and His Daughters, showing a Biblical scene of Lot's flight from Sodom, with a landscape including explosions of fire in the background. Since the two scenes are unrelated, it has been suggested that the paintings are intended as private devotional images, each depicting one example of a just life and God's grace. Painting: Albrecht Dürer
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The Haller Madonna and Lot and His Daughters are a pair of oil paintings on two sides of the same canvas. They were painted by Albrecht Dürer, and date to between 1496 and 1499. They are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The reverse of the painting features a picture known as Lot and His Daughters, showing a Biblical scene of Lot's flight from Sodom, with a landscape including explosions of fire in the background. Since the two scenes are unrelated, it has been suggested that the paintings are intended as private devotional images, each depicting one example of a just life and God's grace. The painting on the obverse depicts Mary and an athletic-looking Jesus, with a window looking out to a distant view. This scheme is similar to that of Giovanni Bellini's works, which Dürer had seen in his first sojourn in Venice (1494–95). It features coats of arms in the lower corners, both representing prominent families from Dürer's home town of Nuremberg, Germany. The left-hand arms are those of the house of Haller von Hallerstein, while the right-hand arms are for the Koberger family. Painting: Albrecht Dürer
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October 10
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Pouteria campechiana, also known as the canistel, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. It is cultivated in its native countries and has been introduced into several other countries, including Brazil, Taiwan, and the United States. The edible part of the tree is its fruit, which is colloquially known as an egg fruit. The ripe fruit is used in jam and marmalade, on pancakes, and in a milkshake known as "eggfruit nog". This picture shows a whole P. campechiana fruit. See also: a cross section of the fruit. Photograph: Augustus Binu
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Pouteria campechiana, also known as the canistel, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. It is cultivated in its native countries and has been introduced into several other countries, including Brazil, Taiwan, and the United States. The edible part of the tree is its fruit, which is colloquially known as an egg fruit. The ripe fruit is used in jam and marmalade, on pancakes, and in a milkshake known as "eggfruit nog". This picture shows a cross section of the P. campechiana fruit. See also: a whole fruit. Photograph: Augustus Binu
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October 11
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The Crown of the Andes is a votive crown originally made for a large statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the cathedral of Popayán, Colombia. The oldest parts of the crown are the orb and cross at the top, which date to the 16th century. The diadem was made in approximately 1660, and the arches were added around a century later. The crown is adorned with 450 emeralds. The largest, the "Atahualpa Emerald", may have belonged to the Inca Emperor Atahualpa (1497–1533) and been seized from him when he was captured in 1532 by Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador. In 1936 the crown was sold by its owners to an American businessman. It is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Crown: Unknown. Photograph: Metropolitan Museum of Art
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October 12
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Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) was an English painter. Along with his bitter rival, Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British portrait artists of the second half of the 18th century. Born and raised in Sudbury, Suffolk, Gainsborough lived in London during the 1740s, where he trained under engraver Hubert-François Gravelot and contributed to the decoration of Vauxhall Gardens. After marrying Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, Gainsborough moved back to Sudbury and then to Ipswich, Bath and London. Gainsborough was a fast painter and worked more from observations of nature than from application of formal academic rules. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes. This painting is a self-portrait of Gainsborough, painted shortly before he moved from Ipswich to Bath in 1759. It is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Painting: Thomas Gainsborough
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October 13
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The yellow-billed shrike (Corvinella corvina) is a common resident breeding bird in tropical Africa, from Senegal east to Uganda, and locally in westernmost Kenya. It frequents forest and other habitats with trees. Although it generally feeds on insects, this shrike may hunt larger prey such as small frogs and mice. Photograph: Charles J. Sharp
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October 14
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Crab on its Back (Dutch: Een op zijn rug liggende krab) is an 1887 oil painting by Vincent van Gogh. It is a still life of a crab with a green background. The painting is in the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Painting: Vincent van Gogh
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October 15
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The Northern Lights Cathedral is a Church of Norway parish church in Alta Municipality, Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the centre of the town of Alta, and is part of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland. It was built in a circular style in 2013 by the architecture firm Link Arkitektur, in collaboration with Schmidt Hammer Lassen, and seats about 350 people. Prior to its opening, the main church for the parish was the historic Alta Church. Photograph: DXR
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October 16
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Anti-German sentiment, or Germanophobia, has existed in various places throughout history. This includes 1860s Russia, where a press campaign against Germans was launched; Britain from the 1870s onwards; and across much of the rest of the world during World War I and World War II. In the post-war years the speed of the West German recovery raised fears that the Germans of planning for World War III, but in contemporary Europe Germany is generally viewed favourably. In a poll carried out in 2008 for the BBC World Service, in which people in 34 countries were asked about the positive and negative influence of 13 countries, Germany was the most popular, ahead of Japan, France and Britain. This poster was released in 1917 by Harry Ryle Hopps, portraying Germany as a gorilla invading the United States having conquered Europe. Poster: Harry Ryle Hopps; Restoration: Christoph Braun
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October 17
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Study of a Young Woman is a painting by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, completed between 1665 and 1667, around the same time as his better-known Girl with a Pearl Earring. The two paintings are similar in tone, composition, and size. Both subjects wear pearl earrings, have scarves draped over their shoulders, and are shown in front of a plain black background. It is likely that the creation of both works involved the use of a camera obscura. The sitter is depicted as having a widely spaced features in a flat face, with a small nose and thin lips. Her lack of conventional beauty has led to a general belief that this work was painted on commission, although it is possible that the model was Vermeer's daughter. The work was probably created as a tronie rather than a portrait, being a study of the young woman's thoughts, feelings, or character, something typical in many of Vermeer's paintings. Study of a Young Woman is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Painting: Johannes Vermeer
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October 18
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The Japanese-issued Netherlands Indies gulden was the currency issued by the Japanese Empire when it occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Following the Dutch capitulation in March 1942, the Japanese closed all banks, seized assets and currency, and assumed control of the economy in the territory. They began issuing military banknotes, as had previously been done in other occupied territories. These were printed in Japan, but retained the name of the pre-war currency and replaced the Dutch gulden at par. From 1943 the military banknotes were replaced by identical bank-issued notes printed within the territory, and the currency was renamed the roepiah from 1944. The currency was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah in 1946, one year after the Japanese surrender and the country's independence. This note, denominated one cent, is part of the 1942 series. See other denominations: One cent · Five cents · Ten cents · Half gulden · One gulden, Five gulden, Ten gulden Banknotes: Empire of Japan. Reproduction: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution
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The Japanese-issued Netherlands Indies gulden was the currency issued by the Japanese Empire when it occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Following the Dutch capitulation in March 1942, the Japanese closed all banks, seized assets and currency, and assumed control of the economy in the territory. They began issuing military banknotes, as had previously been done in other occupied territories. These were printed in Japan, but retained the name of the pre-war currency and replaced the Dutch gulden at par. From 1943 the military banknotes were replaced by identical bank-issued notes printed within the territory, and the currency was renamed the roepiah from 1944. The currency was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah in 1946, one year after the Japanese surrender and the country's independence. This note, denominated five cents, is part of the 1942 series. See other denominations: One cent · Five cents · Ten cents · Half gulden · One gulden, Five gulden, Ten gulden Banknotes: Empire of Japan. Reproduction: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution
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The Japanese-issued Netherlands Indies gulden was the currency issued by the Japanese Empire when it occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Following the Dutch capitulation in March 1942, the Japanese closed all banks, seized assets and currency, and assumed control of the economy in the territory. They began issuing military banknotes, as had previously been done in other occupied territories. These were printed in Japan, but retained the name of the pre-war currency and replaced the Dutch gulden at par. From 1943 the military banknotes were replaced by identical bank-issued notes printed within the territory, and the currency was renamed the roepiah from 1944. The currency was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah in 1946, one year after the Japanese surrender and the country's independence. This note, denominated ten cents, is part of the 1942 series. See other denominations: One cent · Five cents · Ten cents · Half gulden · One gulden, Five gulden, Ten gulden Banknotes: Empire of Japan. Reproduction: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution
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The Japanese-issued Netherlands Indies gulden was the currency issued by the Japanese Empire when it occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Following the Dutch capitulation in March 1942, the Japanese closed all banks, seized assets and currency, and assumed control of the economy in the territory. They began issuing military banknotes, as had previously been done in other occupied territories. These were printed in Japan, but retained the name of the pre-war currency and replaced the Dutch gulden at par. From 1943 the military banknotes were replaced by identical bank-issued notes printed within the territory, and the currency was renamed the roepiah from 1944. The currency was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah in 1946, one year after the Japanese surrender and the country's independence. This note, denominated half gulden, is part of the 1942 series. See other denominations: One cent · Five cents · Ten cents · Half gulden · One gulden, Five gulden, Ten gulden Banknotes: Empire of Japan. Reproduction: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution
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The Japanese-issued Netherlands Indies gulden was the currency issued by the Japanese Empire when it occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Following the Dutch capitulation in March 1942, the Japanese closed all banks, seized assets and currency, and assumed control of the economy in the territory. They began issuing military banknotes, as had previously been done in other occupied territories. These were printed in Japan, but retained the name of the pre-war currency and replaced the Dutch gulden at par. From 1943 the military banknotes were replaced by identical bank-issued notes printed within the territory, and the currency was renamed the roepiah from 1944. The currency was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah in 1946, one year after the Japanese surrender and the country's independence. This note, denominated one gulden, is part of the 1942 series. See other denominations: One cent · Five cents · Ten cents · Half gulden · One gulden, Five gulden, Ten gulden Banknotes: Empire of Japan. Reproduction: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution
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The Japanese-issued Netherlands Indies gulden was the currency issued by the Japanese Empire when it occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Following the Dutch capitulation in March 1942, the Japanese closed all banks, seized assets and currency, and assumed control of the economy in the territory. They began issuing military banknotes, as had previously been done in other occupied territories. These were printed in Japan, but retained the name of the pre-war currency and replaced the Dutch gulden at par. From 1943 the military banknotes were replaced by identical bank-issued notes printed within the territory, and the currency was renamed the roepiah from 1944. The currency was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah in 1946, one year after the Japanese surrender and the country's independence. This note, denominated five gulden, is part of the 1942 series. See other denominations: One cent · Five cents · Ten cents · Half gulden · One gulden, Five gulden, Ten gulden Banknotes: Empire of Japan. Reproduction: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution
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The Japanese-issued Netherlands Indies gulden was the currency issued by the Japanese Empire when it occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II. Following the Dutch capitulation in March 1942, the Japanese closed all banks, seized assets and currency, and assumed control of the economy in the territory. They began issuing military banknotes, as had previously been done in other occupied territories. These were printed in Japan, but retained the name of the pre-war currency and replaced the Dutch gulden at par. From 1943 the military banknotes were replaced by identical bank-issued notes printed within the territory, and the currency was renamed the roepiah from 1944. The currency was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah in 1946, one year after the Japanese surrender and the country's independence. This note, denominated ten gulden, is part of the 1942 series. See other denominations: One cent · Five cents · Ten cents · Half gulden · One gulden, Five gulden, Ten gulden Banknotes: Empire of Japan. Reproduction: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution
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October 19
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Danaus genutia, also known as the common tiger or striped tiger, is a species of butterfly found throughout India as well as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, South-East Asia and Australia. It is a member of the Danainae group of brush-footed butterflies. Both sexes have tawny wings with veins marked with broad black bands, and the male has a pouch on its hindwing. The butterfly is found in scrub jungles, fallow land adjacent to habitation, and deciduous forests, preferring areas of moderate to heavy rainfall. Its most common food plants in peninsular India are small herbs, twiners and creepers from the family Asclepiadaceae. The caterpillar of D. genutia obtains poison by eating poisonous plants, which make the caterpillar and butterfly taste unpleasant to predators. It has some 16 subspecies and although its evolutionary relationships are not completely resolved, it appears to be most closely related to the Malay tiger (D. affinis) and the white tiger. Photograph: Vengolis |
October 20
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Alexis (1629–1676) was the tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death. Born in Moscow on 29 March 1629, the son of Tsar Michael and Eudoxia Streshneva, the sixteen-year-old Alexis acceded to the throne after his father's death. Boris Morozov, a shrewd boyar open to Western ideas, took charge of Russia in the early years of Alexis's reign, but was exiled from Moscow following a popular uprising. Alexis responded to the uprising with a new legal code. His reign saw wars with Poland and with Sweden, a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church, and the major Cossack revolt of Stenka Razin. Alexis was married twice and had sixteen children, including tsars Fyodor III; Ivan V; Peter the Great; and Sofia, who ruled as regent for her brothers from 1682 to 1689. This oil painting, made by an unknown artist in the 1670s, is now located in a museum in Ptuj, Slovenia. Painting: Unknown |
October 21
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Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses) is a national park located in Maranhão state, in northeastern Brazil, just east of the Baía de São José. Protected since June 1981, the 383,000-acre (155,000 ha) park includes 70 km (43 mi) of coastline, and an interior of rolling sand dunes. During the rainy season, the valleys among the dunes fill with freshwater lagoons, prevented from draining due to the impermeable rock beneath. The park is home to a range of species, including four listed as endangered, and has become a popular destination for ecotourists. Photograph: Julius Dadalti |
October 22
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Alessandro Vittoria (1525–1608) was an Italian Mannerist sculptor, whose work was part of the Venetian classical style. Born and raised in Trento, he moved to Venice in 1543, where he trained and worked with Jacopo Sansovino. Vittoria is known for his classicising portrait busts, a genre that scarcely existed in Venice before him. This portrait of Vittoria is an oil-on-canvas painting by Paolo Veronese, completed around 1580. It shows Vittoria holding a model of his sculpture of Saint Sebastian, which was installed on the altarpiece to Anthony the Great in the Montefeltro chapel at the church of San Francesco della Vigna in Venice. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Painting: Paolo Veronese
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October 23
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A Bézier curve is a parametric curve used in computer graphics and related fields. The curve, which is related to the Bernstein polynomial, is named after Pierre Bézier, who used it in the 1960s for designing curves for the bodywork of Renault cars. Other uses include the design of computer fonts and animation. Bézier curves can be combined to form a Bézier spline, or generalized to higher dimensions to form Bézier surfaces. Image: Phil Tregoning
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October 24
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Jellyfish is an informal term used for members of the subphylum Medusozoa and similar animals such as those in the phylum Ctenophora. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella-shaped bells and trailing tentacles, although a few are not mobile. They move by pulsating the bell. Their tentacles are armed with stinging cells and may be used to capture prey and defend against predators. Jellyfish are found all over the world, from surface waters to the deep sea. This image shows a labelled cross-section of the flower hat jelly (Olindias formosus). Illustration: Mariana Ruiz Villarreal.
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October 25
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The A591 is a major road in the English county of Cumbria, which lies almost entirely within the Lake District national park. The road starts at a roundabout with the A590 close to Sizergh Castle and runs generally north west, bypassing the towns of Kendal and Keswick, ending on the A595 near Bothel. A 2009 poll by satellite navigation firm Garmin named the stretch of the road between Windermere and Keswick as the most popular road in Britain. The A591 was badly damaged during Storm Desmond in 2015, with part of the road washed away at Dunmail Raise, and had to be closed for five months. While it was closed a new trail for walkers, cyclists, and horseriders was built to the west of the road. Photograph: Diliff.
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October 26
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The Hunting of the Snark, published in 1876, is a poem by Lewis Carroll, telling the story of ten individuals who cross the ocean to hunt the Snark. In common with other Carroll works, the meaning of the poem has been queried and analysed in depth. It is divided into eight "fits" (a pun on the archaic fitt meaning a part of a song, and fit meaning a convulsion). This picture is Plate 9 of Henry Holiday's illustrations for the first edition of the poem. It illustrates the seventh fit, The Banker's Fate. The Banker is sitting in a chair and holding bone castanets. Illustration: Henry Holiday. Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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October 27
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The black-headed lapwing (Vanellus tectus tectus). It is a resident breeder across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia. Photograph: Charles J. Sharp
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October 28
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After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself is a pastel drawing by Edgar Degas, made at some point between 1890 and 1895. The work is part of a series of drawings, preliminary sketches and completed works in pastels and oils by Degas from this period that depict women bathing. The drawing was made on several pieces of paper mounted on cardboard. Degas may have started with a smaller composition which he extended as he worked, requiring more paper. The work had a considerable influence on Francis Bacon, most noticeably on his triptychs Three Figures in a Room (1964) and Three Studies of the Male Back (1970). The painting is now in the National Gallery in London. Drawing: Edgar Degas.
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October 29
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Yacine Brahimi (pictured in green on right) is a French-born Algerian professional footballer who plays for FC Porto and the Algeria national team. Born in Paris to Algerian parents and raised in Montreuil, Brahimi was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy in 2003. Despite being courted by several French and European clubs, following his stint at Clairefontaine, he signed a youth contract with Rennes. After turning professional, Brahimi was loaned out to second division club Clermont Foot. While at Clermont, he had a successful individual 2009–10 season. After spending the previous season there on loan, he moved to the La Liga club Granada CF in 2013, and then to Porto for €6.5 million one year later. Having played for France at youth and under-21 level, Brahimi switched his allegiance to Algeria in 2013. He went on to represent them at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 African Cup of Nations. Brahimi is shown here playing for Algeria in a May 2014 friendly, attacking against Taron Voskanyan of Armenia. Photograph: Clément Bucco-Lechat
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October 30
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The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, which holds ballet and opera performances. The company was founded on 28 March [O.S. 17 March] 1776, when Catherine the Great granted Prince Pyotr Urusov a licence to organise theatrical performances, balls and other forms of entertainment. Usunov set up the theatre in collaboration with English tightrope walker Michael Maddox. The present building was built between 1821 and 1824 and designed by architect Joseph Bové. Photograph: DmitriyGuryanov
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October 31
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Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of the Catholic monarchs of Spain. His early life is somewhat obscure, but scholars generally agree that he was born in the Republic of Genoa and travelled widely at a young age, reaching northern Europe and west Africa. From 1492 he led the first European expeditions to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, leading to the systematic European colonization of the Americas. Widely venerated for centuries after his death, his legacy is now debated: public perceptions have changed as recent scholars have given attention to negative aspects of his life such as his role in the extinction of the Taíno people and his promotion of slavery. This picture is a posthumous portrait of Columbus by Italian painter Sebastiano del Piombo, dated 1519, which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus. Painting: Sebastiano del Piombo
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