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May 15, 2023The Canary Islands, Spain

Welcome to Fuerteventura, one of Spain"s Canary Islands, found nearly 70 miles off the northwestern coast of Africa. For thousands of years, the volcanic islands have served as an international crossroads, attracting the interest of the Romans, Arab traders, and European navigators. Agriculture has long been important here, with bananas, tomatoes, and potatoes among the main crops. But while the first voyagers came in search of trade, today"s visitors come to explore the many beautiful national parks and relax on beaches like the Playa del Matorral on Fuerteventura, seen here during a spectacular sunset.Desktop Version

Jan 25, 2025Porto, Portugal

Today"s image takes us to a city that is bold, unpolished in the best way, and brimming with personality. While it"s famous for its port wine (cheers to that!), there"s so much more to discover in the Portuguese city of Porto. As you walk through its streets, you"ll notice façades adorned with azulejos—painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework found in Portugal and Spain—historic churches like São Francisco, and the iconic Dom Luís I Bridge spanning the Douro River, which runs through the city.Desktop Version

Nov 26, 2022World Olive Tree Day

While not everyone would recognize this as an olive tree, most of us understand the meaning of the phrase "extending an olive branch," long known as a gesture of peace and friendship. That sentiment of compassion, harmony, and wisdom is at the heart of UNESCO"s World Olive Tree Day, created in 2019 and observed every November 26. The intent of the day is to bring attention to the resolution of conflict worldwide and to the preservation of the olive tree itself, like this one standing in front of the Temple of Concordia in Agrigento, Italy. The well-preserved, Greek Doric temple was built on what is now the south shore of Sicily, around 440 BCE. Olive trees are native to the coastal regions of the Mediterranean and are cultivated today in places with similar climates, like parts of California and Israel. About 90% of harvested olives are used to make olive oil, the quintessential ingredient in Mediterranean cooking.Desktop Version

Nov 4, 2024Grasmere, Lake District, Cumbria, England

A place where poetry, history, and nature blend—welcome to Grasmere in England"s Lake District. The village was once the cherished residence of the celebrated poet William Wordsworth, who described Grasmere, with its valley and lake of the same name, as "the loveliest spot that man hath found." Here, visitors are greeted by old cottages and homes built from local bluish-green slate. Dove Cottage, Wordsworth"s humble abode from 1799 to 1808, and the adjacent museum offer a dive into the poet"s life. His later residence, Rydal Mount, continues the story just a short journey away. The heart of the village is St. Oswald"s Church, which dates to the 13th century and is Wordsworth"s final resting place. Not far from the church, the aroma of the renowned Grasmere Gingerbread, made from a secret recipe, will set visitors" mouths watering.Desktop Version

May 31, 2021Here we honor the women who ve served

For this Memorial Day, we"re paying our respects at the Military Women"s Memorial, at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. Since the American Revolution, more than 3 million women have served the nation in a military capacity, and this memorial is dedicated to them, honoring their courage, patriotism, and leadership. Opened in 1997, it"s the only major national memorial to honor all the women who have defended the United States in, or with, the armed services. And it"s more than just a memorial. It"s also an education center, with thousands of photographs, documents, textiles, artifacts, and other materials representing all eras and services of American women"s military history.Desktop Version

Jan 6, 2023Black Fell in England s Lake District

Today"s lovely landscape requires a slight bit of explanation. We"re at Black Fell, which can be found in the Lake District of England. The term "fell" originates from the Old Norse term for mountain, but it mostly applies to high, barren areas and, in the Lake District specifically, the area was usually uncultivated and used for grazing. Black Fell, which is a little over 1,000 feet high, has some acclaim, having been mentioned in Alfred Wainwright"s "Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells" as a prime viewing area. No matter which direction you gaze, you"re sure to see something wonderful.Desktop Version

Mar 21, 2022World Poetry Day

"How like a winter hath my absence been / From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! / What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! / What old December"s bareness everywhere!"Desktop Version

Oct 8, 2022World Octopus Day

One of the least understood of sea creatures, this glass octopus lives in the depths of the ocean where sunlight can"t reach, about 3,000 feet down. Glass octopuses are rarely seen and difficult to observe, but they"re a great example of the diversity of the order Octopoda, which we"re celebrating today on World Octopus Day. The observance comes around, appropriately, every Oct 8.Desktop Version

Mar 17, 2022St. Patrick s Day

Ireland has been called the land of "40 shades of green," but this green leprechaun"s-eye view comes from the feet of California"s coastal redwoods. Today we celebrate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who famously never traveled to California. St. Patrick is often depicted holding a shamrock, which he purportedly used to explain Christianity in Ireland by saying the leaves illustrated the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the Holy Trinity. Never mind that Celtic druids had revered the sacred shamrock and its three leaves long before Patrick"s arrival. Coins depicting St. Patrick with a shamrock date back as far as 1675.Desktop Version

Aug 29, 2019Greetings from Asbury Park

The uncharacteristically warm waters of the Atlantic and a long stretch of sand bring thousands of visitors, but Asbury Park also draws waves of art, culture, and music that shine brightly in the summer months. Bruce Springsteen has played here regularly since the 1970s, performing everywhere from the Stone Pony, an iconic music venue, to a benefit show at Asbury Lanes, a bowling alley that was in dire need of sprucing up. Springsteen, who grew up near this stretch of the Jersey Shore, clearly finds Asbury Park special—the name of his 1973 album inspired our title for today’s homepage image. But the seaside resort’s rich musical history predates the Boss—a building boom in the 1920s brought sounds of jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues to the many clubs here. Musicians Arthur Pryor, Count Basie, and many others developed strong ties to Asbury Park and helped establish its reputation as a showcase for great American music.Desktop Version

Jul 10, 2023A field of English lavender

Delighting the senses with its vibrant hues and fragrant blooms, lavender is thought to have arrived in England with the Romans, around 2,000 years ago. While it’s nice to look at, the Romans likely brought it with them for its many practical uses, including cooking, repelling insects, and as an antiseptic. Many perfumes, modern and historical, have featured lavender, and Queen Elizabeth I is purported to have used lavender scent. You’ll find lavender fields scattered across the country. This one is a typical example, a quintessential summer sight here in the picturesque county of Somerset, in southwest England.Desktop Version

Jul 26, 2019The party’s just starting

To usher in the summer music festival season, we take you to a pastoral hillside in the Swiss Alps for the International Alphorn Festival held each summer near the town of Nendaz. Musicians are gathering here this weekend to celebrate and blow these enormous traditional horns of the Alps. No one really knows the origin of the alphorn. We do know that for centuries, European mountain folks from the Alps and east to the Carpathian Mountains used this horn to signal to each other across great distances and to call in animal herds. Even though the horn has no valves or keyholes, it’s not easy to play and requires great lung power.Desktop Version

Feb 24, 2024Almond trees in full bloom, California

In the sun-kissed orchards of the Golden State, almonds reign supreme, enticing the taste buds and adorning the natural surroundings. California grows about 80% of the world"s almonds and 100% of those produced commercially in the United States. Almonds have heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and are nutritional powerhouses, packed with fiber, protein, and an array of vitamins and minerals. During February and March, in California"s Central Valley, these seeds—not nuts—emerge from the delicate blossoms of the almond tree and mature within a protective, fuzzy hull. The trees, which belong to the rose family, burst into a spectacle of beauty during full bloom, with fragrant flowers painting the orchards in hues of white and pink.Desktop Version

Jan 24, 2023Colle Santa Lucia, Dolomites, Italy

This tiny hamlet on the slopes of the Dolomite Mountains is so picturesque, we"d understand if you mistook it for a movie set. But Colle Santa Lucia is a real village in Italy with about 400 residents. Despite its location in Italy"s northern reaches, the village is more culturally Austrian than Italian, and is only a stone"s throw from the Austrian border state of Tyrol. And like its Austrian neighbors, Colle Santa Lucia is known for its peaks and ski resorts. It has more in common with wintry Innsbruck than sunny Venice, which is less than 100 miles away to the south.Desktop Version

Nov 10, 2019Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away

On this day 50 years ago, public television stations first introduced to viewers a colorful community of monsters, birds, grouches, and ordinary people all living together on a friendly urban street. TV producer Joan Ganz Cooney had developed the idea for "Sesame Street." She was convinced that television, with its ability to quickly capture the attention of young children, could be used for good—to educate as well as entertain. With the help of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, "Sesame Street"s" unique cast of characters, skits, and animated videos introduced a new way to provide early education for young children.Desktop Version

Apr 27, 2022Midnight sun

Don"t lose your sunglasses! At least not during this time of year in Svalbard, Norway, when the sun crests the horizon and never dips below it again for more than four months. From about April 19 to August 23, it"s nothing but sunshine in this island chain above the Arctic Circle, more than 500 miles north of mainland Norway. It"s not quite a day at the beach, with average summertime high temps of 39 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit (toasty compared to average wintertime temps of 5 to 9 degrees). And who knows how far it is to the nearest Ray-Ban store?Desktop Version

Jul 1, 2023The Tour de France begins

The first stage of the Tour de France, known as the Grand Départ, begins today, as the 110th edition of the world"s most famous cycling race gets underway. The grueling event, first held in 1903, sees teams race more than 2,100 miles through the Pyrenees and the Alps to finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The competition is divided into 21 day-long stages and while some parts stay the same, others vary from year to year. For example, our image features the Pont du Gard—an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that was built during the first century AD—which only appeared in the 2019 race. The entire event takes place over a 23-day period, including rest days, as teams of eight cyclists compete for a cash prize and the coveted yellow jersey. For these riders, this competition is the apex of years of training and dedication. Bonne chance!Desktop Version

Sep 6, 2021All in a day s work

For Labor Day this year, we"re at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota watching park rangers inspect the 60-foot-tall granite faces of Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Over on the left, and just out of camera shot, is George Washington. Beginning in 1927, sculptor Gutzon Borglum led more than 400 workers to carve these presidential visages into the granite face of Mount Rushmore. These tradespeople were not artists—most of them were miners who had come to the Black Hills looking for gold—but they knew how to use dynamite, jackhammers, and chisels, and so they worked for 14 years carving the likenesses into the stone.Desktop Version

Dec 8, 2019Mod gear

This Lambretta scooter, decked out with extra mirrors, lights, and horns, is an iconic symbol of the mod subculture. Attendees at Purple Weekend, a mod-revival festival held every year in León, Spain, will see many Lambretta and Vespa scooters. The popular event held this weekend gathers fans of mod music, fashion, and culture. The mod movement began in England in the late 1950s, as modern jazz and rhythm & blues records imported from the US sparked the clean-cut, modernist fashion and lifestyle aesthetic that appealed to a new middle class of young people in postwar Britain. The fashion, scooters, and music choices caught on outside the UK during the 1960s and inspired future generations to embrace the style. Now, mod-revival festivals like Spain’s Purple Weekend happen in many countries around the world.Desktop Version

Jul 7, 2022Heceta Head Light, Florence, Oregon

Heceta Head Light is perched 205 feet above the Pacific Ocean on Oregon"s central coast. The headland is named for Spanish Basque explorer Don Bruno de Heceta, who led a secret expedition in 1775 to bolster Spain"s claim to the Pacific Coast of North America. Having sailed from Mexico, by the time the voyage reached these shores, the crew was ravaged by scurvy and Heceta made the call to turn back—but not before he became the first to map and record a written description of the mouth of the Columbia River as well as this rocky 1,000-foot-high headland that would eventually bear his name. By the 19th century, seafarers making their way up and down the coast made the call for a lighthouse to guide their way. Construction of the 56-foot-tall lighthouse was complicated by the steep bluffs and remote location, but the first light beam pierced through the darkness on March 30, 1894.Desktop Version

Apr 2, 2023Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, East Java, Indonesia

Welcome to the spectacular Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, on the Indonesian island of Java, famous for stunning sunrises and its dramatic landscape. Here, a massive ancient volcano erupted thousands of years ago and inside its collapsed crater, more volcanoes formed.Desktop Version

Jan 17, 2024Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany

This Eurasian wolf, curled up for a winter nap in the Bavarian Forest National Park, can rest easy knowing it is an apex predator around these parts. This park covers 93 square miles of the wider forest, where it sits on Germany"s border with Czechia. The softly rolling mountains Great Rachel, Little Rachel, and Little Arber pose modest challenges for hikers as they wander through stands of Norway spruce. The forest teems with life, including lynxes, bears, pygmy owls, and Eurasian wolves, like our sleepy homepage friend. These wolves form a close-knit pack led by an alpha pair and have been spotted in the park after decades of being hunted out of Western Europe.Desktop Version

Dec 14, 2022National Audubon Society s Christmas Bird Count

It"s that time again! Grab your binoculars and bird guide and head outside to start counting. The National Audubon Society"s Christmas Bird Count starts on December 14 annually and runs until January 5. Originating as an actual hunt in the 19th century, on Christmas Day in 1900 someone had the bright idea to stop killing the birds and instead just observe them.Desktop Version

Aug 18, 2019A splash by the sea

You wouldn’t know there’s a highway behind these beaming blue pools, and that is just what architect Álvaro Siza Vieira intended. At the young age of 26, Álvaro Siza designed these Piscinas das Marés (Pools on the Beach). His creation has become a Portuguese national landmark and is praised for the way the pools blend into the landscape from some perspectives, and show a harmonious blend of nature and artificiality from others. The design respectfully floats the pools between the soft sands of the beach and the rocky outcrops that have been here long before 1966, when the project was completed. The shapes of the pools simultaneously follow and oppose the natural lines of the terrain that surround them, a masterful balance that foregrounds the beauty of each, as well as the entirety of the scene Álvaro Siza has helped to set.Desktop Version

Nov 1, 2022Día de los Muertos celebrations in Mexico

It may seem odd to celebrate death—after all, it"s the end of our personal era. But tell that to people who celebrate the Day of the Dead, or el Día de los Muertos, and they"ll smile. They may explain that death is part of the circle of life, and as natural as any other human milestone. As our photo shows, the Day of the Dead is a big holiday in Mexico, where calacas—skeleton figures of musicians, workers, and other folks in merry scenes of everyday "life"—lurk everywhere for weeks before the main event. Of course, living people also play dead for the day, donning skeleton outfits, masks, and grotesque makeup. Music, processions, and food add to the quirky, fun carnival atmosphere.Desktop Version

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