April 15: Day of the Sun in North Korea; Jackie Robinson Day and Tax Day in the United States Hillsborough Memorial 1632 – Thirty Years' War: A Swedish–German army defeated the forces of the Catholic League at the Battle of Rain, mortally wounding their commander Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. 1923 – Ten Japanese-American children were killed in a racially motivated arson attack on a school in Sacramento, California. 1936 – Two Jews were killed near Tulkarm in Mandatory Palestine, an act widely viewed as the beginning of violence within the Arab revolt. 1989 – The Hillsborough disaster (memorial pictured), a human crush that caused 97 deaths in the worst disaster in British sporting history, occurred during an FA Cup match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield. 2019 – A fire severely damaged Notre-Dame de Paris, destroying the cathedral's timber spire and much of the roof. Leonardo da Vinci (b. 1452)Nikita Khrushchev (b. 1894)Claudia Cardinale (b. 1938)Emma Watson (b. 1990) More anniversaries: April 14 April 15 April 16 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Roosilawaty (born Surayi Pendidikan; April 15, 1936 – February 25, 2009) was an Indonesian actress and dancer. She appeared in her first films in 1956, in Tiga Dara as a dancer and in the lead role in Tjatut. This was the beginning of a successful career, and she continued to appear in Indonesian films until 1963. She retired from acting and, after a period as a florist, subsequently founded Les Sphinx Promotion, an agency for artistic talent, in 1972. This photograph shows Roosilawaty c. 1960. Photograph credit: Tati Studios; restored by Chris Woodrich Recently featured: Black Sunday Thomas Jefferson Bali myna Archive More featured pictures

April 14: Tamil New Year and other New Year festivals in South and Southeast Asia (2024); N'Ko Alphabet Day in West Africa Hailstones from the 1999 Sydney hailstorm 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. 1945 – World War II: The German town of Friesoythe was razed by the 4th Canadian Division on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes. 1999 – A storm dropped around 500,000 tonnes of hailstones on Sydney (examples pictured) and the east coast of New South Wales, causing about A$2.3 billion in damages, the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance history. 2010 – Plumes of ash from a major eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland led to widespread disruption of air travel throughout Europe for several days. 2014 – Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from a government secondary school in the town of Chibok, Nigeria. Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton (b. 1852)Robert Carlyle (b. 1961)Rachel Carson (d. 1964) More anniversaries: April 13 April 14 April 15 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Black Sunday was a severe dust storm that occurred on April 14, 1935, as part of the Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms in the American prairies in the 1930s. The storm first hit the Oklahoma panhandle and northwestern Oklahoma, then moved south into Texas. The conditions were the most severe in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, but the storm's effects were also felt in surrounding areas. Drought, erosion, bare soil, and winds caused the dust to fly freely and at high speeds. It is estimated that 300,000 tons of topsoil were displaced from the prairie area. Black Sunday was one of the worst dust storms in American history and caused immense economic and agricultural damage. This photograph shows the storm approaching Stratford, Texas. Photograph credit: George Everett Marsh Jr.; restored by Yann Forget Recently featured: Thomas Jefferson Bali myna The Jewish Cemetery Archive More featured pictures

April 13 Van Cliburn 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian forces conducted a surprise attack against a Continental Army outpost at Bound Brook, New Jersey. 1829 – The Roman Catholic Relief Act received royal assent, removing the most substantial restrictions on Catholics in the United Kingdom. 1958 – In the midst of the Cold War, American pianist Van Cliburn (pictured) won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. 2009 – Twenty-three people died in a fire at a homeless hostel in Kamień Pomorski; it was Poland's deadliest fire since 1980. 2017 – War in Afghanistan: In an airstrike in Nangarhar Province, the U.S. military dropped the most powerful conventional bomb used in combat. Henry De la Beche (d. 1855)Annie Jump Cannon (d. 1941)Günter Grass (d. 2015) More anniversaries: April 12 April 13 April 14 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, planter, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Following the American Revolutionary War and before becoming president in 1801, Jefferson was the first United States secretary of state under George Washington, and then the second vice president under John Adams. Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism, and natural rights, and he produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels. This line-engraved portrait of Jefferson was produced by the United States Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 26 presidents. The same portrait appears on the obverse of the two-dollar bill. Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew Shiva Recently featured: Bali myna The Jewish Cemetery Gatekeeper Archive More featured pictures

April 12: First day of Passover (Judaism, 2025); Third Month Fair begins in southwest China (2025); Cosmonautics Day in Russia; Yuri's Night NATO F-15 fighter aircraft during Operation Deny Flight 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria was baptised by Bishop Paulinus of York. 1204 – Troops of the Fourth Crusade entered Constantinople and began a sack of the city, temporarily dissolving the Byzantine Empire. 1910 – SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was launched in Trieste. 1980 – Samuel Doe took control of Liberia in a coup d'etat, overthrowing President William Tolbert and ending over 130 years of national democratic presidential succession. 2014 – A fire broke out near Valparaíso, Chile, eventually destroying at least 2,500 homes and leaving approximately 11,000 people homeless. Vladislaus I, Duke of Bohemia (d. 1125)Nicola Amati (d. 1684)Zelia Nuttall (d. 1933) More anniversaries: April 11 April 12 April 13 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The Bali myna (Leucopsar rothschildi) is a medium-sized bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is found in the north-west of the Indonesian island of Bali, and nearby offshore islands. The Bali myna has a length of around 25 centimetres (9.8 inches) and is almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. It has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow beak. Both sexes are similar. The species is critically endangered and fewer than 50 adults were assumed to exist in the wild in 2020. This Bali myna perching on a branch was photographed in West Bali National Park. Photograph credit: JJ Harrison Recently featured: The Jewish Cemetery Gatekeeper Florence Price Archive More featured pictures

April 11 Mary II and William III 1689 – William III and Mary II (both pictured) were crowned joint sovereigns of England in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey. 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: A hastily assembled Royal Navy fleet launched an assault against the main strength of the French Atlantic Fleet; an incomplete victory led to political turmoil in Britain. 1951 – U.S. president Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of his commands for making public statements about the Korean War that contradicted the administration's policies. 2001 – In a FIFA World Cup qualifying match, Australia defeated American Samoa 31–0, the largest margin of victory recorded in international football. Romanos III Argyros (d. 1034)Ewelina Hańska (d. 1882)Trevor Linden (b. 1970) More anniversaries: April 10 April 11 April 12 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The Jewish Cemetery is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael. Painted in 1654 or 1655, it is an allegorical landscape painting suggesting ideas of hope and death, while also being based on Beth Haim, a cemetery located on Amsterdam's southern outskirts, at the town of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. Beth Haim is a resting place for some prominent figures among Amsterdam's large Jewish Portuguese community in the 17th century. Ruisdael presents the cemetery as a landscape variant of a vanitas painting, employing deserted tombs, ravaged churches, stormy clouds, dead trees, changing skies, and flowing water to symbolize death and the transience of all earthly things. The known provenance for the painting dates back only to 1739 and its original owner is not documented; since 1926, it has been owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts. Painting credit: Jacob van Ruisdael Recently featured: Gatekeeper Florence Price Blue-ice area Archive More featured pictures

April 10 First-edition cover of The Great Gatsby 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition began with the Austrian invasion of Bavaria, then a client state of France. 1815 – Mount Tambora in Indonesia began the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history, killing at least 71,000 people and affecting temperatures worldwide. 1925 – The Great Gatsby (cover pictured), a novel by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, was first published by Scribner's. 1970 – In the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates, Paul McCartney announced his departure from the Beatles. 2019 – Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project released the first image of the black hole at the center of the galaxy M87. Michael Tarchaniota Marullus (d. 1500)Samuel Hahnemann (b. 1755)Kishori Amonkar (b. 1932) More anniversaries: April 9 April 10 April 11 Archive By email List of days of the year About

The gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Found across Europe, it is typically orange with two large brown spots on its wings and a brown pattern on the edge of its wings, although a large number of aberrant forms are known. The eyespots on the fore wings most likely reduce bird attacks; the gatekeeper is therefore often seen resting with its wings open. Colonies vary in size depending on the available habitat, and can range from a few dozen to several thousand butterflies. This male gatekeeper was photographed in Bernwood Forest in Buckinghamshire, England. The photograph was focus-stacked from 15 separate images. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: Florence Price Blue-ice area Buff-tailed coronet Archive More featured pictures

Admiral Scheer capsized in Kiel April 9: Day of Valor in the Philippines (1942); Education and Sharing Day in the United States (2025); Vimy Ridge Day in Canada (1917) 193 – Year of the Five Emperors: Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops at Carnuntum in modern-day Austria. 1388 – Despite being vastly outnumbered, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Näfels. 1945 – The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer (pictured), the most successful capital-ship surface raider of the Second World War, was sunk by British bombers in port in Kiel. 2005 – Charles, Prince of Wales, married Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at the Windsor Guildhall. 2021 – Myanmar civil war: Burmese military and police forces killed at least 82 civilians in the Bago massacre, including people protesting a a recent coup d'état. Isambard Kingdom Brunel (b. 1806)Mary Jackson (b. 1921)Young Dirty Bastard (b. 1989) More anniversaries: April 8 April 9 April 10 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Florence Price (April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical composer pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, she was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music and was active in Chicago from 1927 until her death. Price was the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. She composed more than 300 works, including four symphonies, four concertos, as well as choral works, art songs, chamber music, and music for solo instruments. This portrait photograph of Price was taken around 1940 by George Nelidoff and is in the collection of the University of Arkansas Libraries. Photograph credit: George Nelidoff; restored by MyCatIsAChonk Recently featured: Blue-ice area Buff-tailed coronet Filipendula vulgaris Archive More featured pictures

April 8 Little Nemo 1271 – Crusades: The Knights Hospitaller surrendered the Krak des Chevaliers, a castle in present-day Syria, to the army of the Mamluk sultan Baybars. 1904 – France and the United Kingdom signed the Entente Cordiale, agreeing to a peaceful coexistence after centuries of intermittent conflict. 1911 – American cartoonist Winsor McCay released the silent short film Little Nemo (featured), one of the earliest animated films. 1933 – The Australian state of Western Australia voted to secede from the federation, but efforts to implement the result proved to be unsuccessful. 1973 – The Progress Party was founded in a movie theater in Oslo, Norway. Caracalla (d. 217)Mary Dee (b. 1912)Christof May (b. 1973)TBJZL (b. 1993) More anniversaries: April 7 April 8 April 9 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Blue-ice areas are regions of Antarctica where the ice surface has a blue colour, contrasting with the more common white Antarctic surface. They form around 1% of the continent's ice area. Blue-ice areas typically form when the movement of both air and ice are obstructed by topographic obstacles such as mountains that emerge from the ice sheet, generating particular climatic conditions where the net snow accumulation is exceeded by wind-driven sublimation and snow transports. They are noted for being hard and flat, enabling their use as a runway, in addition to their stability. Ice of up to 2.7 million years in age has been extracted from blue-ice areas. There are also large numbers of meteorites accumulated on them, either from direct falls or having been transported from elsewhere by ice flow. This NASA photograph shows a blue-ice area in the Miller Range, with a meteorite. Photograph credit: Nina Lanza / NASA Recently featured: Buff-tailed coronet Filipendula vulgaris Nadar Archive More featured pictures

April 7: National Beer Day in the United StatesArtist's conception of 2001 Mars Odyssey1655 After a conclave lasting eighty days, the College of Cardinals elected Fabio Chigi as Pope AlexanderVII (pictured).1945 World WarII: U.S. forces sank the Japanese battleship Yamato during Operation KikusuiI in the East China Sea.1994 Rwandan Civil War: The Rwandan genocide began a few hours after the assassination of President Juvnal Habyarimana, with hundreds of thousands killed in the following 100 days.1995 First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops began a massacre of hundreds of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.2001 NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey (artist's conception pictured), the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, launched from Cape Canaveral.BerengarI of Italy (d.924)Martha Ray (d.1779)Joseph Lyons (d.1939)Dave Arneson (d.2009)More anniversaries: April 6April 7April 8ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens) is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", members of the tribe Heliantheini in the subfamily Lesbiinae. Found in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, the buff-tailed coronet is 11 to 12 centimetres (4.3 to 4.7 inches) long and weighs 7.3 to 8.8 grams (0.26 to 0.31 ounces). Both sexes have a short, straight, black bill and a small white spot behind the eye. Males of the nominate subspecies, B.f.flavescens, are mostly shining green, with a buff belly spotted with green. The buff-tailed coronet is highly territorial, though it may share feeding at a flowering tree with other hummingbirds. It typically forages in the mid-story but also feeds in the canopy. Breeding behavior has been recorded between November and March, and it has a song consisting of "a continuous series of single high-pitched 'tsit' notes". This buff-tailed coronet of the subspecies B.f.flavescens was photographed in the Reserva Ecologica Rio Blanco, near Manizales, Colombia.Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpRecently featured: Filipendula vulgarisNadarRed pandaArchiveMore featured pictures

April 6: Tartan DayABBA1776 American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy unsuccessfully attempted to capture HMSGlasgow near Block Island.1808 John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company, the profits from which made him the first multi-millionaire in the United States.1974 ABBA (pictured) won the Eurovision Song Contest representing Sweden with the song "Waterloo".1994 The aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvnal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down in Kigali; the event became the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide.2009 Mass protests began across Moldova against the results of the parliamentary election.James Mill (b.1773)Donald Wills Douglas Sr. (b.1892)Rose O'Neill (d.1944)Mingyu (b.1997)More anniversaries: April 5April 6April 7ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Filipendula vulgaris, commonly known as dropwort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae and closely related to meadowsweet. Found in Europe, western Siberia, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and North Africa, it has finely cut, fern-like radical leaves that form a basal rosette, and an erect stem 20 to 50 centimetres (8 to 20 inches) tall. The flowers appear in dense clusters, and the plant has an overall height of 50 to 100 centimetres (20 to 40 inches), achieved after two to five years, and a spread of around about 10 to 50 centimetres (4 to 20 inches). The plant thrives on chalk and limestone downs, and on heaths on other basic rocks, with full sun or partial shade, and is tolerant of dry conditions. This F.vulgaris inflorescence was photographed in Kulna, Estonia. The photograph was focus-stacked from 26 separate images.Photograph credit: Ivar LeidusRecently featured: NadarRed pandaFord Strikers RiotArchiveMore featured pictures

April 5: Feast day of Saint Vincent Ferrer (Catholicism) Pocahontas919 The Fatimid Caliphate began a second unsuccessful invasion of Egypt, then under Abbasid rule.1614 Pocahontas (pictured), a Native American woman, married English colonist John Rolfe, leading to a period of peace between the Powhatan people and the inhabitants of Jamestown, Virginia.1944 Siegfried Lederer, a Czech Jew, escaped from Auschwitz with the aid of an SS officer who opposed the Holocaust.1986 The Libyan secret service bombed a discotheque in West Berlin, resulting in three deaths and 229 others injured.2009 The North Korean satellite Kwangmyngsng-2 was launched from the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground and passed over Japan, sparking concerns it may have been a trial run of technology that could be used to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles.al-Nuwayri (b.1279)Thure de Thulstrup (b.1848)Marie-Rosalie Cadron-Jett (d.1864)Judith Resnik (b.1949)More anniversaries: April 4April 5April 6ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Nadar (born Gaspard-Flix Tournachon; 5 April 1820 20 March 1910) was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloonist, and proponent of heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first person to take aerial photographs, and during the Siege of Paris in 187071, he established the first airmail service. In 1863, Nadar commissioned the prominent balloonist Eugne Godard to construct an enormous balloon, 60 metres (196ft) high and with a capacity of 6,000m3 (210,000cuft), named Le Gant (The Giant). For publicity, he recreated balloon flights in his studio with his wife, Ernestine, using a rigged-up balloon gondola. This self-portrait of Nadar in a balloon basket was taken c.1863.Photograph credit: Nadar; restored by Adam CuerdenRecently featured: Red pandaFord Strikers Riot20222023 California floodsArchiveMore featured pictures

April 4: Hansik in Korea (2024); Qingming Festival (traditional Chinese, 2025)Alexios I Komnenos503BC Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrated a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.1081 The Komnenos dynasty came to full power with the coronation of AlexiosI Komnenos (pictured) as Byzantine emperor.1859 Bryant's Minstrels premiered the minstrel song "Dixie" in New York City as part of their blackface show.1949 Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing NATO, an international military alliance whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.A.Thomas Bradbury (b.1902)Martin Rundkvist (b.1972)Xu Lai (d.1973)Inez Robb (d.1979)More anniversaries: April 3April 4April 5ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The red panda is a mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, and a ringed tail. It has a head-to-body length of 5163.5cm (2025in) and a 2848.5cm (1119in) tail, and it weighs between 3.2 and 15kg (7 and 33lb). It is genetically close to raccoons, weasels and skunks. Solitary, largely arboreal and well adapted to climbing, it inhabits coniferous, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, favouring steep slopes with dense bamboo cover close to water sources. It uses elongated wrist bones ("false thumbs") to grasp bamboo. It feeds mainly on bamboo shoots and leaves. Red pandas mate in early spring, giving birth to litters of up to four cubs in summer. On the IUCN Red List as endangered since 2015, the species is threatened by poaching and deforestation-based habitat destruction and fragmentation.Photograph credit: Mathias AppelRecently featured: Ford Strikers Riot20222023 California floodsGhillie suitArchiveMore featured pictures

April 3Rakesh Sharma1043 Edward the Confessor, usually considered to be the last king of the House of Wessex, was crowned King of England.1984 Aboard Soyuz T-11, Rakesh Sharma (pictured) became the first Indian to be launched into space.1996 A U.S. Air Force CT-43 crashed into a mountainside while attempting an instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia, killing all 35 people on board, including Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown.2009 A gunman opened fire at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York, U.S., killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.2013 The northeastern section of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, experienced several flash floods that killed at least 100 people.Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (d.687)Mary Carpenter (b.1807)Reginald Heber (d.1826)Gus Grissom (b.1926)More anniversaries: April 2April 3April 4ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Ford Strikers Riot is a 1941 photograph that shows an American strikebreaker getting beaten by United Auto Workers (UAW) strikers who were picketing at the Ford Motor Company's Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Milton Brooks, a photographer for The Detroit News, captured the image on April3, 1941, and it won the inaugural Pulitzer Prize for Photography in 1942. The photograph has been called a portrayal of the struggle in America between capital and labor. During the incident, a peaceful picketing of the Ford Motor Company was interrupted when a single man clashed with the UAW strikers. The man ignored the advice of the Michigan State Police and crossed the picket lines. Brooks, who was waiting with other photojournalists outside the Ford factory gates, took only one photograph and said: "I took the picture quickly, hid the camera... ducked into the crowd... a lot of people would have liked to wreck that picture."Photograph credit: Milton Brooks; restored by Yann ForgetRecently featured: 20222023 California floodsGhillie suitArtScience MuseumArchiveMore featured pictures

April 2: World Autism Awareness Day; feast day of Saint Francis of Paola (Catholicism); Malvinas Day in Argentina (1982) Southern bread riots1863 About 5,000 people in Richmond, Virginia, mostly poor women, rioted in protest of the high price of bread (depicted).1968 2001: A Space Odyssey, the epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C.1979 Spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a military research facility near the city of Sverdlovsk, causing at least 68 deaths.1982 Argentine special forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking the Falklands War against the United Kingdom.1992 Bosnian War: At least 48 civilians were massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Prince George of Denmark (b.1653)Wilhelmine Reichard (b.1788)Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet (d.1803)Elizabeth Catlett (d.2012)More anniversaries: April 1April 2April 3ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Periods of heavy rainfall caused by multiple atmospheric rivers in California between December 31, 2022, and March 25, 2023, resulted in floods that affected parts of Southern California, the California Central Coast, Northern California and Nevada. The flooding resulted in over US$4 billion in property damage and at least 22 fatalities. A portion of California State Route 84 in Woodside was closed due to landslide damage as a result of the floods, as shown in this aerial photograph taken on April 2, 2023. Photograph credit: King of HeartsRecently featured: Ghillie suitArtScience MuseumChestnut-naped antpittaArchiveMore featured pictures

April 1: April Fools' Day; Iranian Islamic Republic Day (1979)Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos1871 The Duke of Buckingham (pictured) opened the first section of the Brill Tramway, a short railway line to transport goods between his lands and the national rail network.1952 Israel enacted a citizenship law, prior to which the country technically had no citizens.1969 The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with V/STOL capabilities, entered service with the Royal Air Force.2001 Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands was legalized, making it the first country to do so.Aimery of Cyprus (d.1205)Sophie Germain (b.1776)Shivakumara Swami (b.1907)Scott Joplin (d.1917)More anniversaries: March 31April 1April 2ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

A ghillie suit is a type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble the background environment, such as foliage. Typically, it is a net or cloth garment covered in loose strips of burlap (hessian), cloth, twine, or jute sometimes made to look like leaves and twigs, and optionally augmented with foliage from the area. Military personnel, police, hunters, and nature photographers may wear a ghillie suit to blend into their surroundings and to conceal themselves from enemies or targets. The suit gives the wearer's outline a three-dimensional breakup, rather than a linear one. When manufactured correctly, the suit will move in the wind in the same way as surrounding foliage. Some ghillie suits are made with light and breathable material that allows a person to wear a shirt underneath. This photograph of a wildlife photographer in a ghillie suit, standing and holding a camera, was taken in a forest in the Jura Mountains near Marchissy, Switzerland.Photograph credit: Giles LaurentRecently featured: ArtScience MuseumChestnut-naped antpittaSilene flos-cuculiArchiveMore featured pictures