March 25: Feast of the Annunciation (Christianity); Bangladesh Genocide Remembrance DayEnrico Fermi1458 Wars of the Roses: A formal reconciliation ceremony between the Lancastrians and Yorkists led to a brief period of peace.1725 Bach's chorale cantata Wie schn leuchtet der Morgenstern was first performed on the Feast of the Annunciation, which coincided that year with Palm Sunday.1934 Enrico Fermi (pictured) published his discovery of neutron-induced radioactivity, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.1949 The Soviet Union began mass deportations of more than 90,000 "undesirable" people from the Baltic states to Siberia.K no Moronao (d.1351)Melita Norwood (b.1912)Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (d.1927)Russell Sherman (b.1930)More anniversaries: March 24March 25March 26ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The Kefermarkt altarpiece is a richly decorated wooden altarpiece in the Late Gothic style in the parish church of Kefermarkt in Upper Austria. Commissioned by the knight Christoph von Zelking, it was completed around 1497. Saints Peter, Wolfgang and Christopher are depicted in the central section. The wing panels depict scenes from the life of Mary, and the altarpiece also has an intricate superstructure and two side figures of Saints George and Florian. The identity of its maker, known by the notname Master of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece, is unknown, but at least two skilled sculptors appear to have created the main statuary. Throughout the centuries, it has been altered and lost its original paint and gilding; a major restoration was undertaken in the 19th century under the direction of Adalbert Stifter. The altarpiece has been described as "one of the greatest achievements in late-medieval sculpture in the German-speaking area". This image shows the upper-right wing panel of the Kefermarkt altarpiece, depicting the Annunciation. Mary is portrayed kneeling in a praying stool inside a half-open structure, supported by unusually carved pillars, crowned above their capitals with figures which are probably intended to be prophets from the Old Testament. The archangel Gabriel is entering the structure, and holds a speech scroll where parts of his greeting, the Ave Maria, is visible. In the upper-left corner is a depiction of God the Father among clouds and flanked by two angels. The panel originally also contained a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, but it has been lost.Sculpture credit: Master of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece; photographed by Uoaei1Recently featured: Hyacinth macawStrawberryBig Sky, MontanaArchiveMore featured pictures

March 24: Night of Power (Shia Islam, 2025); World Tuberculosis DayFlag of Prince Edward Island1387 Hundred Years' War: An English fleet led by Richard Fitzalan attacked 250 to 360 French, Flemish and Castilian vessels in the Battle of Margate.1934 The TydingsMcDuffie Act came into effect, which provided for self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence from the United States after a period of ten years.1939 Members of the German National Movement in Liechtenstein attempted to overthrow the government and provoke Liechtenstein's annexation into Nazi Germany.1964 Royal assent was given to Prince Edward Island's Provincial Flag Act, which outlined the design of its provincial flag (pictured).2006 Hannah Montana, starring Miley Cyrus as an actress whose alter ego is the titular character, premiered.Wulfred (d.832)Theodora Kroeber (b.1897)John Millington Synge (d.1909)Chris Bosh (b.1984)More anniversaries: March 23March 24March 25ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) is a parrot in the family Psittacidae, native to central and eastern South America. With a length of around 1 metre (3 feet), it is longer than any other species of parrot. It is also the largest macaw and the largest flying parrot species. The hyacinth macaw mostly nests in manduvi trees; these trees rely on the toco toucan for the majority of their distribution of seeds, but that bird also feeds on a sizeable proportion of the hyacinth macaw's eggs. Habitat loss and the trapping of wild birds for the pet trade have taken a heavy toll on their population in the wild, so the species is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. This hyacinth macaw eating a nut was photographed by the Rio Negro, a river in the Pantanal in southwestern Brazil.Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpRecently featured: StrawberryBig Sky, MontanaWinter mothArchiveMore featured pictures

March 23Bhagat Singh1888 Chaired by William McGregor, a meeting of ten English football clubs was held in London, eventually resulting in the establishment of the Football League.1931 Bhagat Singh (pictured), one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement, and two others were executed by the British authorities.1989 Two researchers announced the discovery of cold fusion, a claim that was later discredited.1994 Aeroflot Flight593 crashed into a hillside in Russia's Kemerovo Oblast, killing all 75 people on board, after the pilot's 15-year-old son unknowingly disabled the autopilot while seated at the controls.2005 A fire and explosion at an oil refinery in Texas City, the third-largest in the United States, killed 15 workers.Henry of Grosmont (d.1361)Pierre-Simon Laplace (b.1749)Akira Kurosawa (b.1910)Kangana Ranaut (b.1986)More anniversaries: March 22March 23March 24ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The garden strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus Fragaria, the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated for its aroma, bright red colour, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is eaten either fresh or in prepared foods such as jam, ice cream, and chocolates. Artificial strawberry flavourings and aromas are widely used in commercial products. Botanically, the strawberry is not a berry, but an aggregate accessory fruit. Each apparent 'seed' on the outside of the strawberry is actually an achene, a botanical fruit with a seed inside it. The garden strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France, in the 1750s via a cross of F. virginiana from eastern North America and F. chiloensis, which was brought from Chile by Amde-Franois Frzier in 1714. Cultivars of F. ananassa have replaced the woodland strawberry F. vesca in commercial production. In 2023, world production of strawberries exceeded ten million tons, led by China with 40% of the total. These focus-stacked photographs show two garden strawberries, one whole and one halved.Photograph credit: Ivar LeidusRecently featured: Big Sky, MontanaWinter mothThe Hitch-HikerArchiveMore featured pictures

March 22: World Water Day; Earth Hour (20:30 local time, 2025)Charilaos Vasilakos (center) training for the marathon106 The Bostran era, the official era of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea, began.1638 Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for her participation in the Antinomian Controversy.1896 Charilaos Vasilakos (pictured) won the first modern marathon in preparation for the inaugural Summer Olympics.1913 Phan Xch Long, the self-proclaimed emperor of Vietnam, was arrested for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French Indochina, which was nevertheless carried out by his supporters the following day.1984 Teachers at a preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, were falsely charged with the sexual abuse of schoolchildren, leading to the longest and costliest criminal trial in United States history.1995 Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returned from the space station Mir aboard Soyuz TM-20 after 437 days in space, setting a record for the longest spaceflight.John Kemp (d.1454)Yayoi Kusama (b.1929)Abolhassan Banisadr (b.1933)Rob Ford (d.2016)More anniversaries: March 21March 22March 23ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Big Sky is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Gallatin County and Madison County, in the southwest of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 3,591, up from 2,308 in the 2010 census. The primary industry of the area is tourism. Big Sky is located close to Yellowstone National Park along the western edge of Gallatin County and the eastern edge of Madison County, on U.S. Route191. It is approximately midway between West Yellowstone and Bozeman, being around 45 miles (72km) by road from each. This photograph shows a snow-covered sunset view of Lone Mountain, located near Big Sky Resort and about 7 miles (11km) west of the town center of Big Sky.Photograph credit: Eric MorenoRecently featured: Winter mothThe Hitch-HikerDavid LivingstoneArchiveMore featured pictures

March 21: Oltenia Day in RomaniaCover of L'enfant et les sortilges1913 More than 360 were killed and 20,000 homes were destroyed in the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio, U.S.1925 Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilges (cover pictured), to a libretto by Colette, was premiered at the Opra de Monte-Carlo.1968 War of Attrition: The Battle of Karameh took place between the Israel Defense Forces and allied troops of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Jordanian Armed Forces.1980 The American soap opera Dallas aired the episode "A House Divided", which led to eight months of international speculation on "Who shot J.R.?"2019 A major explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China, killed 78 people and injured 640 others.lla of Northumbria and Osberht of Northumbria (d.867)Alice Henry (b.1857)Al Williamson (b.1931)Chinua Achebe (d.2013)More anniversaries: March 20March 21March 22ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The winter moth (Operophtera brumata) is an insect in the geometer moth family, Geometridae. It is an abundant species in Europe and the Near East and a famous study organism for evaluating insect population dynamics. It is one of very few lepidopterans of temperate regions in which adults are active in late autumn and early winter. Winter moth caterpillars emerge in early spring from egg masses with recently hatched larvae feeding on expanding leaf buds, often after having burrowed inside the bud, and later on foliage. In addition to feeding on the tree where they hatched, young larvae will also produce silk strands to be wind-blown to other trees. The larvae descend to the ground by mid-May with pupation occurring in the soil in late May. Adult moths then emerge from the soil in mid-late November. This focus stack of 73 photographs shows a winter moth caterpillar on a rose leaf in a garden in Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.Photograph credit: Reinhold MllerRecently featured: The Hitch-HikerDavid LivingstoneSword-billed hummingbirdArchiveMore featured pictures

March 20: Nowruz (2025)Chemical structure of zidovudine1724 Following the death of Pope InnocentXIII, a papal conclave convened in Rome to elect a new pope.1861 An earthquake occurred in the Argentine province of Mendoza, causing at least 6,000 deaths and destroying most of the buildings in the province's capital city.1922 The United States Navy commissioned its first aircraft carrier, USSLangley.1944 World WarII: U.S. Marines made a landing on Emirau Island in the Bismarck Archipelago to develop an airbase as part of Operation Cartwheel.1987 The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (chemical structure pictured) became the first treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for HIV/AIDS.2014 Taliban militants killed nine civilians in a mass shooting at the Kabul Serena Hotel in Afghanistan.Maud Menten (b.1879)Willie Brown (b.1934)Fernando Torres (b.1984)Christel Boom (d.2004)More anniversaries: March 19March 20March 21ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The Hitch-Hiker is a 1953 American independent film noir thriller co-written and directed by Ida Lupino and starring Edmond O'Brien, William Talman, and Frank Lovejoy. Based on the 1950 killing spree of Billy Cook, the film follows two friends who are taken hostage by a murderous hitchhiker during an automobile trip to Mexico. The Hitch-Hiker was the first American mainstream film noir directed by a woman, and premiered in Boston on March20, 1953, to little fanfare. The film was marketed with the tagline: "When was the last time you invited death into your car?" It was selected in 1998 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".Film credit: Ida LupinoRecently featured: David LivingstoneSword-billed hummingbirdMolly MaguiresArchiveMore featured pictures

David Livingstone (19 March 1813 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livingstone, from the prominent 18th-century Moffat missionary family. His fame as an explorer and his obsession with learning the sources of the Nile was founded on the belief that if he could solve that age-old mystery, his fame would give him the influence to end the East African ArabSwahili slave trade. Livingstone's subsequent exploration of the central African watershed was the culmination of the classic period of European geographical discovery and colonial penetration of Africa. His missionary travels, "disappearance", and eventual death in Africaand subsequent glorification as a posthumous national hero in 1874led to the founding of several major central African Christian missionary initiatives carried forward in the era of the European "Scramble for Africa". This portrait by Thomas Annan was taken in 1864.Photograph credit: Thomas Annan; restored by Adam CuerdenRecently featured: Sword-billed hummingbirdMolly MaguiresPhaistos DiscArchiveMore featured pictures

March 19: Saint Joseph's Day (Western Christianity)Zhao Bing, Emperor of Song1279 Mongol conquest of Song China: Zhao Bing (pictured), the last Song emperor, drowned at the end of the Battle of Yamen, bringing the Song dynasty to an end after three centuries.1824 American explorer Benjamin Morrell departed Antarctica after a voyage later plagued by claims of fraud.1944 The secular oratorio A Child of Our Time by Michael Tippett premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in London.1998 An unscheduled Ariana Afghan Airlines flight crashed into a mountain on approach into Kabul, killing all 45 people aboard.2011 First Libyan Civil War: The French Air Force launched Opration Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya.Lord Edmund Howard (d.1539)Greville Wynne (b.1919)Joe Gaetjens (b.1924)Lise stergaard (d.1996)More anniversaries: March 18March 19March 20ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

March 18: Feast day of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (Christianity)Traian Vuia's monoplane363 A fire began in Rome that resulted in the destruction of the Temple of Apollo Palatinus.1277 CharlesI of Anjou acquired a claim on the Kingdom of Jerusalem in exchange for a significant sum of money.1906 Romanian inventor Traian Vuia became the first person to fly a heavier-than-air monoplane (pictured) with an unassisted takeoff.1925 The deadliest tornado in U.S. history spawned in Missouri and traveled more than 219 miles (352km) across Illinois and Indiana, leaving one of the longest continuous tornado tracks ever recorded.1977 The punk group the Clash released their first single, "White Riot", described as their "most controversial song" due to its lyrics about class economics and race.2019 Syrian civil war: The U.S. Air Force carried out an airstrike in al-Baghuz Fawqani, killing 64 civilians.MatthewIII Csk (d.1321)Clem Hill (b.1877)Johnny Papalia (b.1924)Wali Mohammad Itoo (d.1994)More anniversaries: March 17March 18March 19ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), also known as the swordbill, is a neotropical species of hummingbird from the Andean regions of South America. Among the largest species of hummingbird, it is characterized by its unusually long beak, being the only bird to have a beak longer than the rest of its body, excluding the tail. It uses its bill to drink nectar from flowers with long corollas, and has coevolved with the species Passiflora mixta. While most hummingbirds preen using their bills, the sword-billed hummingbird uses its feet to scratch and preen due to its beak being so long. This sword-billed hummingbird was photographed perching on a branch at Hacienda El Bosque in Manizales, Colombia.Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpRecently featured: Molly MaguiresPhaistos DiscXysticus cristatusArchiveMore featured pictures

The Molly Maguires, or the Mollies, were members of a 19th-century Irish secret society active in Ireland and internationally. The movement originated in Ireland as part of agrarian rebellion movements relating to land usage and enclosure. The Mollies were first reported in the British and Irish press in the mid-19th century, noting that they had been formed in Ballinamuck following Lord Lorton's ejection of tenants there. The movement spread internationally to areas with significant Irish immigrant populations, including Liverpool and the United States. Their activism in favour of coal miners in Pennsylvania was particularly noteworthy. After a series of often violent conflicts, twenty suspected Mollies were convicted of murder and other crimes and were executed by hanging in 1877 and 1878. This history remains part of local Pennsylvania lore and the actual facts are much debated among historians. This 1874 illustration from Harper's Weekly, drawn by Paul Frenzeny and Jules Tavernier, depicts a group of Mollies meeting to discuss strikes in the Pennsylvania coal mines.Illustration credit: Paul Frenzeny and Jules Tavernier; restored by Adam CuerdenRecently featured: Phaistos DiscXysticus cristatusAmlie of LeuchtenbergArchiveMore featured pictures

March 17: Saint Patrick's Day (Christianity); Anniversary of the Unification of Italy (1861)Dorchester Heights Monument1864 Second Schleswig War: In an attempt to end a Danish blockade, Eduard von Jachmann led a Prussian squadron in an attack against a Danish fleet led by Edvard van Dockum.1902 The Dorchester Heights Monument (pictured), memorializing the siege of Boston during the American Revolutionary War, was dedicated.1957 A plane crash on the slopes of Mount Manunggal killed Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.1979 The Penmanshiel Tunnel in the Scottish Borders collapsed during refurbishing construction, killing two workers, and leading to the abandonment of the tunnel.2004 Unrest in Kosovo broke out, resulting in the deaths of 28, the wounding of more than 600 others, and the destruction of several Serb Orthodox churches and shrines.Jocelin of Glasgow (d.1199)Menno van Coehoorn (d.1704)Pattie Boyd (b.1944)Shu Xiuwen (d.1969)More anniversaries: March 16March 17March 18ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

SideASideBThe Phaistos Disc is a disc of fired clay from the Greek island of Crete, dating possibly from the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age (second millennium BC). It bears a text on both sides in an unknown script and language, and its purpose and original place of manufacture remain disputed. Discovered in 1908 by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier, the disc is made of fine-grained clay, intentionally and properly fired, and is approximately cylindrical with a diameter of around 16 centimetres (6.3 inches) and a thickness of almost 2 centimetres (0.79 inches), with rounded edges. The disc is an early example of movable-type printing, with the embossed signs that comprise its inscription resulting from separate stamps that were pressed into the soft clay before firing. It has captured the imagination of amateur and professional palaeographers, and many attempts have been made to decipher the text, which comprises 241 occurrences of 45 distinct signs. The Phaistos Disc is now on display at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum on Crete.Artefact credit: unknown; photographed by Cmessier; edited by BammeskRecently featured: Xysticus cristatusAmlie of LeuchtenbergSt. Paraskevi ChurchArchiveMore featured pictures

March 16: Remembrance Day of the Latvian LegionnairesCap badge of the Royal Welch Fusiliers934 Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period: Chinese general Meng Zhixiang proclaimed himself emperor and established Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.1689 The Royal Welch Fusiliers (cap badge pictured), one of the oldest line-infantry regiments of the British Army, was founded.1819 The Bank for Savings in the City of New-York, the first savings bank in New York City, was incorporated.1984 William Buckley, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, was kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists.1988 Michael Stone, an Ulster loyalist, attacked the funeral of three Provisional IRA members, killing three attendees and injuring at least sixty others.Alaric Alexander Watts (b.1797)Don Blasingame (b.1932)Douglas Ahlstedt (b.1945)Virginia Randolph (d.1958)More anniversaries: March 15March 16March 17ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Xysticus cristatus, the common crab spider, is a species in the family Thomisidae. It has a Palearctic distribution, being found throughout Europe (including Iceland) and east through Asia to Siberia, China, Korea and Japan. It has been introduced to Canada and the United States. The species is usually found in low vegetation and avoids woodland and closed canopy habitats, but is otherwise found in almost every habitat type. The female has a body length of about 6 to 8 millimetres (0.24 to 0.31 inches), and the male about 3 to 5 millimetres (0.12 to 0.20 inches), with coloration varying from light cream, dark brown to greyish. X.cristatus is an ambush hunter that spends much time sitting still with its forelegs spread wide, waiting for insects to blunder into them. During reproduction, the female builds a flat white ovisac containing developing eggs, usually fixed on plants. The female sits on it to protect it, until myriad little spiders are released. This female X.cristatus spider with its prey, a Carniolan honey bee, was photographed in Bled, Slovenia. The photograph was focus-stacked from seven separate images.Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpRecently featured: Amlie of LeuchtenbergSt. Paraskevi ChurchMauritius kestrelArchiveMore featured pictures

March 15: Ides of MarchJulius Caesar44BC Julius Caesar (bust pictured), the dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus.1823 American sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reported the existence of New South Greenland, a phantom island, near Antarctica.1916 Six days after Pancho Villa and his cross-border raiders attacked Columbus, New Mexico, U.S. general John J. Pershing led a punitive expedition into Mexico to pursue him.1917 Russian Revolution: Tsar NicholasII was forced to abdicate in the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.1943 The deportation of 50,000 Jews from the Greek city of Thessaloniki began.1951 The Iranian oil industry was nationalized in a movement led by Mohammad Mosaddegh.Albert of Schwarzburg (d.1327)Matthew Charlton (b.1866)Ignace Tonen (d.1916)Ruth Bader Ginsburg (b.1933)More anniversaries: March 14March 15March 16ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Amlie of Leuchtenberg (18121873) was a French noblewoman and Empress of Brazil as the wife of Emperor PedroI. She was the fourth child of Eugne de Beauharnais and his wife Princess Augusta of Bavaria. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, her father, having been granted the title of Duke of Leuchtenberg by his father-in-law, settled in Munich. When Pedro's first wife, Maria Leopoldina of Austria, died in 1826, he sent an ambassador to Europe to find him a second. Pedro's relatively poor reputation in Europe led to several refusals by princesses, and his union with Amlie resulted from a lowering of his strict conditions. They were married in 1829 and she moved to Brazil to be presented in court. Her husband abdicated the throne in 1831 and the couple returned to Europe. Their daughter Maria Amlia was born shortly after. Pedro died in 1834 and Amlie did not remarry, living the rest of her life in Portugal. This oil-on-canvas portrait of Amlie, produced in the 1830s by the German painter Friedrich Drck, is now in the Soares dos Reis National Museum in Porto, Portugal.Painting credit: Friedrich DrckRecently featured: St. Paraskevi ChurchMauritius kestrelEero SaarinenArchiveMore featured pictures

March 14: Sikh New Year's Day; White Day in parts of East Asia; Purim (Judaism, 2025); Pi DayGioachino Rossini1309 On Eid al-Fitr, the citizens of Granada stormed palaces in the city, deposing Sultan MuhammadIII and placing his half-brother Nasr on the throne.1864 The Petite messe solennelle by Gioachino Rossini (pictured) was first performed in Paris, 34 years after his retirement as a composer.1931 Alam Ara, the first Indian sound film, premiered at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay.1988 China defeated Vietnam in a naval altercation while attempting to establish oceanographic observation posts on the Spratly Islands.2021 The Burmese military and police forces killed at least 65 civilians during the Hlaingthaya massacre in Yangon, including those protesting a recent coup d'tat.Albert Einstein (b.1879)Zita of Bourbon-Parma (d.1989)Piri (b.1999)Ieng Sary (d.2013)More anniversaries: March 13March 14March 15ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

St. Paraskevi Church is a Gothic tserkva (wooden church) located in the village of Kwiato, Poland. It was built in the second half of the seventeenth-century with the tower constructed in 1743. After Operation Vistula, the tserkva was transformed into a Roman Catholic church, belonging to the Ucie Gorlickie parish. Together with other tserkvas in the area, it is designated as part of the wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine UNESCO World Heritage Site.Photograph credit: Piter329cRecently featured: Mauritius kestrelEero SaarinenVerbena hastataArchiveMore featured pictures

March 13: Fast of Esther (Judaism, 2025)British attack on Cartagena de Indias1741 War of Jenkins' Ear: The British began an assault against Spanish forts in the Caribbean in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (pictured).1848 Klemens von Metternich was forced to resign as the foreign minister of Austria following student demonstrations in Vienna.1964 Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York City, prompting research into the bystander effect due to the false story that neighbors witnessed the killing and did nothing to help her.1996 A mass shooting at a primary school occurred in Dunblane, Scotland, killing 16 children and a teacher and prompting tighter gun control in the United Kingdom.John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden (b.1719)Adolf Anderssen (d.1879)Meinhard Michael Moser (b.1924)Jan Howard (b.1929)More anniversaries: March 12March 13March 14ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus) is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae endemic to the forests of Mauritius, where it is restricted to the southwestern plateau's forests, cliffs, and ravines. It colonized the island and evolved into a distinct species from other Indian Ocean kestrels, probably during the Gelasian or Early Pleistocene periods. The Mauritius kestrel can reach a size between 26 and 30.5 centimetres (10.2 and 12.0 inches), with a mass of up to 250 grams (8.8 ounces) and rounded wings with a span of approximately 45 centimetres (18 inches). Males are slightly smaller than the females. It is a carnivorous bird, eating geckos, dragonflies, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets, and small birds. It hunts by means of short, swift flights through the forests. In 2022, it was proclaimed the Mauritian national bird to mark the 30th anniversary of the Republic of Mauritius. This Mauritius kestrel was photographed in the Ebony Forest near the village of Chamarel.Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpRecently featured: Eero SaarinenVerbena hastataDetourArchiveMore featured pictures

March 12Andrew Watson1537 CroatianOttoman wars: After the execution of feudal lord Petar Krui, Croatian forces at Klis surrendered to the Ottoman forces in exchange for their safe passage to northern locations.1881 Andrew Watson (pictured) captained the Scotland national football team against England, becoming the world's first black international footballer.1947 Cold War: U.S. president Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine to help stem the spread of communism.1952 British diplomat Lord Ismay was appointed the first secretary general of NATO.1971 The Turkish Armed Forces executed a "coup by memorandum", forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Sleyman Demirel.2006 U.S. Army soldiers gang-raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdered her along with her family members.William Henry Perkin (b.1838)Gemma Galgani (b.1878)Zhao Wei (b.1976)Arina Tanemura (b.1978)More anniversaries: March 11March 12March 13ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Eero Saarinen (19101961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer. He created many buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan; the passenger terminal at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.; the TWA Flight Center (now TWA Hotel) at John F. Kennedy International Airport; the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City; and the Gateway Arch in St.Louis. He was the son of Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. This photograph of Saarinen smoking a pipe was taken by the Hungarian-American photographer Balthazar Korab in 1955 or 1956.Photograph credit: Balthazar Korab; restored by Yann Forget and BammeskRecently featured: Verbena hastataDetourFlame-faced tanagerArchiveMore featured pictures

March 11: Commonwealth Day in the Commonwealth of Nations (2024); National Heroes and Benefactors Day in Belize (2024)Premiere poster of Rigoletto1851 The first performance of Verdi's Rigoletto took place at La Fenice in Venice (poster pictured).1864 The Great Sheffield Flood killed at least 240 people and damaged more than 600 homes, after a crack in the dam holding the Dale Dike Reservoir caused it to fail.1993 The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Janet Reno as the first female United States attorney general.2007 Georgian authorities accused Russia of orchestrating a helicopter attack in the Kodori Valley, in the breakaway territory of Abkhazia.Mary of Woodstock (b.1278)Stanisaw Koniecpolski (d.1646)Ralph Abernathy (b.1926)Gladys Pearl Baker (d.1984)More anniversaries: March 10March 11March 12ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout