Celebrating whales—and a whale of a tale Jan 4, 2020

Celebrating whales—and a whale of a tale

A mother sperm whale surfaces in the North Atlantic as her young albino calf swims beside her. It"s an especially photogenic moment for these underwater powerhouses, which spend much of their time in the dim depths over 1,000 feet below the waves. You"re meeting them to commemorate the day in 1841 when a young Herman Melville set out from New Bedford, Massachusetts, on a whaling voyage to the South Pacific that would help inspire his masterwork "Moby-Dick." Today at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Melville fans will begin a marathon public reading of the novel—an annual event that lasts a leviathan 25 hours.

© Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures

palette

Today in History

Jan 4, 2019Observing World Braille Day in Bavaria
Jan 4, 2021Sparkling ice diamonds on a black sandy beach
Jan 4, 2022Borrego Badlands
Jan 4, 2023Earth at Perihelion
Jan 4, 2024Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
Jan 4, 2025Bản Giốc–Detian Falls, Vietnam
Jan 4, 2026Kings Mountain, Chugach Mountains, Alaska

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 15, 2023Castelmezzano, Italy
Sep 16, 2021A cry for independence
Jan 10, 2020League of Nations, 100 years later
Jun 8, 2023World Oceans Day
Feb 11, 2026Death Valley National Parks Anniversary
Jan 6, 2025Flooded crypt, Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna, Italy
Nov 2, 2019A national icon
Mar 11, 2019You re feeling sleepy
May 24, 2025European Day of Parks
Aug 13, 2022Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Feb 15, 2026World Whale Day
Sep 8, 2025International Literacy Day
Aug 16, 2022National Roller Coaster Day
May 7, 2020Where the wildflowers grow
Oct 9, 2021Birds of a feather
Jul 19, 2018Cosplay strongly encouraged
May 30, 2018‘The memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever’
Jan 1, 2019New Year’s Day in the land of the rising sun
Dec 8, 2022The Cathedral of Florence, Italy
Apr 12, 2022International Day of Human Space Flight
Sep 19, 2024International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Mar 7, 2023Terraced rice fields, Yuanyang County, China
Feb 14, 2023Valentines Day
Jun 7, 2025National Trails Day
Jun 17, 2018Papa was a flightless bird
Sep 11, 202120 years later
Aug 18, 2018Is that a buzzing sound?
Feb 21, 2023New Orleans for Mardi Gras
Apr 10, 2023Siblings Day
Apr 12, 2019A story of wind and ice