Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It marks Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse's first appearance in a distributed film. Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, created by the Disney studio but owned at the time by Universal Pictures, and when two silent films featuring Mickey failed to gain a distributor, Walt Disney decided instead to put him in a sound cartoon – perhaps inspired by The Jazz Singer. With music arranged by Wilfred Jackson and Bert Lewis, Steamboat Willie was one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound. The film received wide critical acclaim upon its release, and it has been preserved in the United States National Film Registry for its significance. The film enters the public domain under U.S. copyright law today (January 1, 2024), 95 years after its release in 1928.

Film credit: Walt Disney Studios

Le Violon d'Ingres is a black-and-white photograph taken by the American visual artist Man Ray in 1924. One of the best-known works of Surrealist photography, it was first published in the Surrealist magazine Littérature in June 1924. It shows the French model Kiki de Montparnasse from the back, nude to below her waist and wearing a turban. Two f-holes are painted on her back to make her body resemble a violin.

Photograph credit: Man Ray

The black-faced woodswallow (Artamus cinereus) is a species of woodswallow native to Australia (in which it is found throughout, apart from the eastern margin), New Guinea and the Sunda Islands, including Timor. It is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long and the most widespread species in the family Artamidae. A mainly sedentary bird, it remains in arid and semi-arid areas even during dry conditions. Although it can be partly nomadic, the species prefers open eucalypt woodlands, scrub, and spinifex in arid and semi-arid conditions. The black-faced woodswallow is mainly insectivorous, being an aerial feeder that can soar, hover and dive to catch insect prey such as moths. It also often feeds on the ground taking ground insects, or insects caught on the wing to be dismembered. This black-faced woodswallow was photographed in Sturt National Park in New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782) was a Swiss mathematician and physicist, one of several prominent mathematicians of the Bernoulli family from Basel. He is particularly remembered for his applications of mathematics to mechanics, especially fluid mechanics, and for his pioneering work in probability and statistics. His name is commemorated in Bernoulli's principle, a particular example of the conservation of energy, and which describes the mathematics of the mechanism underlying the operation of two important technologies of the 20th century: the carburetor and the airplane wing. This oil-on-canvas portrait of Bernoulli, painted by an unknown artist, now hangs in the Basel Historical Museum.

Painting credit: unknown

Danaus chrysippus, also known as the plain tiger or the African queen, belongs to the subfamily Danainae of the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. Its range extends across Africa and the majority of the Asian continent, as well as many South Pacific islands and some populations in Australia. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, although it is less likely to thrive in jungle-like conditions and is most often found in drier, wide-open areas. D. chrysippus is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of about 7 to 8 centimetres (2.8 to 3.1 in). Its body is black with white spots, while the wings are a brownish orange, the upper side brighter and richer than the underside. It is a polymorphic species, so the exact colouring and patterning vary within and between populations. Its primary diet is milkweed plants, of the genus Asclepias. Because of its emetic properties, D. chrysippus is unpalatable to most predators. As a result, its colouration is widely mimicked by other species of butterfly. This photograph shows the underside of a male butterfly of the subspecies D. c. chrysippus, seen in Kumarakom, India.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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 lower-right wing panel of the Kefermarkt altarpiece, depicting the Adoration of the Magi. Mary gazes on the infant Christ while one of the Magi is kneeling in front of him; the child plays with the gold in the box he is bringing. Both he and the second of the Magi, behind him, have taken off their hats as a mark of respect.

Sculpture credit: Master of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece; photographed by Uoaei1

Pinot gris, or pinot grigio, is a grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera used to make white wine. Thought to be a mutant clone of pinot noir, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but the colors can vary from blue-gray to pinkish-brown. Pinot gris thrives in cooler climates, with the major growing regions being Alsace in France, northeastern Italy and the U.S. state of Oregon. The wines vary greatly with these regions; for example, Alsatian pinot gris wines are medium to full-bodied and tend to be spicy in comparison with others. This photograph of a bunch of pinot gris grapes was focus-stacked from twelve separate frames.

Photograph credit: Reinhold Möller

Portrait of Margaret van Eyck is a 1439 oil-on-wood painting by the Early Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck. A portrait of his wife Margaret, it is one of the two latest of van Eyck's surviving paintings, and one of the earliest European artworks to depict a painter's spouse. It was completed when Margaret was around 34 and hung until the early 18th century in the chapel of the guild of painters in Bruges (in present-day Belgium). The work is thought to be a pendant or a diptych panel, with van Eyck himself occupying the other half in either a now lost self-portrait known from records until 1769, or his Portrait of a Man. This portrait of Margaret is now in the collection of the Groeningemuseum in Bruges.

Painting credit: Jan van Eyck

The jabiru (Jabiru mycteria) is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes, occasionally also moving into the southern United States. Its name comes from Tupi–Guarani and means 'swollen neck'. It is a tall bird, with larger males reaching a height of more than 1.5 metres (4.9 ft). It measures 2.3 to 2.8 metres (7.5 to 9.2 ft) across the wings, and can weigh up to 9 kilograms (20 lb). The plumage is mostly white, but the head and upper neck are featherless and black, with a featherless red stretchable patch at the base. This jabiru was photographed in the Pantanal area of Brazil.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

The château fort de Lourdes is a historic castle located in Lourdes in the Hautes-Pyrénées department of France. It is strategically placed at the entrance to the seven valleys of the Lavedan. The castle's origins go back to Roman times, but today the oldest remains date from the 11th and 12th centuries and consist of the foundations of the present fortifications. The castle was reinforced in the 13th and 14th centuries (construction of the keep), and again in the 17th and 19th centuries. From 1590, under the reign of Henry IV, the castle became a prison, and was then later used as a barracks, before becoming a museum around the turn of the 20th century. Since 1933, it has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. This panorama shows the castle with parts of the surrounding town and the mountains of the Pyrenees in the background.

Photograph credit: Moahim

The Maiden is a painting by the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, completed in 1913. The painting depicts six women that are interlacing, with each woman representing a particular stage of life. The painting touches on various topics of human life, such as love, sexuality and regeneration that are depicted in cyclical shape. The virgin's gown with its many spirals of blue and purple metaphorically indicates fertility, continual change and the evolution of the universe. The Maiden was one of Klimt's last paintings before he died and it is currently in the collection of the National Gallery Prague, Czech Republic.

Painting credit: Gustav Klimt

The dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera of the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Adult dragonflies are characterized by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. Dragonflies are predatory insects, both in their aquatic nymphal stage (also known as "naiads") and as adults. In some species, the nymphal stage lasts up to five years, and the adult stage may be as long as 10 weeks, but most species have an adult lifespan in the order of five weeks or less, and some survive for only a few days. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

The Roman amphitheatre of Italica is a ruined Roman amphitheatre situated outside the ancient Roman settlement of Italica in Andalusia, Spain, close to the modern city of Seville. It was built during the reign of emperor Hadrian (who was born in Italica), approximately between the years 117 and 138, and was one of the largest amphitheatres in the Roman Empire. With a capacity of 25,000 spectators, it had an elliptical shape of around 160×137 metres in diameter, with three levels of stands; the first of these remains intact, the second partially so, and the third mostly in ruin. The amphitheatre, along with the rest of Italica, was largely abandoned by the Romans in the 3rd century. It was rediscovered during the Renaissance, in the 17th century, and work to unearth the amphitheatre began in the late 19th century. It is now a tourist site offering visitor tours, and also featured in the Game of Thrones TV series as the dragonpit of King's Landing.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

Type 1: Liberty wearing a coronet

Type 2: Liberty as an Indian princess

Type 3: Liberty as an Indian princess with larger head

The gold dollar is a gold coin that was struck as a regular issue by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1849 to 1889. It had three types over its lifetime, all designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre. The Type 1 issue had the smallest diameter of any United States coin ever minted. A gold dollar had been proposed several times in the 1830s and 1840s, but was not initially adopted. Congress was finally galvanized into action by the increased supply of bullion from the California gold rush, and in 1849 authorized a gold dollar. In its early years, silver coins were being hoarded or exported, and the gold dollar found a ready place in commerce. Silver again circulated after Congress required in 1853 that new coins of that metal be made lighter, and the gold dollar became a rarity in commerce even before federal coins vanished from circulation amid the economic disruption of the American Civil War. Gold did not circulate again in most of the nation until 1879, and even then, the gold dollar did not regain its place in commerce. In its final years, struck in small numbers, it was hoarded by speculators and mounted in jewelry.

Coins credit: United States Mint; from the National Numismatic Collection of the National Museum of American History

The buff-banded rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis) is a medium-sized bird in the rail family, Rallidae. This species comprises several subspecies found throughout much of Australasia and the south-west Pacific region, covering a range of latitudes from the tropics to the subantarctic. It utilises a range of moist or wetland habitats with low, dense vegetation for cover. The buff-banded rail is a largely terrestrial bird the size of a small domestic chicken, with mainly brown upperparts, finely banded black and white underparts, a white eyebrow, chestnut band running from the bill round the nape, with a buff band on the breast. It is an omnivorous scavenger which feeds on a range of terrestrial invertebrates and small vertebrates, seeds, fallen fruit and other vegetable matter, as well as carrion and refuse. This buff-banded rail was photographed in Newington, New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: JJ Harrison

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  Left valve
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  Right valve

Chlamys varia, also known as the variegated scallop, is a small bi-valve mollusc in the scallop family, Pectinidae. It occurs in the North Sea, the English Channel, the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, living at depths of up to around 100 m along coastal rocky areas. It typically lives under boulders or among the holdfasts of seaweeds. The shell of Chlamys varia comes in a range of colours and variegated patterns including white, pink, red, orange, yellow, or purple, and anything in between. Both valves are convex, rounded or oval, and symmetrical except for the ears on either side of the umbo. The shell does not usually exceed 6 cm in length. This C. varia shell, with left and right valves shown, was originally found in the Adriatic Sea near Italy.

Photograph credit: Llez

The rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri) is a medium-sized parrot in the Psittacidae family. It has disjunct native ranges in Africa and the Indian subcontinent, and is now introduced into many other parts of the world, including northern Europe, where feral populations have established themselves in urban areas and are bred for the exotic pet trade. Wild populations of the rose-ringed parakeet have a distinctive green colour, red beak and blue tail with adult males sporting a pink and black neck ring. This male rose-ringed parakeet was photographed in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software engineers. This photograph shows Apple co-founder Steve Jobs Steve Jobs with the first Mac, the Macintosh 128K, at the time of its launch on January 24, 1984. The image on the computer screen is a digitized version of A Woman Combing Her Hair, a painting by Japanese artist Goyō Hashiguchi.

Photograph credit: Bernard Gotfryd

The Lahau region is a high altitude Himalayan region in the Lahaul and Spiti district of the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Pictured here is the Bhaga River valley near the district headquarters of Kyelang.

Photograph credit: Timothy Gonsalves

The Indian pied myna (Gracupica contra) is a species of starling found in the Indian subcontinent, with a principal distribution from the Gangetic plains extending south to the Krishna River. This range has increased in recent times, with populations established in Pakistan, western India and also Dubai. The spread has been aided by changes in irrigation and farming patterns and accidental escape of caged birds. The Indian pied myna is found mainly in lowland open areas with scattered trees near water, often near human habitation, but also inhabits areas up to around 700 m in altitude. It has a black and white plumage with a yellowish bill and a reddish bill base. This pair of Indian pied mynas was photographed outside the city of Hapur, in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into the flight of mission STS-51-L, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). All seven crewmembers were lost, making it was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft in flight. The crew are seen here in their official portrait on November 15, 1985. In the back row from left to right: Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. In the front row from left to right: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, and Ronald McNair.

Photograph credit: NASA

Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1950 American adventure comedy film based on the 1897 French Alexandrin verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. It uses poet Brian Hooker's 1923 English blank verse translation as the basis for its screenplay. The film was the first motion picture version in English of Rostand's play, though there were several earlier adaptations in different languages. The 1950 film was produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Michael Gordon. José Ferrer received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring performance as Cyrano de Bergerac. Mala Powers played Roxane, and William Prince portrayed Christian de Neuvillette.

Film credit: Michael Gordon;