Valentines Day Feb. 14, 2024

Love is in the air as Valentine"s Day arrives! This holiday is often associated with various romantic symbols, such as Cupid or Romeo and Juliet, the famous star-crossed lovers of William Shakespeare. Symbols of love can also be found in nature, such as red-crowned cranes, seen today in the reed marshes and frozen lakes of Hokkaido Island, Japan. These graceful birds engage in captivating mating dances to strengthen their lifelong bond—and symbolise good fortune, longevity and fidelity in Japanese culture. These gentle creatures even inspired a traditional paper craft, the origami crane; according to legend, folding a thousand cranes can grant wishes.

© Steve Bloom Images/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Love is in the snow
Feb. 14, 2025Happy Valentines Day!
Feb. 14, 2026Happy Valentines Day!

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul. 6, 2025Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park, United States
Jun. 2, 2024Annas hummingbird
Mar. 11, 2025Broken Beach in Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia
Jan. 8, 2024Bernina Pass, Graubünden, Switzerland
Dec. 2, 2023Angkor, Cambodia
Blood moon
Jul. 5, 2025Tour de France
Butterfly, fly away
Jan. 7, 2024Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve, Australia
Jan. 3, 2026J.R.R. Tolkien Day
Fly me to the moon
Jan. 21, 2025Squirrel Appreciation Day
Feb. 4, 2025Golden Bridge, Bà Nà Hills, Da Nang, Vietnam
Jul. 4, 2025Skipper butterfly on an Echinacea flower
Mar. 16, 2026Spirit Island on Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta
Mar. 17, 2024St. Patricks Day
What returned to this city 500 years ago?
Jun. 18, 2025Pollinator Week
Stairway to heaven?
The sprout with amazing potential
Nov. 1, 2025Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States
Happy Thanksgiving!
Feb. 21, 2024Firefall at Yosemite
Apr. 18, 2025International Day for Monuments and Sites
Nov. 1, 2023Kenny Lake, Lake Superior Provincial Park
A day for giving
Oct. 15, 2025National Mushroom Day
Dec. 1, 2023Lake Minnewanka, Alberta
Oct. 21, 2024Cypress trees in George L. Smith State Park, Georgia, United States
Jun. 16, 2025World Sea Turtle Day